This Finnish band formed in 1991 (but only 10 years later, a full-length album was released), released this year their fifth original album.
After a brief but beautiful intro with clean guitars, the album kicks off with “Calm before the Snowstorm”, a rather not calm song which pretty much shows off what the other eight songs of pure melodic death metal with yet another instrumental song inbetween are all about… The entire album is fast, the guitar riffs are quite melodic, but at the same time with intricate structures, and guttural vocals (except for the “Northern Star” track which features clean vocals used in an effective way). The entire set “Wintermetal” is very harmonious with lush production, fat and big, quite heavy although they know how to use silence spaces to emphasize the sound that the band manages to create.
A good effort which makes this band’s discography even more solid.
8/10
Review by João Osório
