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The Howling Wind: Into the cryosphere

25/08/10 || Khlysty

I have the deepest respect for Ryan Lipynsky. Even though GD fans seem to turn their backs on him (judging by the comments –or, more accurately, their lack of…- that followed my reviews of “Season Of Séance, Science Of Silence” and “Electrocution”, by his “day-job” band, the mighty Unearthly Trance), I still consider him one of the best guitarists and composers in metal today. What most people don’t know, though, is that Lipynsky, in his spare time, delves into some of the gnarliest mutations of black metal, creating his own niche in the genre.

His first black metal band, Thralldom, created enough of a buzz, due to its uncompromising sound and overall stance. And, now, with The Howling Wind, Killusion (Lipynsky’s black metal alias) is back with a vengeance, giving us hungry metalheadz a nice and pretty concise dish of extremity. If there’s one word that fully encapsulates The Howling Wind’s character, that’s “intensity”. “Into The Cryosphere” is one motherfucker of record, lasting just 33 minutes, but packing so much punch that’ll leave you breathless and begging for more.

What must be made clear from the outset is that The Howling Wind, although clearly moving within the parameters of black metal, is a band that won’t accept presupposed ideas as the Scripture, going instead for a wholly unique and incredibly effective sound. By mixing black metal’s spare riffing and buzzing intensity with sludge’s heft and gravitas, the songs seem much bigger, louder and uglier that anyone would expect them to be. Oh, fear not, there’s quite a bit of that good ole blasting goin’ on here. But, the duo that comprises The Howling Wind looks for more than aural white-out.

Instead, the music is so much riff-oriented that, even though the record’s compact enough, there seems to be an overabundance of riffs that have the tendency of getting stuck into the listener’s brain and growing there, much like a terminal malignancy. Also, there’s quite a bit of rhythmic variation, with the band going from frost-bitten blastathons, to sludgy, asphyxiating parts, to groovy super-mosher monsters, even to Motörhead-via-Celtic Frost rave-ups with the ease, power and precision of a laser-guided missile. There’s even a small noise/industro/illbient thingy that works wonnerfully as a coda between two hyper-intense tracks.

And then, there’s the ultimate curveball, the six-and-a-half-minute Mogwai-via-Pelican-via Blut Aus Nord quasi-instrumental “Impossible Eternity”, the dirge to end all dirges, with Lipynsy tremolo-picking soulfully, filling a martial funeral background with so much condensed sentiment that it will leave drained and –maybe- unable to face up to the last piece of the puzzle the band creates for the listener, the two-plus-minute blast of frigid hatred that closes the record.

To cap things off, I have to add that the record was produced by Colin Marston (Krallice, Behold… The Arctopus, Dysrhythmia) and the production is beyond stellar: clear, punchy, raw, organic, it’s a revelation for sore ears and a lesson for metal band of every part of the spectrum. Bottom line is that The Howling Wind is yet another worthy addition to USBM’s continuously expanding roster of great bands and “Into The Cryosphere” is one hell of a good record, that pushes the envelope on what black metal can be. Great fucking band, great fucking record. What else would anyone want?

8,5

Information
Released: 2010
Label: Profound Lore
Website: The Howling Wind MySpace
Band
Killusion (Ryan Lipynsky): vocals, guitar, bass
Parasitus Nex (Tim Call): drums

Tracklist
01. The Seething Wrath of a Frigid Soul
02. Teeth of Frost
03. Obscured Pyramid
04. Ice Cracking in the Abyss
05. Will Is the Only Fire Under an Avalanche
06. Impossible Eternity
07. A Dead Galaxy Mirrored in an Ice Mirage

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