Voidwind "Clad In Your Misery" CD Digipack

"Soothing, longing, sorrowful and intriguing: just some words that describe the music of Voidwind on their album ‘Clad in Your Misery’. Besides that it’s released by the Finnish Misantropia Records, not a whole lot is known about the band except that an individual that goes by NGK is behind it all and that Kalmankantaja’s Grim666 was involved in additional keys and backing vocals. Not that it matters, as the music more than speaks for itself. What Voidwind presents is atmospheric and depressive Black Metal that has quite a connection to Doom Metal. Putting the music into words in terms of frames of reference, there is a certain resemblance to Kalmankantaja, in particular on their albums ‘Waldeinsamkeit’, ‘Muinainen’ and the more recent ‘Surun Saattomailla’. However, the keyboards on ‘Clad in Your Misery’ are more leading, adding both an atmospheric backdrop as well as a prominent melodic component. You could also say that Voidwind harbors a bit of the Kalmankantaja album ‘Second Death’, which within the Kalmankantaja discography is a little bit further away from Black Metal and closer to the Doom Metal of in particular Katatonia. Besides Katatonia, there are some hints of the atmospheric storytelling of Swallow the Sun while some traces of the oldest origins of Anathema surface as well. I also hear a bit of likeness to the American Black Metal band Sadness back in the music, and another band that strongly comes to mind is the Finnish band Dolorian, especially in the vocals and guitar sound. Yet despite many references, Voidwind manages to set itself apart in how they combine all these elements.
The pace on the album is strictly midpaced, but despite the substantial length of the tracks, at no time it feels as if becomes monotonous or tedious. This is mainly achieved by powerful compositions filled with intricately layered and dynamically shifting instruments. Both the keyboards and guitars are present in at least two distinguishable layers. The keyboards manifest themselves both as an atmospheric background as well as more prominent, piano-like melodies that are often deceptively simple yet truly captivating. The guitars appear in a distorted and raw shape, often acting as the rhythmic body but at times also as more dominant melodies in harmony with the keyboards. At the same time, clean strumming guitars adds yet another layer of depth and cold to the music. The bass doesn’t appear in the spotlight often, but when it does it leads its own way, while the changes in drum pace play with the intensity of the emotions evoked by the music. The role of the vocals is somewhat submissive, but they are equally diverse. Going from pained outcries to growls, raspy shrieks to whispered and spoken passages, they possibly convey the life of a person who ages as the songs progress, culminating in the fragile voice of a seemingly older person in the beautiful ‘I Loved You in the End’.
With a sound that combines the depressive elements of Black Metal and Doom Metal, ‘Clad in Your Misery’ walks a beautiful path that is at times soothing yet overall full of misery. The beauty lies in how the recurring musical themes continually change their roles, as a theatre play with a handful of actors that continually shifts who portrays the lead performance. The leading melodies, whether performed by the keyboards or guitars, are entrancing and comforting, yet tell a tale of a life lived with regret and sorrow. All this combined makes ‘Clad in Your Misery’ a truly beautiful and captivating album from start to finish."

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