Review Summary: The Midnight In Paris of black metal.......
Wędrujący Wiatr is a modern Polish black metal band that recently turned my world upside down with their stunning debut "Tam, gdzie Miesiąc opłakuje Świt". Translating roughly into wandering wind, Wędrujący Wiatr play a spiritual form of black metal that takes great influence from their Polish landscape and folklore. Additionally, musical influences from Europe's mid to late 90's scene and America's current scene can be felt heavily throughout this fourty one minute recording. I guess you could say that this is a blend of the old and the new. As evidenced by the album's stunning naturalistic artwork you get the impression that Wędrujący Wiatr play a heavily romanticized strain of black metal not unlike Drudkh, early Ulver or Wolves in the Throne Room. If you got that feeling, like me, then you are correct. Wędrujący Wiatr's style of black metal is not evil, misanthropic or grim in any kind of way. In fact, to me, I feel their sound flirts endlessly between the lines of sorrow and optimism. Through it all, Wędrujący Wiatr hold the spirit of 90's black metal in their hearts of hands.
The album features only five songs yet stretches out to forty one minutes of material. In that given time span Wędrujący Wiatr construct some expansive and surprisingly engaging black metal that never loses it's momentum. The core techniques of the traditional atmospheric black metal genre can be found in the shape of tremolo picking, anguished screams and gritty production. Also found is synth, acoustic guitar and animal/nature sound effects which help compliment the melancholy nature of the music. Although not original by any means, Wędrujący Wiatr are talented musicians and songwriters who inject the music with plenty of personality and heart and consistently keep the music interesting. This album is made possible by the strong chemistry of W. and Razor who to me seems like they've been writing music together for more than a decade. The duo have a penchant for just writing good songs. Everything from the soft/heavy transitions to the nature effects sound natural and cohesive. The emotion of the music is genuine and as a bleeding heart romanticist myself, I have no complaints or shame of being a bleeding heart romanticist listening to bleeding heart romantic music.
I first heard this album not too long ago ago but I knew immediately upon listening that this would end in my top ten album list at the end of the year. And for that I highly recommend this album to anyone looking to get into black metal without all the posturing Satanic shenanigans. Fans of Cascadian black metal will love this as will the fans of early Ulver, Drudkh, Primordial and early Satyricon so all I can say is give this a spin.
