AN NCS VIDEO PREMIERE: FROZEN WINDS — “THEOSPHOROS”

Freezing winds howl through the Earth’s atmosphere in the far northern and far southern latitudes, but they can howl through our minds too, regardless of where we dwell. In realms of music, black metal brings the howling cold in ways more biting and dreadful than most genres, with the gales often whipped by the furious wings of fallen angels.

And so it’s not so perplexing to find a black metal band named Frozen Winds that originated on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, no matter the usual sun and warmth of those climes. They delved into occult subjects and found ancient expressions of the Left Hand Path that led them into the gales, and also into the ritualism of mystics.

More than 17 years into their existence, Frozen Winds have moved their music to evolve, building upon their previous releases as well as live performances, sharing stages with the likes of Rotting Christ, Kawir, Septic Flesh and The Dead Creed. Where the movements have now taken them will be revealed in a new album (only their second) named Keys to Eschaton, and is partially revealed today through our lyric-video premiere of the first single from the album, a fabulous song named “Theosphoros“.

Originally formed as a five-piece group, Frozen Winds is now a foursome whose members are split between Limassol (Cyprus) and Utrecht (the Netherlands). For the new album, they’ve created seven long songs, including a ritualistic ambient piece — seven Keys to their personal Eschaton.

They still draw upon esoteric inspirations influenced by occult research, and they conceptualize Home calling to the children of chaos, the children of the Fallen Ones, creating “a euphoric agitation in the aether”.

We raise our chalices to our shadows.
We kiss the Left hand, in erotic despair.
May Death birth the unshackled truth.
From the Caverns, we shall bleed.

Such themes also animate the words of “Theosphoros“. They tell of blissful jesters rising, warlocks chanting, and witches dancing “in blessed circles of triumph”, “in chaotic euphoria”, summoning deconstruction and “joyful agony”, “a sudden spark of venomous truth”.

As the carrier of these visions the music is way out of the ordinary — elaborate, exotic, ever-changing, and not wholly beholden to black metal for its influences. Both mystical and visceral, and with extraordinary vocal variations, it strikingly banishes the mundane in favor of the magical. (And despite the band’s name, there’s more fire in this music than shuddering chills.)

At first, “Theosphoros” seductively beckons with notes that ring in gleaming tones above a humming bass and vibrant beats. Guitars begin to slither and sear as a woman’s voice extravagantly soars in savage ecstasy, and the rhythm section begins embarking on prog-minded maneuvers.

The song has levitated, but also becomes fierce, with drums blasting and the chords flaring like bursts of fire. The lead guitar convulses like a maddened viper, a prelude to further convulsions of ferocity and harrowing screams that cut like serrated knives. The song gallops and galvanizes, and madly whirls, but it also inflicts bone-shaking jolts and instrumental wails.

And the changes keep coming. The fires diminish and the notes glimmer again, allowing the rhythm section to indulge their own proggy and borderline-jazzy muses. Bitter growls and somber female singing emerge, and then the embers begin to ignite again.

Insectile fretwork and battering beats ensue; voices viciously cackle and wail in suffering; instrumental seizures render insanity, in company with bestial snarls, ardent song, and harrowing shrieks, propelling the song to a closing crescendo of blazing chaos.

In addition to all the devilish visions, we might detect something else happening in the song, a continuation of the never-ending search of human beings to make sense of the world they live in, and to find their true selves within it.

But if that sounds too deep, just let yourselves go and revel in these 11 minutes of mind-bending and pulse-pounding extravagance, and then wonder what the other six of these Keys will do to you, and for you.

The lyric video was created by digital artist and sculptor, Chris Constantinou.

Keys to Eschaton was recorded and mixed at Syren Blast Studios by Louis Simon Syrimis (Zivanished, Infected Syren, 4377) and was mastered by Simon Jameson from Black Art Studio, who has worked with Schammasch on The Maldoror Chants: Hermaphrodite, as well as such bands as Vorga and Zatokrev.

For further news about the new album and its release, keep an eye on the locations linked below.

https://linktr.ee/frozenwinds

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/47LGygb
Instagram: frozen.winds
Facebook: frozenwinds