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Winterlong
was the brainchild of Thorbjörn Englund
who stamped his name in the anoles of time and the Neo-classical and
Progressive Metal fields with four quite outstanding albums that harnessed
the real spirit of adventure and brought new life to those genres with the
now classic albums Valley of the Lost, The Second Coming Winterlong and
Metal/Technology.
To
celebrate this outstanding collection Lion Music and Englund have put
together the ultimate collection of the best tracks from said album and
also included four previously unreleased tracks from the bands archives.
The
album gets underway with ‘Sky Travellers’ taken from the bands debut
release Valley Of The Lost’ this one stamped the vision that Englund had
for the band on everyone’s mind the powerful vocals and the fiery fret
burning riffs blended with the neo-classical choral vibe.
With
the bands third album ‘Winterlong’ Englund went for a somewhat heavier
vibe and this is well presented with ‘The Priest’ this again showed the
magic that had been created with the previous release ‘The Second Coming’
as Englund brought in the immense vocals of Mikael Holm this pairing
really set the band alight.
‘The
Northman’ from the ‘The Second Coming’ really shows how the vocals of Holm
expanded the vision of Englund, as his tremendous vocals became the
foundation of the whole Winterlong sound along with Englund’s fantastic
guitar work.
If
you had any doubt of Englund’s guitar expertise then you obviously haven’t
heard ‘Bloodshred’ as he becomes and virtual wizard on this one.
With
the bands fourth and last album ‘Metal/Technology’ there was a definite
slant towards a much heavier Metal orientated sound and ‘Like Ships In The
Night’ clearly shows the way the band were going on this album with a the
additional vocals of Stella Tormanoff bringing something a little
different to the mix.
It’s
back to the debut album for ‘Nosferatu’ another of Englund’s spell binding
riff filled moments that really sent shock waves through the Progressive
community at the time.
Wild
Winter Night’s from the bands second album showed how Englund had taken
the reigns and really wanted to take the band to the next level and this
was mainly due to the introduction of Holm’s vocals.
Again
it’s the added vocals of Stella Tormanoff on And So We Remember’ that
again took the band to the next level as the likes of Nightwish and Within
Temptation were making their mark on the scene this was Englund’s attempt
at capturing that moment of twin vocal styles that has become ever
popular.
The
variation of style the band took up from their debut to their fourth and
final album shows Englund willingness for the band not to get stuck in a
rut and with one of the bands finest tracks ‘And So We Die’ again from
‘Winterlong’ album shows his ability to expand the bands sound to the
faster more Power Metal sound again bringing out the best in Holm’s superb
vocals.
As we
reach the mid point in the album it’s clear to hear how the band had
matured from the album to album as Englund expanded the visionary sound of
Winterlong from humble beginnings to one of the finest Progressive Metal
bands of he early noughties with such masterpieces as ‘Twisting My Tail’
the power filled ‘The Hunter’ and the equally magnificent ‘Retaliation’.
The
back catalogue of great tracks is rounded off with the darker and thumping
metal of ‘Winterlong’ and the sublime ‘Judgement Day’ before we get to the
four previously unreleased tracks starting off with ‘The Prediction of M.
King Hubbart’ a real meaty slice of huge bass and drums mixed with some
haunting keyboards and a gruff vocal.
Second up is ‘Dragon Breath’ another heavy bass ridden double kick drum
spectacle interwoven with Englund’s enigmatic guitars.
This
catalogue of pure Progressive/Neoclassical class rounds of with ‘The
Heartland’ and the excellent ‘The Elements’.
If
you into the whole Prog Metal, Power Metal and Neo-Classical Metal sound
then this is a must buy album if you haven’t heard anything by Winterlong
before this is a great introduction to a band that expanded the genre
beyond all expectations.
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