THE HOWLING WIND – Into the Cryosphere CD review

THE HOWLING WIND – Into the Cryosphere CD
Profound Lore Records
Genre: Black Metal/Sludge/Doom

For quite a few years now whenever a few bands come out and give a swift kick to the Black Metal orthodoxy, which is fine by me, it’s followed by a trend. For every band or artist who breaks down a wall they are followed by coattail riders. We’ve already heard plenty of indie rock losers jumping on the bandwagon of avant garde or post black metal with mixed results. Now the next trend, if this year’s releases are any type of indication, is Blackened Doom/Sludge. Obviously it’s nothing new under the funeral moon but there just seems to be a preponderance of these types of bands of late. You could go back to NEUROSIS and their 2007 release Given to the Rising CD as an influence on current events. I’ve reviewed quite a few Blackened Doom bands this year. What I try to do is find some thread to these bands which makes them more then trendy. This two piece act seems to be one of the non trendy bunches.

THE HOWLING WIND is made of Ryan Lipinsky (aka: Killusion) on guitar, bass and vocals and Parasitus Nex on drums. These two individuals have honed their chops in a variety of extremism. Parasitus Nex has been in a number of bands but I know him from sludge doomeisters ALDEBARAN. As far as Ryan Lipinsky goes I’ve been a long time fan of his doom band UNEARTHLY TRANCE, but he was keeping things black and mean way back in his former band THRALLDON. Another little tidbit of knowledge is that these two guys live on opposite coasts with Lipinsky in New York City and Parasitus Nex in Oregon. I don’t know if that has anything to do with influences but musical side projects involving individuals who live far from one another is also becoming a bit of a trend.

The more I listen to Into the Cryosphere the more I’m thinking NEUROSIS meets CELTIC FROST in a filthy airplane hanger located somewhere in Alaska. I lived in Alaska for two years so some of my more frozen metaphors are from personal experience and the lion’s share of the cuts on here has some dedication to the cold. This is their second full length and my first so back tracking to compare ain’t gonna happen as I write this but I can judge em from their other bands. Parasitus Nex brings on alot of his past projects into this one where as Lipinsky does not and is working in new territory. His vocals on here are harsher than what he does in UNEARTHLY TRANCE and musically he’s pushing an atmosphere equal to hypothermia on the brain. My favorite parts of Into the Cryosphere come when the duo unhinge themselves from the sludge, or in their case trudging through deep snow, like on “Ice Cracking in the Abyss”, “A Dead Galaxy Mirrored in an Ice Mirage” or the latter half of “ Teeth of Frost”. But other than that I find most of this numb as in mind numbing or psych damage. THE HOWLING WIND was probably shooting for something on the brutal side of frostbitten nuts but they’re just not there yet. The sludge will always draw them back into warmer climates. I’d call this decent but not worth clubbing a seal over.

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