WINDHAND - Eternal Return
Relapse Records
Well for at least a year now I've written about a half dozen stoner doom acts from around the world who have used this Richmond, Virginia band's style. Call it homage or bandwagon jumping, whatever, all I can say is thankfully the real thing has finally presented itself with this their fourth full length.
Now some quick history for ya. I've been a fan of this band ever since I wrote about their two song demo back in 2010. I thought their debut album was fantastic. Their second album was very good. I liked the early split releases they did as well. But I didn't care too much for their third full length. It's wasn't all bad. I liked two songs on it but the rest seemed like rehash from the previous two slabs. But that was then.
I think it was a month ago that Relapse dropped a video for a song off this album. I forget which one but after hearing it I thought ok this is cool. So here we have Eternal Return, an aptly titled album to say the least. Now WINDHAND hasn't changed who they are but basically they've sharpened up a few areas to push them beyond an average stoner rock act. And there are many examples on here.
First and foremost Dorthia Cottrell's vocals, she's actually singing and it's clean and clear sounding. Sure she still has that haunting air to her vocal style. But now she's not overwhelmed by the heavy handed sound the band pummels away at. If you ever heard Dorthia Cottrell's solo album, which by the way you should, then you know she has an amazing voice. In fact there's a cool cut on here, "Pilgrim’s Rest", which reminds me of her solo work but on here it's an amazing break from what you'd expect on a WINDHAND album.
Next up, about that pummeling sound well guitarist Garrett Morris and bassist Parker Chandler have reined in some of their heaviness in favor of melody, a slightly upbeat in rhythm and more psych. Someone (producer Jack Endino?) injected some 90's grunge into em as well. With drummer Ryan Wolfe laying in more fills the band is not sounding so much like a hippy metal stoner jam band. Yeah WINDHAND's a four piece act now minus guitarist Asechiah Bogdan. Obviously the loss has made them sound tight as well as exciting.
The bottom line, well in my not so humble opinion their debut full length will always rank up there with some of the greatest doom albums of all time. But as far as this one goes it's probably their best album so far in their career. Their last one, Grief’s Eternal Flower, touched upon what they created here and maybe that's why I didn't care so much for it. Eternal Return is easily one of the best albums of 2018. Nuff Said.
https://store.relapse.com/
https://windhand.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/WindhandVA
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