Long Winters' Stare
Cold Tale Eternal (Mcd) 1998 Pantheon Records
Released on the now disfunct underground label Pantheon Records (and as such impossible to find these days) this first Mcd by US based band Long Winters' Stare (formerly known as Manthing and playing a different style of music). This contains the same tracks as their demo. Harsh, psychotic, insane Doom-metal is what this band offers us. The highly insane screams by Clint Listing fully fit the crazy music they accompagny. Besides screams there also are some cleaner type vocals (I'm not going to dare calling them clean vocals) by Greg Ball who also amongst other instruments also plays a contrabass! We also find a extremely weird version of Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' on this Mcd. My personal favourite is the last track 'Clawing Out' that is too weird for me to even try and describe. Well besides that it is really slow. All in all this is probably one of the weirdest and as such also most original releases the Doom-metal genre has seen. It however does not become a mess, there is definite structure in the madness. I don't think a great deal of people will enjoy this album because it is so strange but if you are open minded I would say do give it a try, it is worth it.	1. Enter 2. Timeless & Somber 3. Sigh 4. Eternal Slumber 5. Anastasia 6. Paranoid 7. Clawing out Approx. 20 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
Before the Dawn so go the Shadows of Humanity (CD) 1999 Dragon Flight
Compared to their first Mcd this album is a little maturer. However don't think these guys lost any of their previous urge to experiment or their insanity. Now combining more neo-classical and darkwave elements into the music the music has more structure and depth. The album is actually a concept album and tells the tale of Count Vlad, better known as Dracula. The clean vocals by Greg Ball have become ever weirder then before and Clint Listings grunt seems to have grown in depth and strength. This album again has a cover, the rather unexpected cover Kansas's 'Carry On'. The song has been surgically pulled apart by Long Winters' Stare and then put back together again. Not as heavy as most other doom-metal releases and a lot stranger and more experimental this album will once more not be an album that will appeal to a great deal of people. But it is easier to digest than their previous Mcd and well worth the effort getting into.	1. Blood of the Nazarene 2. He is Insane 3. War Epic 4. Carry On 5. Into the Darkness 6. Hounds 7. Remain Life Eternal 8. Into the Sun Approx. 53 minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel
The Tears of Odin's Fallen (CD) 2000 Dark Symphonies
Having made the switch to Dark Symphonies we get to hear what later turned out to be Long Winters' Stare's swan song - not too long after this release the band shamefully broke up. The music on this second full length has reached its absolute height when it comes to weirdness and insanity. Again combining Darkwave, Neoclassical and other influences with Doom-metal it has just become weirder. Besides the grunts, screams and weird clean vocals there now also are female vocals. While they do sometimes add to the music I usually find them to be too much. Musically the experimentation has also gone on. In general this album has a very epic feel but the first song for example at times reminds me of Esoteric! Once more we are dealing with a concept album. This time the album tells the tale of the Valkyries. I can fully imagine that the first 6 tracks will, just as with all their previous work, only appeal to a very small crowd. The last track however might appeal to more people. This last track 'The Unknown God' is a 20 minute long funeral doom song in the style of Skepticism. A great track that makes this album worth buying even if you don't care for the more experimental songs preceding it. Note: John of Doom-metal.com can also be heard on one song from 'The Tears of Odin's Fallen' doing a spoken passage. This incidently did not influence the contents of this review (I wasn't even aware of it at the time, he only told me later).	1. In the Hall of Odin 2. Blood of Steel 3. Blood of my Fathers 4. Neolyth 5. In Arms 6. The Last Call 7. The Unknown God Approx. 62minutes
Reviewed by: Aldo Quispel