Album Review: Once Upon A Winter – Pain And Other Pleasures (Snow Wave Records)

Once Upon a Winter is a progressive post rock project from Thessaloniki, Greece.

This is the group’s third effort and dishes out forceful influences of black metal, weighty gothic doom and progressive instrumentations with violins, keyboards and female vocals mixed with their atmospheric post-rock.

This third album, titled ‘Pain and Other Pleasures’ will see its release on September 20th 2019 via the Finnish label Snow Wave Records.

An eerie build towards A Loose End in Time, the melody is dark but emotive. Peaceful and light at first, more and more instruments are introduced until it transforms into faster and heavier sounding post rock track.

After quite an epic opener, Once Upon a Winter flirt with a mix of their post sound and rockier guitar hooks. Ending in possibly the albums most uplifting piece of melody. Simply wondrous and so very effective. Followed by the title track which sees the band take their foot of the gas for nearly 7 minutes of haunting melodies.

The consistent infusion of epic soundscapes into this album is what makes even the slower of tracks absolutely hum with life. Nepenthe is a little bit heavier at times but is filled with gorgeous airiness. Reynisfjara is more of the same but with a folk-like quality that really highlights the string instruments before this excellent post-rock release ends on a short piece of melody.

Even if post-rock isn’t your jam, the wonderful way in which Once Upon a Winter express themselves here is worth experiencing.

Once Upon a Winter – Pain and Other Pleasures Full Track Listing:

1. A Loose End in Time
2. Partial Fraction Decomposition
3. Pain and Other Pleasures
4. V Waves
5. Nepenthe
6. Reynisfjara
7. Forgotten

 

 

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