As has been obnoxiously pointed out on this site, the cold weather never is coming to the East Coast. As I write this, we are a little more than a week from Halloween, and the temperature is 76 degrees. I just cut the grass. Winter? What’s that? I want to have an autumn first.

That said, there remain musical elements that instill a deep freeze in my soul, and one of those is Italian black metal band Talv, who have returned with a third platter of coldness with “Entering a Timeless Winter.” That sentiment is smeared all over this five-track, nearly 44-minute opus, as you feel like you’re deep in the forest during a blizzard, with you barely being able to see you own hands in front of you, and any traveling by foot is a shot in the dark if you’re even on the right track. The music, the creation of sole member A, is entrancing, as the noise-marred black metal rolls out on loops, and it’s impossible not to feel like the room is spinning away. Over this project’s five years, the darkness has flowed generously from A, and the music has kept everything frozen solid, with no hope of any warmth.

“Dreaming a Funeral in Another Life” is instantly awash in murk, as the music bleeds, and the growls are buried beneath 15 feet of snow. Things are unforgiving and frigid, with the music creating a disorienting haze, the pain and anguish hanging like a cloud, and the pace pounding you into submission. “A Sad Moon Concealed by Pines” bleeds into the picture, with a similar tempo leaving bruising and the beginnings of frostbite. The music spills darkly, while the growls well up and threaten, and a wave of mournful playing is spread out like a fog. The cries drown in chaos, while the pain is dealt relentlessly and in great supply.

“An Eternal Snowfall Will Come” runs a hefty 8:49 and is the second-longest track on the album. The track is heavily mournful at the start, with wild cries exploding behind the wall of murk, and mesmerizing tones and melodies causing your brain to question reality. You might find your head swimming in the clouds as this track goes on, and it’ll stay there as the song numbs before fading into the night. “Sidereal Hypothermia” is the longest track, punishing over its 14:24 run time. Brutal cold causes your face to lose feeling, while the music spins and stymies, with everything blanketed in a heavy snowfall. Eerie noises begin to zap, while the tempo causes drowsiness, but not because it lacks excitement. It’s just easy for the playing to work its way into your mind and set you at a false sense of ease, as your eyelids get heavy. The song is relatively unchanged through its whole run, another element that causes weariness, and as the track reaches its end, the snow collects, and soon you can’t feel or move. A cover of ColdWorld’s “Winterreise” finishes the record on a proper, icy instrumental note, lulling you back into the middle of the forest to freeze forever.

We probably are still six months away from any hint of winter here in the eastern United States, but a new record from Talv at least teases that it’s possible. “Entering a Timeless Winter” perfectly summarizes the music that swarms you on this record, and it leaves a numbing chill over your entire body. We might not be physically digging out of a winter nightmare anytime soon, but at least this record can bring that chilling assault to us mentally.

For more on the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/TalvBlack/

To buy the album, go here: http://eshop.atmf.net/

For more on the label, go here: https://www.atmf.net/