Windhand - Eternal Return

Aha, that’s the album I was looking for a sunday. Smooth, old-fashioned, pure heavy rock with touches of art rock and stoner. The sound of a fuzzy guitar is really a thing that makes me happy. Guitar solos full of whah, also great. Windhand with “Eternal Return” really amazed my sunday night. “Eternal Return” has a foot on Doom Metal, if you listen to “Halcyon” only. But the vibes vary throughout the album.

Things get even better when you go to “Grey Garden” which goes almost in a slow-motion until it bursts into an incisive guitar solo full of whahs. “Grey Garden” is almost a grunge song except for the fuzzy guitars and aforementioned guitar solo. Vocals are very similar to the Seattle vibe. Also the way the song progresses. Third track “Pilgrim’s Rest” sounds very similar to Nirvana’s acoustic songs. But Dorthia Cotterll’s voice is a bit more bitter than Curt’s. If it’s possible.

Windhand are a band that can blend into their music the past and the present. Though they seem to be more near the past, there are lots of present’s features in “Eternal Return.” This blazé vibe is back. Stoner and doom bands are very active these days. People are looking for past references because the present can’t offer them what they’re looking for. I don’t mean Metal, but pop. Integrity is out of the question when the matter is pop. After all, music has to be done by people, nor machine. Machines have no heart, no emotion. Pop is full of synthesizers, samplers, and whatever. Metal is not. Real music for real people. The guitar sound is making new lovers, and that’s great. Real music will never die.

Take a bite in “Light into Dark” and its delicious slow-paced drums fillings and the zeppelinish guitar effects. There’s some Led Zeppelin in Windhand as well. Not only the drumming, but also the bass.

Windhand “Eternal Return” was released on October 05th via Relapse Records.

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