We all get angry sometimes. It is a fairly normal emotion and it is important to be able to channel it and let it out of your system. It’s nice if you do it in such a way that it doesn’t bother anyone else. Here we are dealing with two Finns who seem to be very angry. The way they channel and express their anger is through their band Concrete Winds and by making insanely hyped up death metal, strongly leaning towards grindcore.
Concrete Winds releases its third LP via Sepulchral Voice Records – well, LP standing for “long player”, 25 minutes is not that long – and has not yet been reviewed on Zware Metalen. When the undersigned was undertaking this review, he did not yet know whether he was ready for this because the name Concrete Winds does not bode well. Obviously, nobody wants a storm of concrete. Already familiar with the band that preceded Concrete Winds under the name Vorum and which has already been discussed (with mixed feelings) here and here, and with the first two LPs of Concrete Winds, I of course know that I will have to brace myself when I give this album a spin.
First track Permanent Dissonance immediately showcases that this duo takes it seriously. Bam! This is what we call getting straight to the point! Furious and violent, the seething sounds are fired at you with unbridled hard drums and flaming riffs having us shot out of the starting blocks like crazy. Halfway through the song the speed slows down a bit and we prepare ourselves for a period of total madness with screeching guitar work and pounding drums. The song ends with the same craziness but at full speed. Holy…! Fortunately the song is finished and we get a few seconds of rest. But no. No way, forget it. No mercy. Immediately afterwards, without a single millisecond of a pause, we fly towards Virulent Glow. What great violence we hear again. The lashing raspy grunt, the barrage of chaotic drum patterns and maniacal guitar work ensure that for just over a minute and a half you feel like you are sitting on an office chair that has been given an enormous sway, in a way that you are being thrown around uncontrollably.
Track by track you get beaten up, your eardrums are expertly destroyed and your ability to cope is tested. The music as a whole is very similar to the old Hate Eternal and the newer Vitriol and has just as high density and aggression, Subterranean Persuasion being a particularly fine example of this. The songs reveal more and more detail and clarity, or coherence, the more times you listen to them. The album distinguishes itself by the continuously high leads that are interwoven throughout the songs, giving each song its own signature. Some techno-like samples have been added here and there as well, because… well, simply because it can be done I guess. As mentioned in the introduction, these men are probably really pissed off like hell and this has manifested itself in this piece of pure aggression. Brilliant aggression. Kudos to this band and this release.
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