How Like a Winter
The Winter's Near (Demo CD) 2001 No Label
When you receive a demo CD with song titles like `Vampiric serenade` and `The beauty, the beast`, you just know what to expect. Those Italians are proud to play gothic metal and they show it. Fortunately, the music is not quite as annoyingly clichéd as one would expect from a band with a Shakespearean band name (which is derived from the master’s sonnet XCVII) and such predictable track titles. Sure, all the `traditional` elements are there (melancholy violins, romantic piano interludes, fragile male/female vocals, grunts which are mixed carefully in the background not to shock the potential `softie` fanbase), but the songwriting is strong enough to hold the listener’s attention (I suppose that the short length of this demo is also an advantage here). The songs are tasteful and their pseudo-artistic pretensions don’t hinder them at all, quite in contrary actually. Their hollow art has in fact something intriguing, as it happens with so many fascinating gothic rock bands. Only those who are searching for delicatessen within the atmospheric metal genre shall probably be left with a bad taste on their mouths here, as what I hear on this demo is hardly the crème de la crème of the Italian dark metal scene. Here and there they could have incorporated more power and body in their compositions, which I hope they’ll do in the future, as the lack of intensity of this material can`t entertain a demanding listener for more than 30 minutes. The band have recently released their debut album `…beyond my grey wake`, but I have yet to hear it. Those who are interested to know what exactly to expect from this band, can download samples at stage.vitaminic.com/how_like_a_winter/ or visit their website at www.howlikeawinter.com.	1. Relief 2. Vampiric Serenade 3. The Beauty, the Beast 4. Your Rest 5. To the Farthest Bound of Life 6. XCVII Approx. 28 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
...Beyond My Grey Wake (CD) 2003 Martyr Music Group
While I wasn't overly impressed by this group's demo, it seems that they have found their niche this time. Their brand of melodic and accessible doom/gothic is certainly not a landmark in the history of extreme metal; nevertheless it contains enough catchy hooks, beautiful melodies and riffs to be able to steal the heart of the romantic souls. Opener 'A flower that sears in silence' contains a memorable 'fake violin' hook which however reminds in a suspicious way of a particular track of Celestial Season's debut album. Vocalist Dust has a convincingly deep throat similar to the low growls of the Bride's Aaron. His brutal vocals are complemented by the ethereal chants of female vocalists Tragedy and Misery (yes, I do believe that they could have done without the lame member pseudonyms). The other tracks are fortunately not as blatantly similar to the genre's better-known bands and they also offer some memorable moments, courtesy of Dust's beautiful piano interludes and orchestral arrangements. Oddly enough, my personal highlight is the piano only instrumental 'Who is hiding', which seems to be inspired directly by the tradition of the great classic romantics. Not much more left to say. In this particular genre, I lost every hope to hear something original and innovative long time ago, so I assess the bands by their ability to blend their influences in such a way that they move me emotionally. In my opinion, How like a winter does this really well. Therefore I can recommend them freely to fans of emotional, yet accessible dark metal. Band contact: howlikeawinter@hotmail.com	1. A flower that sears in silence 2. All the seasons of madness 3. Laying together again 4. Bescreen'd 5. Who is hiding (instrumental) 6. Crucifige 7. XCVII 8. The night, then hiM 9. So death would be just a bad dream (instrumental) Approx. 59 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou