Winterfullmoon "Death Eternal" CD

"Death Eternal" was recorded under the Grim and Cold Winter Full Moon in the Bloody Years 2018 & 2019.

limited to 333 handnumbered copies

Winterfullmoon is the newest band by Wehrgoat who might be known to some genre enthusiasts for his other projects like e.g. Czarnobog or Sturmfolk. Similar to those Winterfullmoon comes with a pretty harsh and raw sound. Additionally to being responsible for the drumming Wehrgoat also played the keyboard on the debut EP “Death Eternal”, and this might be one of the defining factors which makes Winterfullmoon stand a bit out from the pack. The combination of grimness and those otherworldly keyboard sounds is slightly weird yet absolutely fascinating.
This EP consists of only three real tracks plus one intro and a lengthy outro, adding up to 25 minutes of total playing time. Each of the three songs has its own trademark theme and you can see that Wehrgoat and his two colleagues have a very concrete idea about the sound and the atmosphere they want to create under the moniker Winterfullmoon. This band and output is dedicated to the very dark days of old, with the music feeling like having been recorded in a long forgotten dungeon beneath the ruins of a haunted castle, buried beneath snow and ice. The coldness here is sterile and precise, yet the music feels lively and enthusiastic. The harsh wall of static guitar washes over throbbing bass as bits of noise skitter and crawl across the soundscape. The vocals are barely noticeable amongst the cacophony, but what comes through sounds fierce and sinister. What is noticeable is the haunting presence of heavy reverb and hall effects cutting through, the only grasping bits of reality against the smothering wash of insanity. The hypnotic synths produced by the keyboard are hovering over the music reminding of the cold wind cutting through the empty halls, lending each track a certain mood.
Like it is the case most of the time with that kind of classic black metal most riffs, harmonies and song elements have been used a dozen times before in one way or another. However, these dudes have a great feeling for taking all those details, add some own ideas and use them for building songs with a dense atmosphere, making sure that the listener gets drawn into the icy darkness. The production is more than serviceable, but maybe just a bit woo washed-out for my personal taste. However, this argument should not take away anything from this nice gem, which might prove to be the starting point for a band which shows a lot of potential to become something special and a bit out of the ordinary. Fans of low-fi/garage/demo productions when it comes to this kind of homage to the glory past will love the sound anyway And the stunning cover alone is easily worth a purchase to add “Death Eternal” to the collection.

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