Het laatste dat we van Winter hebben gezien op Europese bodem was Roadburn 2011.
Diegene die dit hebben bijgewoond, waren het er allemaal over eens. Dit was hoe het
moest zijn: Log, zwaar – heel zwaar, donker, … Hierna bleef het echter weer angstvallig
stil rond deze cult band.
Maar niet getreurd, hun gitarist heeft een nieuwe band opgericht. De reïncarnatie gaat
verder onder de naam Göden, genoemd naar een nummer van het debuutalbum van
Winter – Into Darkness.
Is dit hetzelfde als Winter, nee, maar het komt wel goed in de geburen met nog een
serieuze snuif Celtic Frost/Triptykon erbij.
Een woordje uitleg
Goden is the spiritual successor to Winter, a band that has been heavily influential and
highly revered in the metal underground since their inception and treasured demos. A
long awaited continuation of what Winter would have been from Stephen Flam(Winter
mastermind)’s vision, their new album “Beyond Darkness” throws us into an existential
voyage, out of the past and into the future. Having various Winter members playing on
Beyond Darkness, the album is a familiar yet distinctive new opus, that expands the
unmapped shadow world that Winter once opened in our nightmares.
A soundtrack that takes the listener on dark and ominous journey, Beyond Darkness is a
conceptual deep dive into wildly unexplored and unknown sonic territory. The story has
three characters, each with different symbols, Stephen Flam as “Spacewinds,” the time
and space in which these characters dwell. Vas Kallas as “NXYTA (Goddess of Night),
the lead vocalist and the darkness. Tony Pinnisi as “The Prophet of GODEN” who
speaks in the name of GODEN and is the light. Pinnisi is the keyboard player of Goden
(also previously keyboardist of Winter) and is also the voice that speaks between songs.
Beyond Darkness is a traditional story of the dark and the light, set to a musical score of
heavy music.
The artwork has been conceived by Eva Petric a talented artist from Vienna, who has
exhibited in churches and worked with the UN in NYC. Petric worked with Stephen Flam,
creating a visual story book within the LP/CD booklet that the listener can look at while
they are consumed by this heavy sound trip.
Stephan Flam leaves us in the outer blackness and inner gloom with these last words as
ethereal guidance:
“I hope you enjoy this endeavor, it has been in the works for a long time. Listen with a
free and open mind.”
(Bron: Svart Records)
Label: Svart Records
Release date: 08/05/2020