At the Helm of the Abyss

Dead of Winter are in termination mode on this their debut album released by Profound Lore Records. We have 8 stabbing tracks of relentless black death metal that easily blurs the lines into all-out war metal. Bleak and grim, this release will skull fuck your corpse into agonizing torment. A muddy and murky production bludgeons the listener as the opener start the funeral procession. One would think it was recorded in a torture chamber. D.O.F rampage through every track with a lust for black boiled blood, these psychopaths are crazed on metal extremity at blistering speed. This album is the epitome of pure chaos. Its utterly hostile approach is clear, and the opener titled Total hate, final war will drive the first stake deep into your imploding spine. Released in March 2005 this album has already stood the test of time and there are not many to rival its ferocity, 23 years after its seminal release.

The rhythm guitar is by far the standout instrument of torture. Its barbed and unrelenting as it tears its way through every single track of this beastly offering. Uber sinister but surprisingly varied in its full tilt assault that will grind the listener unapologetically. Matching this barbaric intensity, we have Abyssious pounding the skins with reckless fury. Together this duo forms the backbone of this assault as they invoke the dawn of a black eternity. If your a spineless metal poser then avoid this at all cost. Each track is relentless in speed yet considerably varied in length. The closing onslaught is over 11 minutes of total bestial annihilation. They kept the best for last and although I'm not a fan of long songs, this one is a cracker. It keeps you pinned to the torture rack as the base lines crush what's left to be mutilated. Kaehl Duncan sadly passed in 2009 but has left a legacy of rage in his wake. RIP metal brother

Canada is always fertile in the extreme metal division and this here is no different. Hailing from Ontario, these warmongers raise the bar with their brutal songwriting. Schizoid’s vocals are agonizing as he praises demonic atrocities and blasphemes the feeble flock of the white light. At times his double layered vocals have part spoken word, blended in to guttural belches but trust me it melts effortlessly into the battering. True pleasure is rare, and this is a rare pleasure indeed.

if you’re into the extreme underground scene then check this horde out. Its rampaging madness for only the sickest of minds. Satan is sadistically pleased with this release.

Buy to fukking Die!!!

Canada has always seemed to spawn more ultra-violent black metal than just about anywhere else. Right from the get-go with Blasphemy’s insane melding of black metal’s seething nihilism with the relentless speed and violence of death/grind metal, the Great White North has constantly provided us with speaker-destroying audial warfare, and Dead Of Winter seem to be quite content continuing the tradition. Exploding out of a roll of boiling thunder, At The Helm Of Abyss spends the next 36 minutes slapping you around with a non-stop barrage of blastbeats, primitive guitar abuse and hoarse vocals. The drumming really is the centre of attention here, slamming away with a ferocious artillery of whipcrack snare and thunderous double-kick, while the guitars mostly provide harsh ambience for the rhythms to churn up into a storm of hatred.

Occasionally they do slow down, such as in the lead-heavy “Across The Vast Storm Front”, but mostly you’re just going to be pulverized by speed for the entire duration, not crushed. The magnum-opus here, though, is the epic final deathstrike “The Seminary of Desolation… At The Helm of the Abyss”, which bashes away for a mind-numbing 9-odd minutes before dissolving into an ambient outro. Not to worry, since it feels like about 5 minutes. In fact, the album as a whole seems to rush in much less time than it really takes, which is always a good sign – better to have a 30 minute album feeling like 15 mintues than 75, after all.

All said, there’s not much subtlety here really. Not to worry though, since this stuff was never about such nonsense, it’s entirely designed to slap your face with a nuclear hammer. Fans of such nice radio-friendly acts as Conqueror, Bestial Warlust, Black Witchery and Marduk will derive endless enjoyment from this album.



Previously published at www.diabolicalconquest.com (c) 2005