Windbruch - Collision of The Worlds (2009)

Country: Russia
Language: Russian (Русский язык)
Genre: Black Metal
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© 2009 Sun & Moon Records
Reviewed by "Dark Emperor" for Infernal Masquerade.com
Crushing and disarming are the perfect words to describe a good Depressive Black Metal release, and these words can easily be expressed about Windbruch’s debut full-length release “Collision of the Worlds”. Being a one-man band, most of the instrumentation of this release is superbly done and perfectly arranged to create 8 tracks of pure Depressive Black Metal hatred with some hints of Post-Black Metal and even some Shoegaze elements.
With over 43 minutes of music, I.O (the mastermind behind the band) brings us seven very emotional pieces that sort of narrate the story of a person through seven days. Each of the tracks has its own soul and together they create a very cohesive album, the only one we didn’t quite like is the Akira Yamaoka cover of “Theme of Laura”, since it just sounds too happy for this kind of release.
Starting of with a short 2 minute opening track “Day I”, things start to pick up and the first distorted guitars are present on “Day II”. Here we finally get the traditional Depressive Black Metal stuff and hear some mournful shrieks of pain paired with mid-tempo drumming and crushing guitar riffs. Breaking into atmospheric sections of clean guitars, Windbruch nicely prepares the listener for the next onslaught of depressive sound waves. The only weird thing about this song is the part with the beating heart and some heaving breathing, some people might interpret it as something very disgusting.
The thing about “Collision of the Worlds” that we enjoyed the most is the fact that while the songs have a very traditional approach to the genre, they still manage to have an impact on the listener and keep him engaged. This is achieved by having different structures inside each song like on “Day II” and “Day III”, allowing the listener to enjoy the music and not be bored to death by ridiculous amounts of repetition like other bands in the genre.
Windbruch’s music can be easily compared to a lighter version of Dodsferd, a more ‘up tempo’ version of Lantlôs, and even a less ethereal version of Alcest. With this being said, you can understand that the band has a pretty solid sound, and the quality of their music is very evident with the tracks presented in this album. Moving from Depressive Black Metal, to Post-Black Metal, to Shoegaze is something that is very well done through the album and keeps things fresh.
Our favorite songs of this album have to be “Day VI” and “Day VII” since they both create a very bleak atmosphere, something that Windbruch excels at. In general, we have to say that “Collision of the Worlds” is a very solid Depressive Black Metal album and that if you like the genre, you will love this release. The atmosphere and the music are just right in these 40+ minutes of music, allowing us to highly recommend this release.

tags: windbruch, collision of the worlds, 2009, flac,