Vintersea - Woven Into Ashes (2023)

There are few albums that span almost every possible genre of Metal, in a cohesive and creative way. Today, Vintersea manages to achieve the near-impossible with their latest opus “Woven Into Ashes”. Further expanding their Progressive Death/Black Metal core, the band throws in some Doom/Djent/Goth elements to the nearly 50 minutes of music split in eight tracks. If you liked the band’s previous effort, “Illuminated”, you will certainly love this one.

Opening with crafty guitars and very lively tempo changes, “Unveiling Light” gives us that Into Eternity vibe from their “Buried In Oblivion/The Scattering of Ashes” days. Things get quite heavy, in a very Death Metal way on “Devil’s Churn”, with quite brutal and intense opening that suddenly waves back and forth melodic clean-vocal sections. Avienne Low is a very talented vocalist that perfectly transitions between hypnotic clean vocals and powerful harsh screams as the blistering “At the Gloaming Void” and “Lonesome Tide”.

With tracks like “Crescent Eclipse” and “At the Gloaming Void” showcasing the band’s knack for epic melodies, highly melancholic passages, and an overall interesting sense of adventure and exploration, this release greatly builds up on the band’s previous efforts as they incorporate engaging additional elements. Dreamy pieces like “Into the Horizon” nicely shake things up and demonstrate the band’s and singer’s range and solid execution.

Closing with our favorite, and longest track, “No Tomorrow”, the band goes out with a bang with such a lush, moody, and brilliantly executed piece. If you are in the market for something truly unique and quite elaborate, “Woven Into Ashes” showcases a promising band with a very diverse and engaging style. While the proggy elements are always present, the music is quite heavy, melodic, and highly melancholic, creating a very powerful and polished release. Do not miss out on this band.

Label: M-Theory Audio

Release: May 5th, 2023

Genre: Black/Death/Progressive Metal

Country: USA