Winter is coming. Sorry. Irresistible and lazy. But it actually is as well. It’s nearly the end of October as I write this, and it went up to 82 one day this week. So, excuse me for the tired joke for a season we barely get to enjoy anymore. Climate is just fine, though. But, I assume it will get here at some sort, and the first blanket of snow is much anticipated.

Paysage D’Hiver, the one-man project long helmed by Wintherr, make it feel like you’re locked into the most frigid season, and that’s definitely the intention. On the band’s third official full-length (amid of sea of demos and other releases) “Die Berge” (the mountains), we get more than a season’s worth of blizzard-blinding black metal that at times feels like it gets muted out by a roaring storm. In a good way. Over seven tracks and an insanely generous hour and 43 minutes, Wintherr pours on relentless pressure, sometimes making you feel like you’re locked in a dream state, deep into the woods, your bones shaking as you work your way up the mountainside, on your way to find your place in the universe.  

“Urgrund” opens this beast in the midst of an absolute whiteout, central forest, no clear identifying marks, yet you move headfirst into riffs that fall like sheets, howls that echo in the background. Melodies lap as the playing bruises and brawls, a hypnotic force that stretches itself in various forms across the entire record. The playing dives deeper into the murk, going harder as everything darkens, howls crumbling as the metallic forces tangle, picking up a storming force before crumbling away. “Verinnerlichung” spirals in your mind before the gates bust open, a blinding fury taking you over mentally and physically. The playing is rampaging and tornadic, winds picking up and sucking air from your lungs, causing you to stare aimlessly like you’re driving through a blizzard. The pulverization only amplifies from there, wrenching with penetrating energy, a black haze unfurling before you, robbing you of sight. Clouds spread and tingle, the elements slowly unraveling, dissolving into the first part of a triptych, “Transzendenz I.” Frigidity is at its apex, the playing fully engulfing and creating relentless dizziness, creaky words accompanying full-throated howls. Suddenly, you’re in the clutches of a trance, the blackened sights making visions tough to grapple with, immersive melodies flooding and immediately icing over. Guitars jolt as your extremities tingle, leading you into the next devastating phase.

“Transzendenz II” is the shortest track here, still a hefty 7:51, crawling through ice and ash, a suffocating pace adding pressure, demonic howls ringing out into the night. Melodies slip into mesmerizing dreams, guitars gazing as they settle into its shallow frosty tomb that is “Transzendenz III” that chills you to the bone. Guitars buzz as the tempo meanders through a long, sprawling instrumental intro that continues to churn into frozen patterns. Guitars numb and make your brain wander through an ongoing loops of riffs, continuing to sprawl as the fury hisses, slipping into uncomfortable coldness, fading into the heart of the woods. “Ausstieg” is first of a pair of mammoth tracks that end the record, running 17:56 and beginning with crushing howls and savagery screaming from the eye of the storm. The pace is stunning, the melodies arresting, drilling as shrieks wrench, the swirling tempo easily pulling in prone bodies. Howls rush as the sense of dreamscape amplifies, a new rush of chaos blowing to the forefront and into 17:28-long closer “Gipfel” that begins with a mournful pace. An instrumental gaze stretches as far as the eye can see, the playing slowly swarming, the guitars chugging, glorious synth steaming through the thick inches of ice. Guitars stretch and burn through the gloom, the tension slowly dissipating as guitars tease and enter into squalls, bowing to winter majesty.

“Die Berge” certainly feels like the culmination of a restless journey, piling on the elements that could threaten the effort, often making seeing and breathing a task. Over these 103 minutes, Paysage D’Hiver and its creator conjure a record that pulls you into deep winter as you try to make your way to the peak, your mission the only thing that can bring you the connection to nature and the world you require. It’s a record that is an immersive experience, something that cannot be fully comprehended piecemeal, a venture into which you throw yourself fully, not ending until the final notes fade into the darkness.

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

To buy the album, go here: https://us.kunsthall.spkr.media/us/Artists/Paysage-d-Hiver/

For more on the label, go here: https://us.kunsthall.spkr.media/