Hellthrone Baphomet

This is a rather interesting and quirky black metal EP, though the silly cover art and title don't indicate as much. Still, there's something going on with Wintermoon's music- the kinks aren't all worked out, of course (when are people going to stop trying the 'experimental technique of blast beats under clean guitars?), but it's still a pretty interesting opening volley for a debut official release. And all this coming from Mexico, of all places!

This doesn't sound Mexican at all; if pressed, not knowing the band's origin, I'd say Sweden, though the vocals would give me pause. Wintermoon sort of merges Enthroned and some of the more straightforward Quebecois bands like Godless North, but without the one-dimensionality of either. Certainly the band's riffing style owes a lot to the Swedish scene in its calculated, fiery delivery that reminds one of bands like Dark Funeral, but there's a subtle melodic undercurrent running in most of them that gives me pause. More importantly than that are the song structures: chopped up riffs either half or twice the length they would typically be dot the music, making this sound a lot more creative and thought-out than most bands of this style are. While the music does tend to be rather straightforward, favoring blasts and tremolo riffs for the majority of the EP's duration, some of the pacing (like the slow-growing opening of 'Cosmic Seas In Darkness') suggest a band more interesting than one would expect from a cursory listen.

The tracks are, admittedly, a bit long for my liking- I bet a minute could be cut off from each without any damage being done to the integrity of the pieces. That being said, I do like the ambition this band is expressing with slightly longer songs that explore multiple musical dimensions. Simply because a track starts with a riff directly off 'Under A Funeral Moon' doesn't necessarily mean it'll continue that way, and Wintermoon is pretty good at blending the more atonal and melodic moments together without seeming like a meaningless hodge-podge of elements. The vocals are interesting as well, a somewhat nasal, growling rasp that reminds one of Inquisition with a bit more body, which somehow works well with the rather frozen, distant sound of the music as a whole. A pretty good atmosphere is constructed on these tracks- cold and northern without being stereotypical. Overall, I like the package.

None of the songs on this EP are exactly classics given the somewhat questionable drum performance at times and their overly long delivery, but on this EP Wintermoon evidences themselves as a band with significant potential despite these flaws. A good one for black metal fans to pick up, though I wouldn't go far out of my way for it.