Winterius-In carbon Mysticism

Lifeforce
2011

The press release for the debut from Kalamazoo, Michigan's Winterius says they "are the musical equivalent to nature". That's a bold claim, but Winterius seem to have ambitious intentions. This is black metal from a band that tries to go beyond the basic format and rely technical skill as much as pure, brutal power. The potential in their writing and playing is present, but it's not always completely thought out. Many times they would begin on an instrumental passage and have some real momentum going, but then they just didn't seem to know how to hold the song together or how to properly finish it. A shame because almost every single song starts out with real promise. I also definitely have to add that I preferred the instrumental parts to the pieces with vocals. This is because the music was frequently very interesting, but whenever the standard growling black metal vocals popped up the music seem to take a nosedive into the background. Winterius have plenty of ideas and show great promise, but they need to really tighten up around the edges I wasn't totally satisfied with the production. Still certainly worth a listen because of the ideas they tackle.