Great God Pan
Highly inspired by the early Black Sabbath the band Northwinds has added elements from progressive rock, Celtic influences, NWOBHM (Witchfynde, Quartz, Diamond Head), doom metal (Candlemass, St. Vitus) as well as early thrash metal (Celtic Frost, Sodom) to their otherwise original compositions. The result can be heard on Great God Pan where the band adds the Black Sabbath cover “A National Acrobat” to their five original songs. Should you have no info about this release then you might think this concerns a re-release of a long forgotten gem from the seventies. The atmosphere which the band creates is stunning: a dark gravy coming from the Candelmass/St. Vitus/Count Raven/Black Sabbath roast, spiced with Jethro Tull/Camel/Rush herbs.
Especially the combination of heavy parts with beautiful, soft passages performed on authentic Celtic instruments (tin whistles are very prominent) results in wonderful music. Listen to “The Pain” which takes you from one mood into another and has singer Nicolas Vincent’s voice get very near to that of a young Ozzy Osbourne. At some points it is eerie how much he emulates him.
Northwinds evokes the atmosphere of little elves running around the nearby cemetery: not very original, yet urging you to hear more and more. Highly recommended for those of you who also like some "harder" edged music. Sabbath Bloody Northwinds!
Masters Of Magic
I must admit when I first heard Northwinds the last thing on my mind was that they played Doom-metal. My immediate associations went out to, for example Jethro Tull mixed with Black Sabbath. Giving the album some more time, I must admit… I still don't think it's all that doomy at all. Riffing Doom rock with a strong 70's vibe and a paganistic feel to it, would be the best quick description I can come up with.
It's clear that the band has been inspired by Black Sabbath (just listen to a track like 'Lost Paradise'), but their overall sound is less dark and has a tendency to be more spacey. Remember those old space cartoons in the late 70's and early 80's? Where you always felt like they had transported the feel of that time directly into outer space? That is the feeling I get when listening to 'Masters of Magic'. It sounds like the 70ties have been transported forward into time. Next to this the music also holds mystical and progressive elements.
Everything on this album combines to create some very relaxing and easy listening music. Enjoyable 70's prog. rock combined with sporadic doomish and Sabbath inspired riffing and a spaced out feeling. Some of the songs are sung in French as well, which should be no surprise as we are dealing with a French band. People who enjoy acts such as Pentagram, but also Witchfinder General, will probably really enjoy this release. I also think a lot of stoner fans will might enjoy this release, despite it not being "groovy". Its very relaxed and "Outer space/Medieval" atmosphere however might appeal to fans of stoner rock as well.
As a final note I must say that I find the vocalist's voice to have a really soothing, almost hypnotic voice. He really for me lifts the entire album up to much greater highs then as what it would have been with an average vocalist.
Band:Northwinds
album(s): Great God Pan and Masters Of Magic
genre: Doom, space, prog rock
Great God Pan
Masters Of Magic
By Bez
