Customer Reviews

Imaginary Direction of Time

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For those of you who are uniniterested in wasting your time reading a review, I will simply say, buy this album. If somehow you have stumbled upon this page/review, then you have fulfilled the only requirement towards having this album suggested to you: you like metal. Quality, technical, beautiful metal.

What this quartet accomplishes in the world of neo-classical technical prowress continues to impress me after countless listens.

Winds, for those of you who don't know, is somewhat of a side project, turned almost main attraction, which is undoubtedly one of the top shelf employees of the avant garde The End Records label.

Though all of the musicians in this group (yes, even the vocalist) possess unbelievable technical prowress, it is Hellhammer of Mayhem, Kovenant, and Arcturus fame who delivers the punishing blows.

This singular musician made me morn the day I chose to wield the axe over pounding the skins of doom.

Coupled with the schizophrenically fast yet controlled licks of Carl Lindemann, and the song-writing and piano playing genius of Andy Winter, Hellhammer emphatically obliterates any pre-exisitng notions of how to showcase drums in classical music.
Most impressive are tracks five and six where Hellhammer literally climbs the tempo chart, one step at a time, with his patented and unrivaled double bass blasts.

Though I will agree with many other reviewers here that it may be the vocals that leave the most to be desired, they are by no means bad, and they in no way detract from the overall effect. In addition, with the exception of a few overly-complex and abstract passages, the lyrics are among my favorite to read. They are insightful, atypical, and are often coupled well with the music to create a nice dramatic effect.

Andy Winter also impresses on the keys, which, to my liking, are almost enitrely acoustic. This composer graces every song with at least one flourish of the stuff that solidifies the position of classical music as an ancestor of metal.

Behind Hellhammer though, It is Carl on the axe who draws the most attention. This man's licks are sharp and complex, but you get this undeniable feeling that they are being played with the greatest of ease. Those of you who deplore the absence of solos in most of today's metal will drool over the solos that I can only, and inaccurately (but I don't know how else to say it!) describe as Yngwie Malmsteen playing on the Candlemass classic, "Epicus, Doomicus, Metallicus."

So please, for the sake of preserving the still and always existing world of metal that IS interested in pushing the genre forward while retaining the aggression and attitude which has always set it apart from all other popular music forms, buy this album, and float upon the "Imaginary Direction of Time". It is a journey you will never regret.

Folks, you may not find a more talented band on the planet. Violins, Cellos, crazy guitar, one great singer + Hellhammer. Need I say more? This one of the most intelligent bands that has been put together to date. Don't just listen to the sound clips, buy the album. You will be very pleased.

Their first EP, 'Of Entity And Mind', was atmospheric, tight, and powerful, and 'In All Reflections' is probably the greatest songwriting peak the band will ever reach. The first album, 'Reflections Of The I', was a bit less atmospheric but a bit more confident, and definately much tighter. And the band really started to find that crushing prog-groove that makes Winds one of the few acts in the genre doing something worthwile and, honestly, quite new.

Now, with 'Imaginary Direction Of Time' Winds has apparantly become very aware of what the fans enjoy (Hellhammer?), and they seem to understand well the successes and failures of their debut. No more thin orchestration or clicky, tappy beats. This album is all about power and the individual musicians pushing their talents to extremes. That means cleaner, faster, more memorable solos, multi-layered keyboards that fill in every tiny space but still command the melody, even more of Lars Eric Si's seamlessly off-key throat power and a new-found confidence in exploring the higher end of his range, and of course, of course, of course, more damn drums! Any Hellhammer fans who've heard Mayhem's 'Chimaira' know that, finally, Jan von Blomberg is done with the minimalist session-player phase he's been in for the last 5 or 6 years, and now it's time to remind everyone that he is truly the best drummer in the world. His stunning double-bass acrobatics on 'Time Without End' is among the best I've ever heard (and it's definately the tightest).

All in all, this album is everything I loved about their debut taken to the logical extremes, with a few new and welcome additions that make this anything but the same old Dream Theater worship.

(Oh, and for anyone who doesn't know already, check out Spiral Architect's 'A Skeptic's Universe' to really appreciate why Scandinavian prog owns everything else.)

Another masterpiece from Winds. I feel somewhat strongly that to say this album is very nearly flawless cannot be contested. Indeed, I believe this to be true.
Compared to "Reflections of the I", "The Imaginary direction of time" is heavier. The focus is stronger on the guitar work of Tidemann, where the solos performed on nearly every song sound virtually impossible to pull off, and are once again aided by the parallel bass drumming of Hellhammer, who has no equal. The bass is louder on this album, which for myself, a bassist, is a definate plus. It sounds particularly prevalent on "Silence in Despair", one of my favourite songs. Si's voice is excellent. The appearance of layered vocals here are particularly impressive. Andy Winter's piano playing is top class which, with the 4-piece string section provides the great classical atmosphere characteristic of Winds.
Perhaps a little less orchestral than its predecessor, "The Imaginary direction of time" is an absolute masterpiece. All but perfect, progressive, dark, professional and a sophisticated piece of metal, for the connoisseur.
My favourite songs on this album are "Theory of relativity", "Visions of perfection" and "Silence in despair". I find the instrumentals "Sounds like desolation" and "Infinity" to be extremely well suited titles, when one listens to the relatively short sparsity of the songs, particularly on the latter.
Wonderful.

This is my 2nd time listening to this album. 2nd time you say, well I've only had it for about 2 hours!! This album is my first Winds experiece and I am enthralled to say the least! A perfect juxtaposition of classical and neo metal that will bring you to the edge. Lars Eric Si vocals are crisp, clean, sharp and powerfull. Carl August Tidemann guitar? Think Malmasteen without the ego. Jan Axel von Blomberg drums? Sounds like a machine gun with rythem! Not to forget the mastermind behind all of this...the piano player....yup a piano!! Andy Winter. Last but not least, the orchastra which provides the string accompiant.

I find this album quite tasteful, not lacking or overdoing anything. its a fine piece of work, though i would like a less monotonous vocal melodies.however,,i do find it a stupid comment when someone says that grunts,growls,etc are fur people with bad taste in music. everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion and anyone who speaks like that is surely close minded and narrow.

This album is an example of some fine music. Like caviar, only the rich can appreciate it. In this case, the musically rich.
The music paces unbelievebly eloquently--which at first can remind you of the exact opposite of eloquence, so well done it feels awkward. This CD will take several listens to understand, to clearly see the musical ideas and vision behind it. Extremely rhythmic, soft, orchestrated with a monotonous singing voice--there is a reason behind it. Forget tempo changes, the beauty cannot be sacrificed. Just soft, rhythmic, so steadily-paced it's mind numbing, music for you to try to grasp. The strings and piano sound great, and are fundamental to the aesthetic of this music. What punctuates this album, and the previous Winds album as well, are the unique guitar parts...you'll hear what I mean (that is, if you buy and listen to it)

This is their 3rd CD. If you liked Reflection of the I, then you will like this as well. it is like part 2 to its previous album (reflections of the I). They experimented with newer rhythms, instead of the constant 32nd notes played in R.O.T.I.
It has a bit more of a progressive feel to it at times, which is nice, because it is heavy and unique. But, of course, there are parts that drag on a bit... o well. no band can be perfect.

Beneath the symphonic stereotypes and mystical metal meanderings the band is shown to occasionally possess the ability to not sound contrived and offer fresh takes on the genre.

Amazing! Brilliant and Powerful! Winds brings to you a vast array of instruments played perfectly. This album is NOT supposed to have you attention jumping around to compare versus and choruses, This albums is for you to indulge and contemplate on everything imaginable and unimaginable.

Winds brought a more powerful fullfilling release than the last two. "The Imaginary Direction Of Time" is "The String of rot that is our perfume, Where Gods Icy wind will blow." I highly highly recommend this album for all!