Year : 2006 (Japan Edition)
Style : Heavy Metal , Power Metal
Country : United States
Audio : 320 kbps + all scans
Size : 140 mb
Bio:
Heavy/Power metal band from Akron, Ohio formed in 1990.They have gone through extensive line-up changes throughout their history with only guitarist and sometime-vocalist Lou St. Paul featuring as an ever-present.Their first demo featured B.C. Richards on vocals. In their first incarnation with Tim "Ripper" Owens (who would later join Judas Priest and Iced Earth), they released the Heart of a Killer album in 1993, a concept piece based on the murderous exploits of a character called Judge Cohagen. This album was re-released in 2000 by Century Media Records as a two-CD set, featuring a bootlegged live gig as a bonus disc.After the departure of Owens, St. Paul took over the vocal duties for both the unreleased Season of Brutality and Girth, arguably Winters Bane's heaviest work to date.Following the release of Girth, Winters Bane went into a period of semi-activity while searching for a full-time vocalist. By 2003, German Alexander Koch (ex-Spiral Tower, Powergod) was recruited and a demo was made. Two years later, St. Paul, Koch and veteran drummer Mark Cross entered the studio to record Redivivus, a full-length album released in 2006.After the release of the album, Koch and Cross were replaced by locally based Jeff Zaigen and former touring drummer Jeff Curenton and there are plans for a sequel to Heart of a Killer to be released in 2007.Former members Tim Owens and Dennis Hayes would later form their own band, Beyond Fear, and they released their debut album in 2006. The next year, Hayes would also join Owens in Iced Earth as their new bassist.As early as December 2007, it was rumored that due to Matt Barlow's reunion with Iced Earth (thus the booting of Tim Owens), Tim Owens would return to Winters Bane as its vocalist. These rumors were confirmed, as it was announced that talks of said reunion are under way. "If the right conditions are met," said guitarist Lou St. Paul, "we would put forth our best effort, making of course a 'killer' album, and do a major tour." The rumors also state this follow-up would be a direct sequel to Heart of a Killer.Lou St. Paul and Jeff Welch also perform with Mike Roberts on drums as Kill Procedure. Songs from Season of Brutality and Girth are performed and both albums are now considered Kill Procedure releases (Girth has now been re-released with the Kill Procedure logo on the cover). Kill Procedure is seen as a parallel project to Winters Bane used to perform heavier music.
Album:
4th full-length album.For some reason this album has escaped the attention of the power metal community, why I have no idea, particularly considering the history behind the band and its status as a hero of sorts that gave the genre a presence in America in 1993, despite the overwhelming tide of the grunge scene. Since the exodus of Tim “Ripper” Owens to pursue a somewhat mixed stint with Judas Priest, Winter’s Bane has essentially been lost in the wastelands with only Lou St. Paul to remain from the original fold, struggling to put out something to match their amazing debut “Heart of a Killer”.More than a decade later, with the rise of the genre in Europe, it seems that Paul took the initiative and began writing material to rival his and Owens’ old magnum opus. He enlisted the aid of German speed metal outfit “Powergod” members Hama Hart and Alex Koch. In contrast to Owens, Koch’s voice invokes comparisons to Michael Kiske a little bit more than Rob Halford, but with a much more gravely tone and less operatic falsettos. When he shoots up into the higher range, it’s a bit less screechy than Halford’s banshee wails, but is also way too dirty to compare with Kiske’s heroic legend inspiring, triumphant high notes.Paul’s songwriting has taken some pretty sizable leaps forward, bringing a much heavier, darker side of the Painkiller inspired post-80s power metal that has since become quite common in Germany. The guitar tone is down-tuned almost to the point of being sludge, yet simultaneously works perfectly in the speed metal format. The closest thing to this that comes to mind in the power metal genre in terms of overall atmosphere is “Afterlife” to “Shadowland” era Nocturnal Rites (which featured 7 string guitars done exceptionally well), but even that comparison showcases a radical difference in vocal approach and drum sound. This is definitely a unique release, which was a rarity in the 2004 through 2006 time period, where a fair share of established acts began ripping off of either each other or themselves.Probably the best example of the down-tuned quasi-sludge guitar sound actually complementing a speed metal track is “Dead Faith”, where a pounding main riff is periodically superimposed over a double bass drone with perfect symmetry of sound resulting. Other stand outs that are longing for some open ears include the classic Painkiller homage “Despise the lie”, the muddily brutal down tempo groove crusher “Remember to Forget” and the flashy lead drenched album opener “Seal the Light”. But ever song on here is an unrelenting riff assault that is 100% ballad and keyboard free.Insofar as straight up aggressive power metal of the late Judas Priest, Paragon, Rage and Iron Savior variety without all of the prog. and neo-classical trimmings, this is about as good as it gets for 2006. In terms of general releases for 2006, this even tops Hammerfall’s “Threshold” and rivals my three top picks ARP’s “Mystica”, Dragonland's "Astronomy" and Heavenly’s “Virus”. However, unlike those releases this one is not getting as much attention as it should, and believe me it is something that you will want to have, especially if you were disappointed with “Angel of Retribution”.
Line Up:
Alexander Koch - Vocals
Lou St. Paul - Guitars (1990-?), Vocals (1994-2003), Bass (2003-2006) - See also: Kill Procedure, ex-Fires of Babylon, ex-Throttle O.H., ex-Autumns Ruin, ex-The Silhouette
Mark Cross - Drums
Production:
Artwork, Booklet Editor – Chris Kallias
Cover – Chris Kallias
Engineer – Curran Murphy
Engineer [Drums] – Chris Tsangarides
Layout – Chris Kallias
Mastered By – C. Schmid, R.D Liapakis
Mixed By – Curran Murphy
Producer – Curran Murphy
Producer [Drums] – Chris Tsangarides
Written-By – Winters Bane
Tracklist:
01. Seal the Light 04:53
02. Spark to Flame 05:29
03. The World 04:19
04. Dead Faith 04:24
05. Catching the Sun 04:50
06. Remember to Forget 04:17
07. Burning Bridges 04:32
08. Waves of Fury 04:39
09. Despise the Lie 03:32
10. Catching the Sun (Demo version) 04:36 (Bonus Track)
11. Remember to Forget (Demo version) 04:18 (Bonus Track)
12. Seal the Light (Demo version) 04:37 (Bonus Track)
13. Furies (Demo version) 04:44 (Bonus Track)
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