Silence of the Winter Night

Symphonic black metal is such an amazing subgenre, as I am always on the lookout for great new releases. When done correctly, it truly carries a lot of heart and even some sort of magic.

"The Sunset in the Mountains"/"Silence of the Winter Night" (as it is called on the digital release) is a fine example of such a craft. First of all I am a sucker for great album artwork, and I really like the mood and setting the cover artwork promotes. Uncompromising, cold, brutal... this album holds a slight nuance of nostalgia and dark beauty.

The main component that underlines this beauty musically is the keyboard, and I want to start my elaboration on the positives by saying it is perfectly used by Pesttanz here. There aren't many layers of keyboard sounds at once, and the tone itself is most of the time quite minimal. It is utilized well to support the mood of the album, no drifting into overreliance or quirky sounds. The vocals are varied, as sometimes you get a slightly distorted DSBM tone, while at other times it is more of a raspy tone... Even some clean vocals find their way here. Nice! The guitar is well implemented with catchy riffs, even though it often takes a step back to let the vocals, keys or drums have the predominant part. Drumming for the most part is noticeable, giving "The Sunset in the Mountains" a faster pace.

It is worth noting, that the mixing is quite different between the original version and the later one by Barbatos Productions. When listened to back-to-back, you can definitely hear the difference. Still, both versions are actually quite good. There really are no huge issues with this album, other than some of the songs drag to some extent; which unintendedly makes the album slower.

Anyway, I listen to it a lot; always enjoying it! Panzerfrost and Abighor did an amazing job together. "The Sunset in the Mountains" pulls you deep into the moonlit forests, embraced by cold and icy winds... creating a mood so savage and aesthetically pleasing all at once. Great! If you share my enthusiasm for the niche of a genre that is symphonic black metal, you should really give this album a go!