Phantom Winter – Her Cold Materials LP

The Würzburgers, who were originally founded in 2014 as a side project of the unique instrumental band OMEGA MASSIF, are throwing a nasty and massive dark piece in our faces: Black and post metal mix with sludge, ambient and post-punk at a high level. I would actually be surprised if the band didn't play at Roadburn 2024, because that's where they belong. Basically melancholic and epic, backed by machine-like staccato drumming, dark, cold and angry.
You have to take your time for the 6 slow, grinding songs, the excellent songwriting unfolds layer by layer into a nightmare scenario that seems to be constantly lurking, aggressively crouched and in the shadows. The contrast between gentle, melodic E-Bow leads and clear vocals or even spoken vocals on the one hand and precise, pressing riffing, speech samples and beastly growls on the other hand only increases the discomfort when listening. Overall, you can clearly see how much effort has been put into the songs, there are a lot of details to discover and the lyrics, i.e. I haven't even gotten to the story yet: In terms of content, the record is based on the novel cycle “His Dark Materials” by Philip Pullman, which further reinforces the impression of a soundtrack through the use of spoken texts or samples (partly English, partly German). PHANTOM WINTER has achieved a great success here, the record that should finally establish the band internationally. A must for fans of ULTHA, THE OCEAN, CULT OF LUNA or MANTAR.