Just a quick heads up to anyone not immediately in the borough’s sphere of influence as I am even way out here in the suburbs of my beloved Garden State, the proper pronunciation should be “Brooklyn New York,” three words, no comma. You don’t have to do a fake accent or make it cutesy, but that comma — which is correctly placed in the writing of Winter‘s impending live album, Live in Brooklyn, NY — is silent.

Between that and the fact that there’s a live release at all coming — Svart has it out April 19, like the header says — that’d probably be enough to get stoked on, but Winter‘s Stephan Flam also worked with Svart on the release of his dark experimental/conceptual outfit Göden, who yes, inherited a lot of Winter‘s pioneering extremity of doom, and it’s casually revealed below that a second Göden LP will be out this May. Considering we’re already starting to see release announcements for then, I’d expect word down the PR wire in the next couple weeks, since this will be first a month earlier.

In any case, a live Winter release from 2012 is probably the best thing one could hope for from them — I don’t know that a studio album would, could or should ever happen, but stranger things have — and a new Göden is sure to be far too weird for 99.9 percent of humans and all the more righteous for that. I look forward to hearing both the way one looks forward to plastic surgery — self-mutilation working toward a perceived good. They do that shit in stripmalls now. I feel like that alone makes a Winter live record necessary.

From the PR wire:

Svart Records are proud to release the first official live album from cult death doom band Winter!

In August and September of 2012, Winter participated in the “Power of the Riff East/West” series of concerts held in California and New York. After first playing the West Coast shows with bands like Pelican and Noothgrush among others, Winter returned to their hometown New York on September 2nd and played a show in Brooklyn’s Warsaw with their best line-up; Stephen Flam/Guitar, John Alman/Bass and vocals, Jim Jackson/Drums and original keyboardist Tony Pinnisi who played with the band first time since recording “Into Darkness” LP in 1989.

The rare appearance of this performance in Brooklyn, featuring all their classic tunes like “Servants of the Warsmen”, “Power and Might”, “Destiny, Eternal Frost” etc. was recorded, and is now presented here for all their fans. This isn’t any cheap nostalgia driven reunion cash out, but a real and raw deal. RISE!

Winter “Live in Brooklyn NY” vinyl, CD and t-shirts out 19.4.2024.

Winter’s spiritual successor Göden will release a new album on Svart Records in May 2024. More info on that will follow soon, so keep your eyes and ears open!

https://www.facebook.com/Winter.NY.official/
https://www.instagram.com/WINTER.ny.Official

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https://www.instagram.com/svartrecords/
https://svartrecords.bandcamp.com/
www.svartrecords.com

Winter, “Eternal Frost” live at Power of the Riff East, Brooklyn, NY, 09.02.12

Punishingly heavy and bleak in its atmospheric density to a point of being oblique, Göden‘s years-in-the-making debut album, Beyond Darkness (review here), arrived amid the somehow-fitting chaos of Spring 2020 through respected purveyors Svart Records. The band, led by guitarist/songwriter Stephan Flam, has been intended since the outset — really, since before the outset — to function as a spiritual successor to Flam‘s prior unit, New York death-doom trailblazers Winter, and the truth of the matter is Göden is simply on another level altogether. Yes, Flam is joined by former Winter keyboardist Tony Pinnisi, who doubles as narrator for the eight spoken interludes — dubbed “Manifestations” — spread across the 2LP, but with an array of drummers and fellow guitarists, violinist Margaret Murphy and vocalist Vas Kallas (best known for her work as a founding member of industrialists Hanzel und Gretyl), the entire scope of the project is different.

Beyond Darkness is an encompassing, engrossing, massive narrative slab of extreme doom, telling the story of humanity’s hubris and downfall in the face of an uncaring universe. It is not easy listening or reading, and in line with the amount of composition and effort that’s gone into its realization is the awareness and forcefulness of its purpose. These songs, as Flam tells it from his home studio in the interview below, push nearly as far back as 30 years to Winter‘s landmark 1990 full-length, Into Darkness (discussed here), and I can remember running into Flam at Roadburn 2011 (review here) when he was there to play the Main Stage with Winter and having him talk about the next phase of the project. In the vein of Triptykon modernizing and expanding on the skeleton that was Celtic Frost, so too does Göden flesh out the devastating possibilities of what could’ve been into what is.

And, of course, what still might be.

Because there is more Göden in the works, continuing the storyline of Beyond Darkness, which ends at a point of death-as-rebirth. Flam is guarded in talking about what might be in store sound-wise, but the basic template for what one might expect is there in the first album, waiting to swallow you entirely for its brazenly grandiose 76-minute span. Heavy like collapsing buildings, it is.

Flam talks past, present and future in the video chat that follows.

Please enjoy:

Göden, Interview with Stephen Flam, Aug. 10, 2021

Göden‘s Beyond Darkness is out now on all formats through Svart Records. More info at the links.

Göden, Beyond Darkness (2020)

Göden on Facebook

Göden on Instagram

Göden website

Svart Records on Facebook

Svart Records on Instagram

Svart Records on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

Beyond Darkness is built and tailored to be opaque. In many ways, its title sets the goal: Göden are going beyond darkness. Whether that means to something lighter and more hopeful or something that the band’s Svart Records-released debut album engages directly in a linear narrative across its consuming 19 tracks and 72-minute runtime, but the title is also a reference to the band’s own past, particularly that of guitarist Stephan Flam and keyboardist/narrator Tony Pinnisi in forever-underrated New York death-doom pioneer Winter, whose lone-but-pivotal full-length, Into Darkness (discussed here), was released in 1990. Göden as a unit is intended as a progression and a next step from what Winter were, hence the “beyond.” And the new trio, completed by lead vocalist Vas Kallas — best known for her work in industrialists Hanzel und Gretyl — are indeed more complex. While rooted in the extreme end of doom, Beyond Darkness uses its core narrative of the “coming of the age of Göden” (pronounced “god-in”) to unfold in a back and forth of lurching volume swells of charred riffing and ambient spoken pieces.

As for the story, each member of the band has their role to play, whether it’s Flam setting the core instrumental backdrop as ‘Spacewinds,’ Pinnisi accompanying there on keys and speaking as ‘The Prophet of Göden’ during the series of interludes titled as “Manifestation” between longer tracks — between the songs, as it were — or Kallas with her growling rasp as ‘Nyxta,’ representing darkness. And the storyline that plays out through the bulk of the material — I’m not sure where “Komm Susser Tod” (“come sweet death”) or the closing take on Winter‘s “Winter” fit in the plot — is written out in the liner for the CD and the 2LP, but comes through in the narration as well, moving from the nine-minute instrumental opener “Glowing Red Sun” through “Twilight” and “Cosmic Blood” split by “Manifestation I: Tolling Death Bells” along the way to “Komm Susser Tod” and the catchy-in-spite of itself “Genesis Rise” with two more “Manifestation” interspersed.

To say it’s a lot to take in is something of an understatement. Considering Winter‘s last studio outing was 1994’s Eternal Frost — which Svart has reissued, along with Into Darkness — one might think Flam has been sculpting the storyline and breadth of Göden over the last 26 years, but it’s been at least five since Winter‘s on-stage reunion came apart and he proceeded on to the new project, bringing in Kallas and Pinnisi as well as a host of drummers, guest guitarists, a violinist, etc., culminating in the massive work that is Beyond Darkness. Perhaps the album’s greatest triumph is that despite the varying contributors along the way around the core trio and despite the back-and-forth nature of the proceedings between interludes and fits of extreme doom metal, it manages to remain cohesive and indeed only seems to become more so as it proceeds. It might be that as Göden plunge ever deeper into the miasma of their own making, they enact a kind of Stockholm syndrome on the listener, but I put it up to world-creating. The album crafts its own setting, plot and characters, and it tells its own story. Therefore, as you listen, you take it on as you would take on a novella.

And sure, some of the language in pieces like “Manifestation III: The Spawn of Malevolence” and “Manifestation V: The Epoch of Göden” and the later “Manifestation VII: Gaia Rejuvenated” is over the top, but that grandiosity becomes an essential facet of the presentation. Like Triptykon before them, Göden use a theatrical posture in darkness as part of an overarching sense of their command of their songwriting and, in this case, dramatic storytelling. And cuts like “Dark Nebula” — on which church organ and the splash of Scott Wojno‘s drums resound behind Kallas in a striking midsection — and the reinvention of Black Sabbath‘s “Black Sabbath” that is “Ego Eimie Gy” are highlights unto themselves, standing up to scrutiny even when removed from the context of the record as a whole. One couldn’t necessarily say the same for individual “Manifestation” pieces — though certainly all eight of them together would work — but they’re not meant to be experienced in that way in the first place, so it’s moot.

As at last Beyond Darkness arrives at “Night,” which isn’t the finale but comes ahead of the epilogues-of-a-sort “Manifestation VIII: A New Age” and “Thundering Silence” — plus the “Winter” cover that rounds out — the proceedings feel perhaps more grueling than ever, and the lineage from Winter to Göden is laid bare for the listener to behold. And yet, even around that raw, plodding riff, there is evidence of the new outfit’s mission: the keyboards that surround, Kallas‘ language- and mythology-swapping lyrical invocations and the underlying focus on atmosphere that ultimately is what draws Beyond Darkness together as an entire work no less overwhelming than it intends. It’s not supposed to be accessible. It’s not supposed to be for everyone. It’s supposed to be for those willing to meet it on its own, uncompromised terms.

The howls of the last “Manifestation” give way to the creeping guitar and drone, and, finally, nothingness of “Thundering Silence” and when the telltale chug of “Winter” takes hold, its reinterpretation is something of an afterthought given just how much the album prior has worked to get the message across that Göden are to be considered as distinct but grown out of the band that was. Will there be another Göden album? Can there be? I don’t know. Between the ground that Beyond Darkness covers aesthetically and in its plot and characterizations — not to mention the fact that the story is finished at the end of the record — one would have to think a follow-up would entail some reimagining of how the band functions. Maybe even a permanent drummer. As it stands, however, Beyond Darkness is a testament to brutality as artistry. It harnesses bleak visions of the world that is and reshapes it along stark lines of blackened aural decay that more than lives up to the task it sets itself in its name.

Whatever comes next, even if nothing does, Beyond Darkness remains, and will remain. In that most of all, it is the essential answer to what Winter accomplished those years ago.

Göden, Beyond Darkness (2020)

Göden on Facebook

Göden on Instagram

Göden website

Svart Records on Facebook

Svart Records on Instagram

Svart Records on Bandcamp

Svart Records website

When they were last heard from, New York death-doom pioneers Winter — who formed in 1988 and cast their legacy in their 1990 full-length debut/swansong Into Darkness (discussed here) — were about to announce a European tour in 2015 to take place the next year. The would-be stint was canceled, and any further plans the band had in working toward an awaited follow-up to the since-reissued Into Darkness or their 1994 Eternal Frost EP were likewise shelved. So much for that.

Founding guitarist Stephen Flam shortly set to work on what has become Göden, a project that has inherited much of Winter‘s ultra-bleak apocalyptic scope, but in the spirit of the transition between Celtic Frost and Triptykon, also taken the opportunity presented by the new identity to forge its own forward path. That forward path, by the way, leads to utter sonic devastation.

I mean it. Flam — joined in the endeavor by Vas Kallas (Hanzel und Gretyl) and Tony Pinnisi (also ex-Winter) — wasn’t just playing off the reference when he titled Göden‘s debut album Beyond Darkness. The record follows a hyper-complicated and hyper-immersive narrative course, and all the while the sound seems to dig further and further into an chasm of its own making. It is deeply creative and genuinely challenging, and whatever totally-fucked image you might have in your head of what it sounds like, I guarantee you’re wrong.

Today, Göden announce they’ve signed to Svart Records — a choice alignment on both sides — and the label will release Beyond Darkness on May 7. Winter reissue is booked for the same day.

More background follows:

Göden – Beyond Darkness – Svart Records

Göden is the spiritual successor to Winter, a band that has been heavily influential and highly revered in the metal underground since its inception and treasured demos. A long-awaited continuation of what Winter would have been from co-founder Stephen Flam’s vision, the new album “Beyond Darkness” throws us into an existential voyage out of the past and into the future. A familiar yet distinctive new opus that expands the unmapped shadow world that Winter once opened in our nightmares.

A soundtrack that takes the listener on a dark and ominous journey, Beyond Darkness is a conceptual deep dive into wildly unexplored and unknown sonic territory. The story has three characters, each with different symbols: Stephen Flam as “Spacewinds”, the time and space in which these characters dwell; Vas Kallas as “NXYTA (Goddess of Night)”, lead vocalist and the darkness: Tony Pinnisi as “The Prophet of Göden”, who speaks in the name of Göden and is the light, plays keyboards and also played in Winter. Beyond Darkness is a tale of the dark and the light, set to a score of heavy music.

The artwork was conceived by Eva Petric, a Slovene multimedia artist based in Vienna, Austria and New York. Eva worked with Stephen Flam, creating a visual story book within the LP/CD booklet that the listener can look at while they are consumed by this heavy sound trip.

Stephen Flam leaves us in the outer blackness and inner gloom with these last words as ethereal guidance: “I hope you enjoy this endeavor. Listen with a free and open mind, and journey now Beyond Darkness.”

https://www.facebook.com/Goden-108097534096988
https://goden.net/
https://www.facebook.com/Winter-official-172406259480429/
www.facebook.com/svartrecords
https://www.instagram.com/svartrecords/
https://svartrecords.bandcamp.com/
www.svartrecords.com

Winter, Into Darkness/Eternal Frost

Last weekend, reinvigorated New York doomers Winter played the Maryland Deathfest. This weekend, they’re at Chaos in Tejas in Austin. Over the course of the last year-plus, they’ve taken part in the Southern Lord-driven Power of the Riff festival and they played the main stage at SunnO)))‘s curated day at Roadburn 2011. They’ve come to be seen as a pivotal act within extreme doom — forbears of the likes of Grief and among the first American bands to incorporate the influence of Hellhammer and Celtic Frost into metal that was as heavy in tempo as it was in tone. Their influence has spread through more than one generation of acts.

Tell that to Stephen Flam, though, and you might get a laughing response like, “Eh, this generation’ll be done with Winter in probably about two years.” The guitarist and cowriter of Winter‘s only album to date, 1990’s Into Darkness (reissued by Southern Lord in 2011), is humble as regards the band’s seminal position, and — to hear him tell it — largely unaware of the contemporary genre he helped form. This interview was conducted the week of Maryland Deathfest (just a couple days after I ran into him at the Pallbearer and Loss show in Brooklyn, which also comes up in conversation), and Flam‘s tone was more curious than accomplished. At several points, he asked me, “Really?” when I spoke of the impact Winter had following their breakup. I suppose it’s debatable as to the reach of underground death-doom, but within that realm, Winter was doing what they were doing on the East Coast at a time when just about nobody had caught on yet. Naturally, that sounds great in hindsight, but at the time, nothing supports a doomly atmosphere like being almost entirely misunderstood.

As such, Flam tells stories of being flipped off by headbangers looking to mosh and finding a more open-minded base of operations in New York’s early ’90s crust and underground punk scene. His voice picks up talking about playing basements and Squat or Rot benefits for Rock Against Racism alongside bands like Nausea and Apostate. Compare that to his stories of opening for Death or Sepultura out on Long Island, and there’s little question where Winter‘s fonder memories reside. He’s not bitter about it, by any means — there was more laughter here than I noted in the transcription — but the sense of surprise he conveyed in talking about the reception Winter has had since their resurgence began was unquestionably genuine. 20 years ago, no one got it. Now they do. That’s a big change when you go from one idea of what your band was to the other.

But if Winter are at home in anything, it’s extremes. Flam, bassist/vocalist John Alman and drummer Jimmy Jackson (who played live previously and has since replaced Joe Goncalves full-time) have begun to write new material and Flam is optimistic they’ll be able to capture and expand on the same vibe as Into Darkness without repeating themselves. The guitarist spoke at some length on both the future and the past of the band. Seriously, you might wind up taking this one on in pieces, but it’s definitely recommended reading, and as Winter do interviews about as often as they put out records, I couldn’t be more thrilled to bring you the conversation in its entirety. We were on the phone for about 50 minutes, and Flam being a native New Yorker, that translated to just over 7,100 words.

You’ll find the complete Q&A after the jump, and please enjoy. Thanks to Steve Murphy for his help in coordinating.

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Good news on top of good news for anyone in the New York region or who might be traveling there next month to see Sleep. Winter and White Hills were announced yesterday as support acts for the upcoming Terminal 5 show in Manhattan on June 25. Should be awesome to see the reaction as Winter lays doomly waste to that warehouse-turned-dance-club-turned-rock-venue. I suspect a whole bunch of people are about to be viciously schooled in the ways of the abrasively slow. Killer.

This from the PR wire:

West Coast stoner metal legends Sleep recently confirmed support for their special New York City show at Terminal 5 on June 22 . The bill will now include two New York-based acts: Space rock duo White Hills and recently reunited death/doom trio Winter. Both bands were featured on this year’s illustrious Roadburn festival in Tilburg, Holland.

Sleep 2011 tour dates:
06/22 Terminal 5 New York, NY w/ Winter, White Hills
06/24 Sled Island Festival Calgary, AB
06/26 The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA

1:46AM — Friday Night/Saturday Morning — Hotel Mercure, Tilburg

I was trying to find a clever MacGuyver way to open a bottle of Palm Dobbel from the sixer that forum member StevhanTI was kind enough to bring me, but there’s no opener in the hotel room and so I have no means of doing so. I suppose I could go downstairs and work that out, and maybe I will by the time this is posted.

Tilburg is jumping tonight. Through the open window, I hear cheers, chants, periodic death growls. It’s a culture clash between the nightlife crowd and the Roadburn weirdos. I like it. I enjoy this place. Today was long, but I have no regrets for taking it on. I might even sleep tonight, if I’m lucky. It’s already later than it was when I started my post last night, but Voivod‘s set got me all full of energy — because it ruled — so I should hopefully manage to not fall asleep as I type, which would be a boon at this point.

When I got back to 013, the main stage room was already mostly full for Winter, and rightly so. The reunited New York trio were suitably momentous, and suitably loud. It was awesome. There’s something extra misanthropic about that early ’90s brand of death-doom; it was made so opposite the trend of its day, and Winter managed to carry that feel over. They didn’t have a stage show to speak of, just the three of them standing there (well, the drummer sat). Not about the show, just about the music. Just about the heaviness. And in that, they were devastating.

In a scene so varied, it’s easy to lose track of that mentality and get caught up in the fun side of a band like Ghost, who can deliver both a solid musical aesthetic and an engaging live show. But ultimately it’s the music that matters, and Winter brought that out. On that level, it was the essence of doom. It’s not about the show, it’s not about entertaining. It’s about not fitting in, and even among the weirdos, Winter were their own entity. Unmistakable.

The Green Room was accessible for Beaver, so I went in there and got a much-needed dose of rock. Between Winter and the likes of Keiji Haino and Year of No Light, the day had thus far been pretty grim. The change was welcome. There wasn’t much room to stand or get any decent pictures, but I made up for it by hitting the merch area and buying an exclusive wood-box boxed set of everything they’ve ever recorded for 50 Euro. Next up on my plan was Earth at the Midi Theatre — their set switched with Circle with Pharaoh Overlord, if you’ll recall — but I missed it and the Animosity lineup of C.O.C. in the name of getting dinner. Sorry. Man’s gotta eat.

After failing to get a table at Koi Sushi across the street from the Mercure (I’m pretty sure if I’d showed up in a suit and a Eurodouche haircut, I’d have gotten seated, but I’m always sure of that), it was off to a Mexican place down Weirdo Canyon, that had a beer spiked with tequila called Desperados that I had two of before I realized why I was getting so buzzed off it. So much for knowing what you’re getting into.

The food was decent, though, and much needed. If I’m lucky, tomorrow I’ll wake up in time to get some eggs for breakfast. After the “flautas” — which was actually a burrito — I went back to the 013 main room for SunnO)))‘s set. They took their sweet time getting on stage, as you’d almost have to expect, and I waited impatiently in the photo pit, crowded in with the same pushy group of people who’ve been around all weekend. I saw members of Evoken up front in the crowd on the other side of the barrier. Looking forward to their set tomorrow. Another killer Jersey band — totally opposite end of the spectrum from The Atomic Bitchwax — representing my home state. Jersey Shore my ass.

I probably should have stayed for more of SunnO))), but I wanted to catch Hooded Menace in the Green Room, and knew that doing so meant I had to get over there early. They were already on when I rolled in, and killing it. I was glad to see they captured the tightness of their studio sound live with a formidable vitality to complement. They look like a young band on stage, and forsaking the cloaks of the main stage act on at the time, they wore hoodies to cover their heads and evoke their moniker. It was clever, and even if they did look like they belonged at a Madball show, they certainly didn’t sound it. Fucking killer death metal with doom riffs. I dug it and felt lucky to see them.

My night ended with Voivod, which was fitting. I was right up front at the Midi Theatre for the start of their set — having gotten there and been pleasantly surprised to catch the tail end of Incredible Hog‘s performance — and it was well worth the push of the crowd. Incredible Hog had hit the old-man-rock nail right on the head, and Voivod, a generation younger, injected punk rock energy into classically progressive heaviness. I’d never seen either band — never heard of Incredible Hog — so it was awesome to see both acts and close out my Friday night with such a meaningful set.

I know Voivod‘s days as a live act are numbered after the death of Denis “Piggy” D’Amour and their subsequent albums featuring the riffs he recorded prior to passing, and I appreciated having the chance to see them. Having Snake sing “Forlorn” from Phobos (on which Eric Forrest originally performed) was the icing on the cake, and the band as a whole rocked. There was no pretense about it, no bullshit, just rock and roll. It was a joy to watch.

Tomorrow begins with Candlemass performing Epicus Doomicus Metallicus in its entirety — basically a headlining set opening the day — so I’m stoked for that, but for tonight, it’s getting on 3AM and time for me to upload my pictures to go with this post and get the hell to sleep if I can. Breakfast and all the rest of it depends mostly on my getting a decent night’s sleep, so here’s hoping. My Palm Dobbel now open, Friday has a fitting (and delicious) end.

More pics after the jump. Click to enlarge any of them and/or the ones here.

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