Video Premiere: Windfaerer – “Astral Tears”
Good stuff for your earballs and eyeholes.
It’s been a minute since we heard from Windfaerer around here, so for a quick recap, they’re a black metal band from New Jersey with a strong folk streak to their sound. Make no mistake though, this is not the kind of folk metal that sings jaunty tunes about wenches at the local tavern or how the middle ages were actually super dope. What you get is much more in line with what we’re used to hearing from the realm of atmospheric black metal: long-form songs with a hefty dose of melancholy constitute the meat of Breaths of Elder Dawns, their newest full-length. While the album was released last month, it is today that we are able to bring you the video for “Astral Tears,” composed by artist Drain Hope.
From the onset, the imagery in the video is dominated by recurring images of ruins, skulls, and ancient statues; a procession mementos and signifiers of the past, flickering and distorted, or otherwise seeming displaced by the collage style of the visuals. The significance of this may reveal itself in the near future when I finally finish my review. For now, I’ll leave the musing up to you and just note that the video may look grimier than the music seems to warrant, as Windfaerer’s production is absolutely impeccable throughout. Clean and with a masterful command of dynamics, everything is geared towards maximum emotional impact, and the violin (accompanied on this record by a viola, a cello, and several other acoustic instruments) is given plenty of room to soar, as indeed it does right at the beginning of this track.
So without further ado, let’s get to what we’re here for:
Windfaerer’s Breaths of Elder Dawns came out on August 27th via Avantgarde Music. It’s available digitally and physically and well worth your time.
Bandcamp | Avantgarde Music | CD | 2LP | Limited 2LP
