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| Self-released, 2014 |
To Hollow Lands where just men and unjust
Find end of labour, where's rest for the old,
Very little seems to be known about the Ukrainian Wintercry. So far I haven’t been able to find any physical releases, social media activity or contact information. The project carefully manages to hide in obscurity; only showing three releases on its Bandcamp page. Today, we’ll carefully approach one of them.
Swords and Magic is Wintercry’s first full-length and draws inspiration on the story of Duul-Asdaat - a necromancer who once was a priest, but lost his faith and became obsessed by the Dark Dreams of Four. Once again I am confronted with my own lack of knowledge. Who is this Duul-Asdaat? What caused him to lose his faith? Who are the Four? All that is left for me to do, is waddle ignorantly through the music that has been provided.
Let’s get straight to the point here: this ignorant waddling is a blessing. From the get-go, Wintercry drags us in with cold and hollow synths. Its melodies are airy but wild; like a gust of wind, moving rapidly through dark caverns. We are immediately accompanied by deep toms, pounding their way forward and thus creating a real sense of urgency. This is no time for warm and comfortable dreaming, traveler. Something is brooding, nearby, yet out of sight.
Even when, later on the record, the percussive elements slowly evaporate, we are not welcomed by a feeling of ease. Instead, Swords and Magic manages to capture an ambiguous ambiance until the very last note. An ambiance that is pleasant to the ear, but also gives me a real sense of danger.
Duul-Asdaat might have lost his faith, but Swords and Magic has fully won me over.
TL;DR: Highly recommended.
Old-school sounding Dungeon Synth that rides our imagination from the beginning till the very end.
Wintercry on Bandcamp
