Wolves In Winter – The Calling Quiet

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From Bandcamp, “The Calling Quiet” is quite the album. Intricate yet also bludgeoning and brutal, it’s a bruising yet sensitive release. Further plays are demanded, each one unlocking further treasures buried deep within. Quite something, indeed. Formed in 2020, this isn’t a fresh-faced youthful outfit, no sir. Thirty years of gnarly, heavy music behind them, you know this is going to be one heavy mutha of a ride.” The album has six songs.

“Cord that Ends the Pain” is the first. Slow, sober tones open the song, with leads that cry out in misery. The vocals are also quite emotive. The song tries to get off the ground, but doleful feelings pull it back down. Do not look for absolution here. “Nemesis” is another deeply depressive affair. The pace is slow again but speeds up a bit before returning to the grind. “Is life worth living,” he asks? Many of the tones here are quite dissonant. “Pastime for Helots” begins with clean guitar tones that are markedly hopeless. Clean vocals join in, calling for help. Vocal harmonies mix in, and the song morphs from grey to black.

“Promised Harvest” is a much darker affair, opening with a very deep and rumbling riff. The bottom end of this song is hopeless in scope, and the grinding of the riff wears the listener down. “Oceans” features more dissonant tones that are quite despondent. As the album wears on, you feel worse and worse. The second half of the song is even more desolate than the first. “Calling the Quiet” closes the album. Lead guitars cry out once again. It wraps up the tale of woe with a little reprieve from the voices of doubt in your head. But the quiet is nothing but. It’s more of a reminder that the best years of your life are behind you.

This was a solid Doom album, alternating between tones of anger, and tones of regret. In the end of course, the regret wins out, and you are left to pick up the pieces of your life which are broken and shattered. But the will to push on is strong.

Songwriting: 7
Musicianship: 7
Memorability: 7
Production: 8