Review | Vintersea – Woven Into Ashes

M-Theory Audio

Reviewing Eleine’s new album, the brutal chords and riffs are what landed in me. Noticing the band soon touring the American continent as support of Moonspell and Oceans of Slumber. Another band on that bill caught my attention: Vintersea.

The Portland, Oregon based act just released their 3^rd studio album and it brings across the heavy melodic death metal I needed to spin to fulfill my need for speed. ‘Woven into Ashes’ is packed with high paced dynamic melo-death metal and ferocious vocals and grunts, and it lands instantly.

HIGH INTO ORBIT

Not overall as blissful as one could wish for, but ‘Woven into Ashes’ certainly delivers the scorching eruptive power and ferocity one expects from the genre. Mastering the craft of containing fervor and progressive breaks and twists, Vintersea makes waves in the sonic specter.

The groundworks laid down by drummer Jeremy Spencer and bass player Karl Whinnery packs the right amount of combustion and blasts to elevate from the norm. Feeding off the depths of brutality the dynamics are rounded off by the intricate discharge of riffs and groove from guitar-tandem Jorma Spaziano and Riley Nix, the latter to also sign for the vocal interaction with the band’s singer extraordinaire: Avienne Low. And Low is the one who pitches Vintersea high into orbit!

DEMONIC SCREAMS

Her skills are in line with that of the best in the field. She belts out the most insane anger-laden growls and demonic screams, contrasting with her ultra-clean register. It is impressive how she mingles the belly deep grunts and roaring power howls with those slick deliveries, while maintaining the metal luster needed to maintain the songs internal drive.

Check out how she pitches the thunderous ,,At the Gloaming Void” into orbit with her ferocious vocal shifts. A pitch that is swung out of the ballpark by the insanity of Nix and Spaziano’s guitar work which perfectly mingles atop Whinnery’s driven heavy bass plows and unsettling growling chords. In terms of syncing, his bass pulls forward a different dynamic and riff and melody discharge adding to the entity Vintersea carries across.

MIDDLE-EASTERN TEXTURES

Just check out the insane ,,Devil’s Churn” and multi-dimensional tinged ,,No Tomorrow”, to catch my drift. The interaction is phenomenal. It paints the atmosphere dark and ominous for Avienne to bring forward her most intrinsic vocal craft. The inbred of her vocal vigour finds accolades on the wonderous and deep ,,Parallel Duality” in which she adds a different tone to het range, with the jazzy chord progressions madway evoking an operatic timbre deep dramatic solace. She whales over the piercing guitar pitches with elemental discord casted by the harsh vocal interaction added by Nix. This rich orchestration and deeper dynamics are what colors the band so richly.

DRAMATIC ELEGANCE

,,Crescent Eclipse” fuses their creative skills with middle-eastern textures and melodies, slowly building into an enormous dark spawning death metal tenor. Toning down completely the band composed a semi-ballad with impressive rhythmic jazzy drum twitches and meandering, almost epic orchestration. The lush composition feels atone with Kate Bush avant-garde pop, yet maintains its captivating metallic equilibrium. The sonics are as captivating as Low’s insane vocal delivery. She belts out an impressive and rich tones register that is across the board. Her sincerity radiating off the edges, touching deep. Twice she powers up and evokes dramatic elegance in the short eluding orchestrated sections. It is her withheld outburst boiling, waiting to ignite. This not happening is the key ingredient of the song’s power in concealing melancholy.

VINTERSEA – THE CONCLUSION

Vintersea’s ‘Woven into Ashes’ makes waves. The album is packed with intensity and constantly combusts with heavy drum and guitar interaction, while it broils its internal fed fires. Musically it stands fiercely tall. The progressive tonality is what inflames the impressive construction of the songs. ,,No Tomorrow” is benchmark in the informality of death metal being shot up with large doses of rhythmic vitality and tempo changes. In all this musical diversity, it is Avienne Low who batters forward the intense download of power with her versatile vocal delivery. Impressive how much guttural force she brings adds. Even more impressive how she manages to belt out those sincere and arming vocals.

Release date: 5 May 2023