Parisian doom devotees Northwinds proudly present this, their fifth full length studio album, complete with its typically beautiful album cover by Stefano Sugni. To briefly and dismissively label this band simply as `Doom’ however, does them a great injustice in my opinion. This band has always had a fairly exploratory approach, and incorporates many different elements within their epic, heavy music.
It is certainly clear that the band has an obsession with the 70’s, a very inventive and creative musical decade in many ways (if you ignore disco!) as well the intense, fiery melting pot in which Heavy Metal was first forged. I can hear no end of references from this period, in particular the pounding, crushing blues based riffs straight from Black Sabbath’s cast off bin. I really did wonder if I was able to get through this review without mentioning Black Sabbath, but there was just no way round it! I don’t mean this comparison as a criticism, Northwinds really know how to write a great riff, and once you dig deep into the frozen crust of `Eternal Winter’, you will unearth plenty of retro rocking treasures.
Black Sabbath isn’t their only point of reference however; there are some fantastic, echo-drenched guitar solos which have an even more psychedelic, drifting feel to them and are faintly reminiscent of space cadets Hawkwind to my addled ears. There are progressive touches here and there too, which really add extra dimensions to the out and out 70’s heavy rock. Some truly moog-tastic keyboard layers which ELP would have been proud of, as well the odd bout of flute here and there, giving a mysterious folky feel to it. With the combination of slightly cheesy keyboard sounds and touches of folk instruments I am also reminded occasionally of Celtic-obsessed Brazilian loonies, Tuatha De Danann.
One other thing I will say about this album, is that it is a real grower. I have found this with other albums from Northwinds; it is too easy to dismiss them as yet another early Black Sabbath-obsessed band, but then the other layers, influences and the sheer creativity of the band start to take a hold of you, like a creeping frost. There are too many moments of sheer musical joy present here for this to be dismissed so easily. My favourite song on the entire album is `Crossroads, not least for its luscious guitar harmonies at the beginning of the song, but also for the fact that it includes both retro-sounding keyboard and flute.
Northwinds are a truly creative band, and really are doing their own thing within the whole `doom’ genre. For those of you who love seminal rock from the old times: Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, King Crimson, ELP et al – you should definitely make time for this album.
(7.5/10 Jon Butlin)
Leave a Reply