WINTER „Looking Back”

Wintergothic Records & Bob-Media Distribution, 2022

Music: Gothic Rock / Dark Rock
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/WINTERpalehorse
https://winter5.bandcamp.com/album/looking-back
Duration: 1:02:49 (16 tracks)
Country: Germany

Markus Winter is an artist who expresses his creativity through the music… The music that is dark, melodic, melancholic, romantic, emotionally saturated, but at the same time not devoid of a Rock claw, especially in a Gothic mood.

The material is a compilation of songs from the albums “Kaleidoscope Of Dreams (1995),” Hearthbreak Road “(2009),” The Flyer “(2016) and” We wear Black “(2019), which were remixed in 2021.

WINTER’s music fits best in the canons of Gothic Rock, with darkness, melancholy, moodiness and of course Rock arrangements. In the arrangements dominates balanced pace, most often in medium rhythms (but with little tendency to slow down and accelerations), with clearly exposed parts of the bass, with melodic guitar solos and melodic catchy vocals.

The vocalism of the material is very atmospheric. On the one hand there is a very melodic singing, usually typical of Gothic Rock patterns with a rather low timbre of vocals, with a slight hoarseness, but also very ballad-like moments with backing vocals or singing in a duet (e.g. female-male). On the other hand, there are more dynamic vocals, more aggressive, with higher tones. However, this type of singing is in the minority.

In addition to Gothic Rock arrangements, the compositions contain elements of Pop Rock, Hard Rock and even Country, as well as delicate Electronic Music influences in the form of synthesizers and samples. And low-tuned guitars and incidentally heavy riffs bring the music closer to Gothic Metal.

Sixteen songs create over an hour of music. And each of them has own atmosphere and mood, although the whole thing is still consistent. For example, the first song “We Belive In Rock” as a song with such the title, I think it should be much more dynamic. The songs “Child Of Everdream” and “Gasoline” are romantic-sounding ballad songs in duets with women on vocals. “Blood Red Vengeance” is a classic dark ballad Gothic Rock.

“We Wear Black” classically arranged Gothic Rock, balladic, dark, catchy, melodiously melancholic, with clearly audible bass guitar parties. In turn, “Angel” or “Take It Slow” sound like Pop Rock ballads. On the other hand, “I Stand Alone”, due to some arrangement similarities, reminded me TYPE’O’NEGATIVE , due to low-tuned guitars, delicate atmospheric keyboards in the background and dark singing. (Of course, Markus sings in his higher key if compared to Peter Steele’s deep voice.) Similarly, the song “A Love Worth Dying For” is equally in style of Gothic Metal.

The only drawback, for me, is the too dirty sound of guitars. After all, the music is very catchy, enjoyable and emotional.

Tracklist:
1. We Believe In Rock
2. Comming Home
3. Heartbreak Road
4. The Flyer
5. Child Of Everdream
6. Blood Red Vengeance
7. Princess Of The Night
8. Beneath The Blue
9. We Wear Black
10. Angel
11. Bleeding Heart
12. On The Run
13. I Stand Alone
14. Gasoline
15. A Love Worth Dying For
16. Take It Slow

Line-up:
Markus Winter – vocals & guitar, bass, synthesizer, keyboards, violins
Hugo Ribeiro – drums
Michael Donner – synthesizer & keyboards

Jasmin Stillger – vocal & backing vocal
Biana Stillger – vocal & backing vocal
Dany Winter – vocal & backing vocal
Tom Jott – vocal & backing vocal
Dirk Hardegen – vocal & backing vocal

Rate: 8.0/10