WINTEREVE - October Dark review

 

WINTEREVE - October Dark

Horror Pain Gore Death Productions

Over the years I've come to know HPGD Productions as the go to label for bands who have no problem going too far when it comes to extreme music. Actually I like when bands go too far. But as it was said on Monty Python's Flying Circus so many times and years ago, "And now for something completely different." 

What we have here is the second full length by WINTEREVE, a five piece act from France. Musically they're a doom act with a female vocalist who has an interesting way of interpreting lyrics but more on that later. While I was listening to this release it was definitely a trip back to the early 90's. WINTEREVE's sound is pure gothic styled death doom. 

Yeah sure I'm all into the extreme filth but back a few decades ago bands like PARADISE LOST and MY DYING BRIDE were doing things musically which were far cooler than the 1990's mainstream crap. I'm also still a huge fan of those two acts as well as many others. 

So when I started listening to this release it was obvious where this band's influences come from. But then you have their vocalist, Marie Martinerie, who mixes up an operatic singing style with this deep baritone gruff vocal bark. Basically it's beauty and the beast from her as if PARADISE LOST'S Nick Holmes and former NIGHTWISH vocalist Tarja Turunen had a kid together. 

I like October Dark because it's late night metal for me to cool down with. The eight cuts on here convey a sense of dark beauty. I will say their take on the genre is more melodic as opposed to their heavier predecessors. There's also subtle hints of that symphonic metal era from a few decades back as well which at least stays in the dark realm. 

In the end I'm not going to say October Dark is a second coming sort of thing. There's some decent mix of melodic riffs, funeral dirge guitar soloing and of course plenty of atmospheric touches. I found myself latching onto cuts like "Forgotten", "Sea of Suffering" and the title song. Because of all that and Marie Martinerie's vocals then this here is a damm good release for gothic doom metal fans to check out.

http://www.horrorpaingoredeath.com/

LISTEN HERE:

https://hpgd.bandcamp.com/album/october-dark