How did Darkened Winter come to be?
~First of all I would like to thank Written Blood Interviews & Loki for taking their time to do this interview, so thank you! The conception for Darkened Winter came around 2006-2007 when I first really heard & started listening to black metal. After trying to form a band for a year without success, I decided to continue as a solo project doing everything myself. Shortly after that I began recording for my first release “Gates to Eternity”.
What lured you as a musician to the entrapment of Black Metal?
~From the first time I heard Black Metal I just felt really drawn to the power of the music, the atmosphere and the message portrayed through it.
Darkened Winter still has that true ‘necro’ sound that seems to have fallen by the wayside of so many Black Metal bands, how would you describe you sound?
~The Darkened Winter’s sound has always being raw and it hasn’t actually been intentional to make it that way, it’s just the way the albums turned out in the final mix. I’ve been working to make the sound a lot clearer on my next release “Yggdrasil”, I know some “Elitist’s” believe Black Metal has to sound raw and harsh. Like the early Black Metal, which don’t get me wrong is amazing. But I think you can still make a good quality Black Metal album, still capture the atmosphere and the message you’re putting across, without having it sound like you recorded it in a cave.
You state that you draw inspiration not only from nature but from Norse mythology and paganism as well, do you feel that it’s important to still be in touch with nature not only as a person but as a musician as well?
~Definitely, we can learn alot about ourselves just from looking at nature. Our past, present and future is all there.
You‘ve finished the recording process for ‘Yggdrasil’. What direction does ‘Yggdrasil’ venture into and what are you aiming to achieve with this album?
~Yes! Finally, it’s taken me two years to complete this, The album is a concept based on the Norse Pagan belief of that there are nine words all connected to the life tree “Yggdrasil”. So I came up with the idea to write nine tracks and have each track representing one of the nine worlds, I also wrote an intro based on the creation of the world tree and an outro track based on the final destruction of all the worlds, so that has taken some time to prepare. At the moment I am at the pre-mix stage of the album, the music is recorded and I am just finalizing the lyrics, then onto the vocals & the final mix. It should be completed and ready to release by next year.
How has Darkened Winter grown musically since the release of ‘Gates to Eternity’?
~Well with the first release “Gates To Eternity” I think my influences really came through in the music on that album, where as the two albums after that I feel I found my own sound and wrote from within myself. I think this is especially going to show on my next release, as I’m adding a lot of strings and even acoustic sections throughout the album.
It has been stated that newer Black Metal tends to lack soul when it comes to the true spirit of what Black Metal was suppose to be, what are your views on this?
~I think as long as you’re being true and writing from within yourself it will show through in the music. Although Black Metal is a lot more publicized now, There is still plenty of amazing Black Metal coming out today and a lot of bands are still staying true to what it is all about.
Any famous last words?
~Thanks to everyone who has supported Darkened Winter, stay tuned for the next release “Yggdrasil: Journey Throughout the Nine Worlds”!
I would like to thank Winterdemon for doing this interview.
Reply
Darkened Winter / Blog
Darkened Winter Review [Hell Hound Magazine 17.7.13]
Darkened Winter - a one-man Ambient / Black Metal project Hailing from Adelaide, South Australia. It was formed between 2007 - 2008. Winterdemon preforms all the Guitars, Bass, Drum Programming , Synths and vocals.
This is old school black metal at its best I will be ordering all their music. Listening to them is like watching a cult classic. I loved every second.
If you like real old school black metal I suggest you add these to your collection "Gates To Eternity" / DEMO (2009) ,"Raiders Of Northland" / LP (2010),"Rise Of The Pagan Flames" / LP (2012),"Yggdrasil: Journey Throughout The Nine Worlds" / 2 Disk LP (2013)
And the new release of "Tumulus" is coming soon.
I am looking forward to hearing more from DARKENED WINTER I give them a full blown Hailz and Horns High !!.
Reply
Darkened Winter Interview [ Lilith Scare Webzine 1.6.13 ]
http://lilithscarewebzine.weebly.com/darkened-winter-interview.html
Reply
Darkened Winter Interview [ Blackened Horde Zine 21.5.13 ]
http://blackenedhorde.com/darkened_winter
Reply
Darkened Winter Review [ Black Metal Reviews 18/5/13 ]
Darkened Winter The song "Wandering the Eternal Darkness" is the epitome of ambient. It is dark and dreary and relaxing as well. There is a brief period of vocals that actually fit the song unlike most of their other songs. The riffs do get repetitive after awhile and you start to lose focus of the song and get lost in your own min which sometimes can be good. like a state of meditation.
At Dawn We Ride starts out promising before the vocals kick in. Although the vocals are good, they do not match the song. I'm not sure if there is too much reverb, if the mic is that shitty or if that's the sound they were going for. At about 1:40 there starts a riff that I love. The only thing that ruins it are the vocals. Now, I am very particular about my black metal vocals and honestly to me, these vocals sound like they belong in some blackened death metal band. Don't get butthurt.
Frozen in Time starts out sounding like someone recorded the original track onto a tape cassette and played it into another microphone. I can't really take much more of this quality. There again are the blackened vocals. This song also has a few good riffs. What is with that drum solo, guys? You know very well that is not kreig. It does not flow when the guitar picks back up. Bad timing on when the guitar returns to the song but For the most part, the drums sound good with everything else.
Rise of the pagan flames starts out sounding as raw as Frozen in Time. Not sure if I'll be able to sit through all of this but I will give it a chance. And there is a song where the vocals finally fit! The style is perfect. There isn't much going on in this song that interests me besides the vocals finally fitting the song.
This is all I am going to review from this band. Not bad, not amazing, just metal. Keep it real, bro.
Reply
Darkened Winter Interview [ Written Blood Interviews 6.11.12 ]
How did Darkened Winter come to be?
~First of all I would like to thank Written Blood Interviews & Loki for taking their time to do this interview, so thank you! The conception for Darkened Winter came around 2006-2007 when I first really heard & started listening to black metal. After trying to form a band for a year without success, I decided to continue as a solo project doing everything myself. Shortly after that I began recording for my first release “Gates to Eternity”.
What lured you as a musician to the entrapment of Black Metal?
~From the first time I heard Black Metal I just felt really drawn to the power of the music, the atmosphere and the message portrayed through it.
Darkened Winter still has that true ‘necro’ sound that seems to have fallen by the wayside of so many Black Metal bands, how would you describe you sound?
~The Darkened Winter’s sound has always being raw and it hasn’t actually been intentional to make it that way, it’s just the way the albums turned out in the final mix. I’ve been working to make the sound a lot clearer on my next release “Yggdrasil”, I know some “Elitist’s” believe Black Metal has to sound raw and harsh. Like the early Black Metal, which don’t get me wrong is amazing. But I think you can still make a good quality Black Metal album, still capture the atmosphere and the message you’re putting across, without having it sound like you recorded it in a cave.
You state that you draw inspiration not only from nature but from Norse mythology and paganism as well, do you feel that it’s important to still be in touch with nature not only as a person but as a musician as well?
~Definitely, we can learn alot about ourselves just from looking at nature. Our past, present and future is all there.
You‘ve finished the recording process for ‘Yggdrasil’. What direction does ‘Yggdrasil’ venture into and what are you aiming to achieve with this album?
~Yes! Finally, it’s taken me two years to complete this, The album is a concept based on the Norse Pagan belief of that there are nine words all connected to the life tree “Yggdrasil”. So I came up with the idea to write nine tracks and have each track representing one of the nine worlds, I also wrote an intro based on the creation of the world tree and an outro track based on the final destruction of all the worlds, so that has taken some time to prepare. At the moment I am at the pre-mix stage of the album, the music is recorded and I am just finalizing the lyrics, then onto the vocals & the final mix. It should be completed and ready to release by next year.
How has Darkened Winter grown musically since the release of ‘Gates to Eternity’?
~Well with the first release “Gates To Eternity” I think my influences really came through in the music on that album, where as the two albums after that I feel I found my own sound and wrote from within myself. I think this is especially going to show on my next release, as I’m adding a lot of strings and even acoustic sections throughout the album.
It has been stated that newer Black Metal tends to lack soul when it comes to the true spirit of what Black Metal was suppose to be, what are your views on this?
~I think as long as you’re being true and writing from within yourself it will show through in the music. Although Black Metal is a lot more publicized now, There is still plenty of amazing Black Metal coming out today and a lot of bands are still staying true to what it is all about.
Any famous last words?
~Thanks to everyone who has supported Darkened Winter, stay tuned for the next release “Yggdrasil: Journey Throughout the Nine Worlds”!
I would like to thank Winterdemon for doing this interview.
Reply
Darkened Winter Review [ Black Mass Magazine, Italy 1.10.11 ] ]
Sept / Oct, 2011.
Italian Black Metal Magazine Black Mass, Reviews Darkened Winter!
I start my rewiew presenting "Darkened Winter", a one-man-band led by Australian "Winterdemon", member and founder of this project.
I begin to describe the type of Black Metal that suggests the artist in question is a classic mold style of "Immortal", where this feature is pointed out in his first album "Gates to Eternity" and is less significant in his more personal compositions of his second album, "Raiders of Northland". the screaming type used is "suicidal", I speak of terrible screams, and scratching a lot more often than the average length / long. and I must say that there is really good atmosphere with the sound and violence of which "Winterdemon" offers us. In addition, "Darkened Winter" has some pieces in his repertoire of "Ambient Black Metal" type of "symphonic" which is really beautiful and accurate.
In general, this project it succeeds to be interesting and intriguing, with enough violence and evil in his compositions, especially in the in depth and melodic parts of his "Ambient" songs, although in some passages there are small parts that deviate somewhat from "Black Metal" and it is also to say that if "Winterdemon" had used a more appropriate instrumentation, he could avoid some problems on the naturalness of the sound, where only some riffs are too digital sounding and little natural.
But despite this "Winterdemon" proves to have good ideas and beautiful composition, though the style to "Immortal" is at times more or less evident but not bad at all, especially the typical arpeggios that blend well with the rest and in any case , the listener is positive, impressed and not bored.
If you are interested and want to support Darkened Winter you can contact "Winterdemon" following his Facebook contact:http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002457647574&sk=info
Reply