ALBUM REVIEW: Concrete Winds – Concrete Winds

CONCRETE WINDS are the violent maelstrom that Death Metal needed. They return with their third album, a self titled cut of destruction to be released via Sepulchral Voice Records on August 30th.

Ferociously storming into their barbaric violations of the ear canal, Concrete Winds do not waste a second on pleasantly introducing themselves. Their unhinged conjurations of arcane guitars and war-like drumming alongside truly malevolent vocals should be familiar to those of you who also adore this superb band. That said, they never feel predictable or tamed from prior works. Stomping grooves and blistering aggression intersperse each other with nothing but malice and Voivodian dissonance to truly disconcert you. Every second is bewildering, belligerent and blazing with feverish hostility. With a magnificent mix that conveys every suffocating drum onslaught or lacerating string-storm, only the corrosive vocals can break the indomitable instrumental artillery. Within the first tracks of trepanning terrorism, you will decide if you are tough enough for Concrete Winds or not.

Barking, chomping and grinding their teeth with a seething and rabid lust for chaos; this band never seems to run short of their perverse adrenaline or militantly evil Death Metal carnage. From the untamed riffing and percussive punishment to the utterly insane lead work; every single detail on this frenzied masterpiece is perfect to inflict maximum damage through a sadistic string of songs. From the morbid to the outright mental, there is no denying their old school sensibilities still retain an identity unique to only themselves. There are few bands past, present or future who have or will reach this level of animosity through sound. Right in the heart of the album and you should be able to tell any mercy you might have been shown was merely a delusion, it only gets harsher…

This is a short record, but one that says so much in so little time. Every moment is a breath-taking wonder and a spectacle of splitting skulls. Their formless and yet direct method of writing songs is a sepulchral feast of merciless brutality. Crushing all opposition and never surrendering to the ideals or whims that consume the world, this band has remained true to their every vision of malicious mastery to achieve a third album that holds up to its predecessors and surges forward into unforgiving new territories. Fans can revel in this new step deeper through the abysses while those who remain in the way shall be obliterated. This is a chasm that you will willingly jump straight into time and time again. I still have not stopped playing the first two records regularly and I can already tell this will be no different. The rusted blades of scathing Death Metal cut in such a moreish manner that will have any true maniac salivating in trances of macabre ecstasy.

The real underground is hostile, corrosive, claustrophobic and suffocating. Concrete Winds prove that not just anyone can join in and that it takes a tough, refined and militant breed to truly capture the spirit of extremity. Their third album is another savage statement of supremacy in a stagnant scene. Death Metal does not need more parodies of itself, it needs absolute vitriol such as this.