Black/progressive/symphonic Metal. 2003 release from Switzerland.
- Vladimir Cochet / vocals, guitar, bass, drum programming, keyboards
Wow what a great album. Beautiful lush classically influenced keys, mixed with inventive guitar lines, deep warm layered dark clean vocals and wonderfully fierce black metal shrieks. Long epic songs with poetic dark lyrics and wonderful composition and variety. Intense and beautiful album. Only problem is the programmed drums do sound occasionally fake due to the EXTREMELY fast blast beats used in certain parts. Songs may be too long for some music fans also, but they are well worth absorbing over time if this is a problem. For fans of dark powerful intense beautiful lush organic extreme metal. Tinged with Romantic and Baroque essence, the music of Mirrorthrone bears a large diversity of influences. Shapeshifting from Classical music with ambient atmosphere to the most cavernous sounds of extreme Black Metal is the style achieved by Mirrorthrone.
Of Wind and Weeping is Vladimir Cochet's debut album with Mirrorthrone, and it's more or less just a simple re-recording session of his previous two demos. This album reeks of neo-baroqueism throughout its duration, and Vladimir does a very nice job controlling the atmosphere set by the keyboard and synth in the background.
Overall, this is a very hit-and-miss album. You either love it, or you don't. If you've heard Vlad's second output, Carriers of Dust, or even more recently, Gangrene, it may be hard to adjust because the lack of incredibly "in your face" synth and prominent guitars are so different on this release than his others. Now, that's not to say that this album is bad, by no means is it bad. I personally enjoy it quite a lot, and would place it in my top ten favorite albums of all time (then again, Mirrorthrone is one of my top five favorite bands).
The album opens with Racines Dénudées, an eleven minute "epic," if you will. This is a very solemn song with a few harsh passages. Most notably the keyboards set the stage for Vlad's experimentation with Baroque-era classical right off the bat. Upon drawing to an end, the very promptly titled Florilège Lunatique Occultement Révélateur et Néantisation Caduque Engendrée comes in with even more subtle insanity. The drumming on this release is simply astounding, though sounding incredibly mechanical at times. Vladimir uses this to his advantage, however, and is most prominent on songs such as Beyond the Mirrorthrone and The Notion of Perfect.
This being his debut album with this project, it should be noted that unlike his other musical forays (Weeping Birth, Unholy Matrimony), the use of 300+ BPM blast beats are very constricted, if used at all. The drumming is very tom/floor tom oriented, and the cymbals are toned down significantly less than they appear on Carriers of Dust. That's not to say it takes away from the value of this album or the project itself. As stated earlier, this album is very experimental and comes from a variety of influences (Vlad openly admits to Tori Amos being a notable reference).
The guitar work on this album is absolutely magnificient. Creating the melody and lines for the drums to syncopate behind, the timing and execution is flawless. There's not really much to say except for the fact that Vladimir has always been a fantastic guitar player. Fun fact: Vladimir Cochet plays the guitar left-handed, which makes for an even more interesting perspective.
The bass is very minimal, at best, and usually just follows the guitar lines. It's not a standout instrument, and is played on a four stringed bass guitar. Vladimir has said that he really only uses the bass to create a backing wall of sound so that the rest of the instruments don't seem flat or lacking in substance, which is understandable. It would be weird to hear a bass solo in the middle of a blasting, neoclassical symphonic black metal song (imagine a break for bass in the middle of the solemn, yet moving Beyond the Mirrorthrone--it just wouldn't fit.).
As for the synth itself, well, it isn't as prominent as it should be but it does its part very well. Creating the backdrop for the guitars and drums, the self-programmed neoclassical epic that is Of Wind and Weeping maintains its incredible essence within this one sole instrument. One more note that should be mentioned: there are absolutely NO harsh vocals on this album. Vladimir sings purely in his clean voice, and it sounds magnificent. He has female vocal assistance from a woman know only as "Marthe." Her wonderful voice coupled with Vladimir's deep, heavily European accent make for an outstanding duet leading truly passionate music. I feel this album was created by Vlad to remind him of his romanticism (with possible girlfriend/fiancee/wife?). This is truly a work of art for those seeking pure, true love. As a whole, this album cannot go overlooked. Vladimir Cochet's debut venture into the world of symphonic black metal in the vein of Anorexia Nervosa-esque classical inference is an awesome delight.
Sample: https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
