[ALBUM REVIEW] Forlorn Winds - The Day the Wolf Swallowed the Sun

 

Genre - Black Metal

1. A New Age Dawns

2. Norn's Destiny

3. The Day the Wolf Swallowed the Sun

4. Realm of Decay

5. Ancient Flesh

6. Signal of Gall

7. Transfiguration of Conciousness

8. Forlorn Winds

Finding any substantial information about this mysterious act called Forlorn Winds is proving to a bit of a futile endeavour. What I do know about them is they are a recent project involving members of both Polish stalwarts Dark Fury and the American act Pantheon, and although there is a considerable distance between both artists, it certainly doesn’t show in their music, for this comes together in absolutely sublime fashion. It’s especially surprising in that this appears to be mainly the brainchild of Vautrin from Pantheon, a band which I was never a fan of at all, but this succeeds them on every level imaginable.

Given that both members are from two notorious NS bands, you’d be safe in assuming this is comes across heavily in the elitarian atmosphere these two guys conjure together, and regardless of what side of the line you stand you’ve got to admit that it’s utterly fucking pulverising at times.  With The Day the Wolf Swallowed the Sun the emphasis is very much on the bleak grinding tumult of the guitars with Vautrin’s deep reverbed vocals superimposed on top.  If you want a basic comparison I’d liken Forlorn Winds to a hybrid somewhere between the rhythm work of Drudkh and the occult vacuity and force of Greek act Acherontas, which I can certainly hear in the vocals.

The drum work itself though deserves a mention; J’s work is flat out with his relentless blasting broken up tastefully adding a sweeping wave of brutality to this album. Just listen to the opener, “A New Age Dawns”, it’s absolutely fucking devastating and levels everything in its path, leaving nothing but dust and ash in its wake. The vocals emanate from the inferno with all the ardour of the fallen one himself. The rest of the album pretty much follows in the same pattern, razor sharp riffing surging to and fro, deep echoed vocals and a never ending blizzard from the kit.

The album even has a huge kick of Mgla to it, very noticeable in the arrangements of the title track with the vocal patterns and riffing. If there’s one complaint it’s the lack of variation, it seems like every track is just a different manifestation of the first one in one way or another, but when you listen to the first track you might consider than to be a positive rather than a negative. But then again you could say that about 90% of black metal albums anyway, so sort of a moot point.

If you’re looking for a no frills, no prisoners, no sympathy black metal album then look no further for The Day the Wolf Swallowed the Sun will drag you kicking and screaming into pitch black oblivion and show absolutely no remorse. Certainly a pleasant surprise from these two seasoned individuals anyway and one that most people would do well to check out. 

9/10

Sounds like - Acherontas, Stutthof, Mgla

Originally written for Metalcrypt