Old Wainds – Death Nord Kult
The opening track, “Once Moonlight…” is a lot thrashier than I was expecting from this long standing and twisted musical entity. In fact, this comes off as a definite stylistic change. The vocals don’t strike me as demonic as they were in the past and the overall production feels a bit thinner, focusing on the treble in the guitars rather than the frigid bite and dimension that blew in from the west so amazingly on this bands past efforts. “Cruel Black Death” picks back up with more speed and dissonant intensity, with the thrash riffage creeping into the bridge. Even though I’m a bit taken aback by the shift in sound for this band, the expanded direction seems to suit them well. It’s just not as distinct of a tone as past efforts… in fact if this was playing at a party, I wouldn’t know who it was. As “Death Nord Kult” continues, more intricate guitar lines and galloped verse riffs put one in mind of the old Kreator and Destruction, German thrash vibe, mixed with a slight unique twist from this bands frozen tundra home in Russia. Digging further into this material, a slower tempo as found on the title track and the disc closer, “Cold Northern Order” finds Old Wainds reveling in the coldvoid black metal atmosphere of their earlier albums with interesting structures and some very bizarre, tormented sounding chords for that perplexing atmosphere that makes this band so unique. The one sheet proclaims, “Mandatory for fans of Leviathan, Watain and Khrom”… 3 bands that Old Wainds sounds nothing like. Even though this one took me a few dedicated listens to fully embrace, I’m finally there and once again appreciate this Russian entity even though they initially threw me for a loop. –Marty
Moribund Records
Worm Gear 