Wyrmwoods/No Moon Nor Sun/Inverse Records/2022 Full Length Review

 

  Finland's  solo  project  Wyrmwoods  has  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  shows  the  music  going  for  more  of  an  experimental,  progressive, avant  garde  and  atmospheric  style  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2022  album  "No  Moon  No  Sun"  which  will  be  released  in  November  by  Inverse  Records.

  Bass  guitars  and  synths  start  off  the  album  before  going  into  more  of  a  heavier  and  avant  garde  musical  direction.  Saxophones  can  also  be  heard  at  times  which  also  add  in a   touch  of  jazz  while  the  clean  sections  also  gives  the  music  more  of  a  progressive  feeling  along  with  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody.

  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  great  amount  of  blast  beats  can  be  heard  at  times  along  with  the  songs  also  going  into  more  of  an  experimental  direction  at  times.  Vocals  are  a  mixture  of  death  metal  growls  and  black  metal  screams  and  the  songs  also  add  in  a  decent  balance  between slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts  as  well  as  one  song  also  adding  in  a  brief  use  of  tremolo  picking  in  the  faster  sections  of  the  music.. 

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  melodic  style  along  with  the  music  also  having  its  atmospheric  moments  as  well  as  some  tracks  also  adding  in  touches  of  ambient,  female  vocals  can  also  be  heard  briefly,  as  the  album  progresses  a  couple  of  instrumentals  can  be  heard  and  a  couple  of  the  songs  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  darkness,  death,  philosophical  and  mythological  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Wyrmwoods  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental,  progressive,  avant  garde  and  atmospheric  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Year  Of  Death"  "Woe  And  Wailing"  and  "Labyrinths  Of  The  Mind".  8  out  of  10.

  https://www.facebook.com/wyrmwoods

https://twitter.com/Wyrmwoods666
https://wyrmwoods.bandcamp.com  
http://spoti.fi/2EEHIx5

https://youtu.be/AjiPjcPUd3Y

Wyrmwoods/Gamma/Inverse Records/2020 Full Length Review

 

  Wyrmwoods  are  a  solo  project from  Finland  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  on  this  recording  plays  an  experimental  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2020  album  "Gamma"  which  will  be  released  on  October  23rd  by  Inverse  Records.

  Clean  playing  starts  off  the  album  along  with  some  dark  yet  heavy  riffing  a  few  seconds  later  while  synths  are  also  utilized  at  times.  The  vocals  are  mostly  grim  sounding  black  metal s creams  along  with  some  death  metal  growls  also  being  added  into  some  parts  of  the  music  and  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  melody. 

  When  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  utilized  they  are  also  done  in  a  very  dark  and  melodic  style  while  avant  garde  style  structures  are  also  added  into  some  of  the  riffing.  When  the  music  speeds  up  a  decent  amount  of  blast  beats  can  also  be  heard  along  with  some  synths  also  adding  in  synths.

  The  music  also  has  its  experimental  moments  along  with  the  tremolo  picking  also  giving  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling  when  they  are  utilized.  A  great  portion  of  the  tracks  are  also  very  long  and  epic  in  length  as  well  as  the  songs  also  adding  in  a  decent  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts,  one  track  also  adds  in  a  brief  use  of  saxophones  and  as  the  album  progresses  an  instrumental  can  also  be  heard  and  the  music  also  adds  in  a  great  amount  of  progressive  elements.  The  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  are  written  in  Finnish  and  cover  dark  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Wyrmwoods  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  experimental  black  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Astralanum"  "Subterrane"  and  "Solanus".  8  out  of  10.

https://www.facebook.com/wyrmwoods
https://twitter.com/Wyrmwoods666 
http://spoti.fi/2EEHIx5 

 

Wyrmwoods Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Wyrmwoods is a one man atmospheric black metal band, with heavy influences from other genres like jazz, progressive rock and ambient.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that has been presented on the material that you have released so far?
Well the first release, Wyrmwoods EP, was pretty straight forward homage to bands like Burzum and early Ulver, I wasn't really trying to be innovative or original. With the new album Earth Made Flesh, I just did whatever I felt like. I think you can hear different influences in almost any of the songs, ranging from krautrock to noise to funeral doom metal and of course a variety of black metal bands that I like, for example Summoning, Paysage d'hiver/Darkspace, Mayhem, etc. There's also a lot of ambient soundscapes, but not the usual "dungeon synth" -type often heard in black metal, that can be fun too, but I usually prefer my ambient more layered, spacey and atmospheric like Steve Roach, who is one of my favorite artists.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored both on the full length and ep?
I didn't put up the lyrics of the EP to Bandcamp, but I think all of them were based on poems by Georg Trakl. The album has a lot of stuff based on Thomas Ligotti's writings and paganism. I didn't want to do the default Satanic lyrics almost mandatory in Black Metal, but more of an existential/medieval horror more suitable to Wyrmwoods' sound, especially on Earth Made Flesh.

4.On the new album you had some lyrics inspired by the Poetic Edda, does Paganism play a role in your music or  life?
Not really. I had read some books/essays on rune magic and Norse mythology, I think it's really interesting, but I don't believe it or anything.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Wyrmwoods'?
It doesn't have any "special" meaning, I just really liked the sound of it. I wanted the name to be pretty simple and generic like "Darkthrone" or something, that conjures up a lot of fitting associations and sounds cool while doing it. "Wyrm" here works both as a mythological serpent/dragon (like Jörmungandr in Norse mythology) and the Old English word for worm.

6.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
At the moment it's a lot easier to work solo, since I also write the songs myself. Sometimes I don't even do that, for example "Primordial Waters / The Well of Urth" is almost completely improvised. Working with other musicians would require extra work and I think in this project I'd like to be in charge of everything, there's a certain charm to the concept of one man Black Metal bands.

7.The new album was released on 'Inverse Records', how did you get in contact with this label?
After I had released the album on Bandcamp, they soon contacted me through email.

8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of atmospheric black metal?
The feedback has been really great, I'm a bit surprised by all the very positive reviews. The sales haven't been quite on the same level, but the band's still so obscure.

9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I'd like to keep mixing in different kinds of influences, keep it varied, maybe a bit more experimental on the next album. I'd also like to have better playing skills, but I'm too lazy to practice.

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I already named some influences you can hear in Wyrmwoods in question 2. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but the past few weeks I've been mostly listening to Esoteric, Catacombs, Molly Nilsson and Charles Mingus.

11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I like movies and literature at least as much as music. I also do power lifting.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Hope you like the new album, go buy it if you already haven't!

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Wyrmwoods/Earth Made Flesh/Inverse Records/2018 Full Length Review

  Wyrmwoods  is  a  solo  project  from  Finland  that  plays  a  very  avant  garde  and  atmospheric  form  of  black  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2018  album  "Earth  Made  Flesh"  which  was  released  by  Inverse  Records.

  Atmospheric  sounds  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  very  fast  sound  a  few  seconds  later  which  also  uses  a  great  amount  of  tremolo  picking  and  blast  beats  which  also  gives  the  songs  a  more  raw  feeling  along  with  the  songs  also  bringing  in  a  great  mixture  of  slow,  mid  paced  and  fast  parts.

  Vocals  are  mostly  grim  black  metal  screams  while  saxophones  when  they  are utilized  gives  the  songs  more  of  a  raw  feeling  along  with  the  music  also  mixing  in  progressive  and  ambient  elements  as  well  as  all  of the  musical  instruments  having  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  and  most  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

 Growls  can  also  be  heard  in  certain  sections  of  the  recording  while  the  guitar  solos  and  leads  when  they  are  utilized  they  are  done  in  a  very  melodic  fashion  and  there  are  also  a  couple  of  instrumentals  as  the  album  progresses  along   with  the music  also  getting  very  experimental  at  times and  clean  playing  is  added  onto  the  closing  track  as  well a s  the  slow  riffing  also  mixing  in  elements  of  funeral  doom  metal.

  Wyrmwoods  plays  a  musical  style  that  is  mostly  rooted  in  atmospheric  black  metal  while  the  avant  garde,  experimental,  ambient  and  progressive  elements  gives  the  songs  more  originality,  the  production  sounds  very  professional  while  the  lyrics  cover  Norse  and  Roman  Paganism  themes.

  In  my  opinion  Wyrmwoods  are  a  very  great  sounding  avant  garde  and  atmospheric  black  metal  solo  project  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Break  The  Seal"  and  "The  One  As  Chaos  And  Egg".  8  out  of  10.

Spotify: http://spoti.fi/2myoOR3  
Youtube: https://youtu.be/yA29f3DpRmg
Bandcamp: https://wyrmwoods.bandcamp.com/album/earth-made-flesh