Winters Veil
We were recently sent through a copy of the debut album from Winters Veil, The Storm Awakens. Showcasing the unique style of the band with raw, heavy, powerful hard rock style male vocals alongside emotive and ethereal female vocals (according to their website), this London based quartet are out to hook the world onto their style of music. Always looking for new and exciting bands to feature, I was looking forward to checking out what was going on.
Opening with title track, The Storm Awakens, we’re greeted by a thunder storm under some soft guitar work, soon building into a more raucous sound of lead snippets, distorted riffs and a sense of darkness and foreboding. As the intro continues to build around you, the track seems to almost grow in sound, growing ever stronger as the guitar work leads us into Vikingr to get things started fully. Once again building the track with sounds of birds and a church bell, the ensuing power which kicks us into things beginning properly is mind boggling, taking the sound which was established at the start of the album and pushing it to the limit of things. The vocals hammer out the message of the track, backed up by a sound effect of a choir and the all out power of the music on the track, it’s a massive mix and one which stands this album in good stead from the off. There’s elements of the NOWBHM sound going on here at times, but the combination of male and female vocals moves away from this, somehow crafting a sound which holds more depth, more power, and more overall aggression.
Following on with Silent She Was Standing, the theme of dark and mysterious music continues, this time opening with an eerie piano line before once again launching us into a melee of distorted elements. Somehow taking the darkness and turning it into an almost catchy sound, this is another track which shows off how accomplished a band we’re dealing with here. The focus on the vocals of Bushra for the opening of this track adds a different element to things, turning what could be a hard hitting track into something more calming and serene, it’s a clever mix and they’ve done it damned well. Time Of Our Sorrow marks an altogether softer approach to things again, this time opening with soothing synths and a soft acoustic guitar line, creating an immediate sense of reflection and calm throughout the track. This is further accentuated by the soft vocals of Bushra once again, adding a soaring quality to the track which will hook you in before Tamas comes in to join the mix. This track stands out as a serious high point on the album, and moment which will connect with a lot of people, marking these guys as a band which needs to be checked out to be understood.
Sonderzüge and SPQR return us to the more hard hitting approach of the band, once again treating us to tracks which could be from a time gone by, yet adding to them a sense of modern musicianship and approach, something few bands can achieve. Another marked change comes about with Celestial Dreamwalk though as we’re launched into an almost industrial style opening before throwing down into a selection filled with incredible guitar work, rolling drums and all out power. This is another moment which has to be heard to be believed as the combined work of Allan and Chris show off just how able they really are – and whilst this is only a short track, it’s quite frankly mind blowing.
Ophelia’s Drowning manages to continue from this high, once again moving us to a place which is more calming and more reflective, the soft vocals once again leading the way and crafting a sound which wouldn’t be out of place on the radio. Despite the soft approach, there’s an underlying sense of power remaining within the music, resulting in a sound which almost harks towards the early stuff of the Cranberries – it’s a strange comparison to make but it’s what I thought when I heard it. It’s when Eye Of The Eternal Sunrise comes into being though that I think the album reaches its peak, showing that these guys have the potential to be a serious force to be reckoned with on the scene. Once again showcasing every element of the band, this track once again combines hard with soft, clean with distorted and heavy with melodic, resulting in a track which is impossible to resist. This is the sort of thing which I would love to see performed on a live stage, purely to see if they can hold this level of power on a stage – which if they can, the world needs to watch out.
Syrens Song adopts the more generic sound of this genre, this time combining an organ with dark synth sounds, pounding guitar and drum work and soaring vocal lines. Dark from the off, this track is a lot slower than some of the previous ones, resulting in an almost gothic sound which seems to fill the room with haunting melodies and darkened guitar work. Cyberelectric Woman on the other hand shows off a different side to the band, adopting an almost electronic approach through the track and backing it with monstrous riffs. This track is another dark and mysterious melee of soft vocals, pounding guitar lines and thundering drums, but there was something missing from this one for me – I can’t put my finger on it, I just felt that the track wasn’t all it could have been – but it’s the only track from the album which I found myself questioning.
Closing with Shroud Of The Winter King there’s a final return to the pounding approach of the earlier moments of this album, showcasing their sound for one last time. Almost as if they held back for the tracks before, this hard hitting close to the album leaves me with no doubt that this is going to be a band to check out on the live scene, just to see if they can pull it off.
Winters Veil have produced one hell of an album here, showing that they’ve got the musical ability to produce catchy songs filled with harmonies and melodies to please the fans of intricate music, and enough distortion to satisfy the heavy fans. From start to finish I felt as if the album was more of a story than just a few tracks, it’s almost as if they’ve written the album to ask people to follow them a join their cause, it’s almost hypnotic. Full to the brim with musical ability and distorted power, this is an album to make sure you check out.
To find out more about Winters Veil, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Make sure you check out the bands website HERE to stay up to date with all of their goings on!
Words: Dave Nicholls
Opening with title track, The Storm Awakens, we’re greeted by a thunder storm under some soft guitar work, soon building into a more raucous sound of lead snippets, distorted riffs and a sense of darkness and foreboding. As the intro continues to build around you, the track seems to almost grow in sound, growing ever stronger as the guitar work leads us into Vikingr to get things started fully. Once again building the track with sounds of birds and a church bell, the ensuing power which kicks us into things beginning properly is mind boggling, taking the sound which was established at the start of the album and pushing it to the limit of things. The vocals hammer out the message of the track, backed up by a sound effect of a choir and the all out power of the music on the track, it’s a massive mix and one which stands this album in good stead from the off. There’s elements of the NOWBHM sound going on here at times, but the combination of male and female vocals moves away from this, somehow crafting a sound which holds more depth, more power, and more overall aggression.
Following on with Silent She Was Standing, the theme of dark and mysterious music continues, this time opening with an eerie piano line before once again launching us into a melee of distorted elements. Somehow taking the darkness and turning it into an almost catchy sound, this is another track which shows off how accomplished a band we’re dealing with here. The focus on the vocals of Bushra for the opening of this track adds a different element to things, turning what could be a hard hitting track into something more calming and serene, it’s a clever mix and they’ve done it damned well. Time Of Our Sorrow marks an altogether softer approach to things again, this time opening with soothing synths and a soft acoustic guitar line, creating an immediate sense of reflection and calm throughout the track. This is further accentuated by the soft vocals of Bushra once again, adding a soaring quality to the track which will hook you in before Tamas comes in to join the mix. This track stands out as a serious high point on the album, and moment which will connect with a lot of people, marking these guys as a band which needs to be checked out to be understood.
Sonderzüge and SPQR return us to the more hard hitting approach of the band, once again treating us to tracks which could be from a time gone by, yet adding to them a sense of modern musicianship and approach, something few bands can achieve. Another marked change comes about with Celestial Dreamwalk though as we’re launched into an almost industrial style opening before throwing down into a selection filled with incredible guitar work, rolling drums and all out power. This is another moment which has to be heard to be believed as the combined work of Allan and Chris show off just how able they really are – and whilst this is only a short track, it’s quite frankly mind blowing.
Ophelia’s Drowning manages to continue from this high, once again moving us to a place which is more calming and more reflective, the soft vocals once again leading the way and crafting a sound which wouldn’t be out of place on the radio. Despite the soft approach, there’s an underlying sense of power remaining within the music, resulting in a sound which almost harks towards the early stuff of the Cranberries – it’s a strange comparison to make but it’s what I thought when I heard it. It’s when Eye Of The Eternal Sunrise comes into being though that I think the album reaches its peak, showing that these guys have the potential to be a serious force to be reckoned with on the scene. Once again showcasing every element of the band, this track once again combines hard with soft, clean with distorted and heavy with melodic, resulting in a track which is impossible to resist. This is the sort of thing which I would love to see performed on a live stage, purely to see if they can hold this level of power on a stage – which if they can, the world needs to watch out.
Syrens Song adopts the more generic sound of this genre, this time combining an organ with dark synth sounds, pounding guitar and drum work and soaring vocal lines. Dark from the off, this track is a lot slower than some of the previous ones, resulting in an almost gothic sound which seems to fill the room with haunting melodies and darkened guitar work. Cyberelectric Woman on the other hand shows off a different side to the band, adopting an almost electronic approach through the track and backing it with monstrous riffs. This track is another dark and mysterious melee of soft vocals, pounding guitar lines and thundering drums, but there was something missing from this one for me – I can’t put my finger on it, I just felt that the track wasn’t all it could have been – but it’s the only track from the album which I found myself questioning.
Closing with Shroud Of The Winter King there’s a final return to the pounding approach of the earlier moments of this album, showcasing their sound for one last time. Almost as if they held back for the tracks before, this hard hitting close to the album leaves me with no doubt that this is going to be a band to check out on the live scene, just to see if they can pull it off.
Winters Veil have produced one hell of an album here, showing that they’ve got the musical ability to produce catchy songs filled with harmonies and melodies to please the fans of intricate music, and enough distortion to satisfy the heavy fans. From start to finish I felt as if the album was more of a story than just a few tracks, it’s almost as if they’ve written the album to ask people to follow them a join their cause, it’s almost hypnotic. Full to the brim with musical ability and distorted power, this is an album to make sure you check out.
To find out more about Winters Veil, check out their Facebook page HERE.
Make sure you check out the bands website HERE to stay up to date with all of their goings on!
Words: Dave Nicholls