Old Wainds - Death Nord Kult

Hailing from Murmansk, Russia, grim black metallers Old Wainds are no newcomers to the black metal scene. Having started out back in 1995, they are practically veterans, and you can hear that on "Death Nord Kult", their 2008 full length release. While some of the songs have a youthful recklessness to them, they never derail, but manage to stay on track and arrive at their final destination.

The album starts out with the blasting "Storm Whip", a track which bears Old Wainds' trademark of grim, old school black metal filtered through a more mature understanding of where the genre has come since it's inception. The production is overall very good, with the drums clearly audible and dynamic even when drummer Izbor is pummeling out blastbeats; the guitars are clear even when severely overdriven and the bass is audible but nothing special.

Every now and then, most notably on "Storm Whip" and the album's third track, "Cruel Black Dead", Old Wainds mix their black metal with a heavy dose of techno-thrash in a very enjoyable way that makes me think of "Kill 'Em All" clad in a black metal shroud, or something that Swedish black metal gods Nifelheim would record. Track five offers us a little bit of the very popular black 'n roll sound made famous by bands like Satyricon and Khold, but Old Wainds soon returns to furious, classical black metal riffing.

The vocals are in Russian, which means I can't understand a word of them, but they are delivered in the regular shrieky fashion, and although their meaning is unknown to the listener who doesn't speak Russian, they do add to the atmosphere in a most suitable way.

The overall impression of "Death Nord Kult" is one of satisfaction, but with the aftertaste of knowing that it could have been something better. I can't quite put my finger on it, but after listening to the album for a few weeks, I notice that I no longer make an active choice to listen to it; I only listen to it when it appears in my playlist. However, when I do listen to it, I am satisfied. I will give "Death Nord Kult" a 6/10 for an album that while enjoyable won't be remembered as anything extraordinary.

Band link: http://www.myspace.com/oldwainds