Album Review: Deathwinds – …Towards Doom…
Band: Deathwinds
Album: …Towards Doom…
Label: Headsplit Records
Release date: October 03rd, 2025
Country: Canada
Format reviewed: High quality digital recording
Album Review: Deathwinds – …Towards Doom… via Headsplit Records by Ioana
One word that I’ve used rather rarely to describe an album is… grimy. Because, let’s be honest, how many albums are there that can truly embody that word in all its nasty, rough connotations. However, it looks like Deathwinds have managed to pull that off with “…Towards Doom…”, which can be described best as a rabid cocktail of black, death, and thrash metal. And by all means it makes no effort whatsoever to soften the edges, yet it still manages to not fall into complete chaotic mess territory. Given that I had no knowledge of this band previous to discovering this particular release, I am was as much intrigued as I was skeptical diving into it, both because of the choice for a white album cover and also because upon a first listen I was very much worried that the music would become repetitive over the course of it. That being said, my second listen brought a lot of much needed clarity to my inner monologue.
Onto the griminess itself… As I have stated before, it is first of all a result of the cacophonous, yet effective combination of traits from death metal, black metal and thrash. Think a musical Frankenstein’s monster. Death metal riffing and production, first wave black metal flourishes, drumming and mood, pacing and vocals that seem taken out of a rough 80s extreme thrash demo. Very much a free for all in terms of extremity. The vocal performance is very much one of a kind, as it fluctuates rapidly between a variety of techniques and dare I say sound effects, which, when amplified by the cavernous mood of the record as a whole, results in something nothing short of sick sounding. Those raspy inhale effects in particular sound nothing short of moribund. The riffing is on the simple side, nothing flashy, but it is nevertheless effective, even though, when paired with the almost continuous blast beats, they end up feeling a little dragged out and overused by the end of the album, even though the tracks themselves work great on their own.
Even though, when compared to my initial perspective, my thoughts on the album’s structure softened significantly, I still can’t help but feel like at times it sabotages itself, almost, as if it’s being held back by its grit, instead of being pushed forward. Think, the ever mentioned grime inhibits it from reaching its full potential. The uniformity of the riffs and drumming makes it feel dragged out, if not monotonous at times, and not even the ill sounding vocals can make up for that completely. The atmosphere however doesn’t suffer much because of it, but even that has its limitations. I can’t help but feel like several rhythm changes sprinkled throughout the record would have gone a long way, without affecting the intensity of the music, but on the contrary, enhancing it. Typically, on records similar to this one, alternations with slower drum patterns actually amplify the ferocity of the blast beats. Still, who am I to talk? There’s a great chance I am completely missing the point and that the late hour amplifies that sensation. And after this review is complete, I will go ahead and give it a third listen just to ensure that I haven’t gone completely mad and have no idea what I’m talking about.
All that being said, I highly advise you to check out this album and form your own opinion, since there’s a good chance it will end up being far more insightful than my own. To all the war metal diehards out there, you may find Deathwinds greatly appealing. 8/10
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8/10 To Greatness and Glory!
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