Review by Sonny for Paysage d'Hiver - Im Wald (2020)

I passed up on this for quite some time, finding myself put off by the marathon two hour run time. What an idiot! I have deprived myself for several months of one of the best black metal albums ever committed to plastic. I thought Paysage's self-titled was a great album, but with this double CD monster he has unleashed his masterpiece. Nobody, but nobody, is better at conveying the sense of being lost in a blizzard, miles from home or safety, than Wintherr. My first job after leaving school was in a frozen food factory and one of the duties was to clear conveyor belt blockages in blast freezers, the temperature of which was set at -40°C. It has taken forty years, but finally an album has reproduced the feeling of such bone-numbing coldness in musical form. Of course, what was missing then that is indeed present here is the abject feeling of isolation and despair of ever seeing journey's end. Fortunately I have never been hopelessly lost without shelter and fearing for my very survival, but now at least I know how it feels.

Heavily-influenced by early, black metal-era Burzum, Wintherr has brought the icy forest theme that runs through much of atmospheric black metal and, indeed, the overarching storyline of his own career, to it's apotheosis. Some albums seem more than just another release, feeling as if the artist has poured their entire being into the endeavour and I'm Wald, I would suggest, is one such album. As a huge fan of atmo-black, I would absolutely put this up on equal footing with any of the classics of the genre.