Published: March 31, 2021

Canada continues to impress us with their constantly growing Black Metal scene, today we have one-man outfit Nordicwinter with “Sorrow”. Being the band’s fourth full-length release, this release unravels nearly one hour of highly melancholic Atmospheric BM, filled with mournful and doomy passages. If you like heavily emotional music that combines both lush atmospheric arrangements and savage onslaughts of harshness, you are in the right place.

The album sets a very hypnotic and tempered mood with the start of “Somber Winds Of Despair (Part I)”. As this song progresses we are treated to wonderful harsh shrieks paired with melancholic guitars and a very restrained tempo. We particularly enjoy the overly dramatic atmospheric keyboards that nicely envelop the slow and painful distorted riffs. Creating a very dense and yet lush atmosphere, tracks like “Sullen Echoes” and “This Mournful Dirge” are very immersive, as we foundouselves getting lost in their magical misery-inducing atmosphere.

There is also plenty of brutality in this release, and one of the best examples is the pummeling “In This Darkness…” and its aggressive BM onslaughts. Being huge fans of Doom Metal releases, we enjoy the sweeping doomy riffs of pieces like “Dying Winters” and “Somber Winds Of Despair (Part II)” as they create a nice contrast to the harsh screams and more traditional BM elements of the band’s music.

After an atmospheric instrumental closer, we find ourselves wanting to play “Sorrow” over and over again, to discover more of its intricacies and hidden details. If you like craft music that is both melancholic and punishing, Nordicwinter is one of those bands that falls right in that category. Be prepared to be fully immersed into the band’s misery inducing vibe with this excellent release.