The Howling Wind - 'Into The Cryosphere'

Genuinely creepy black/doom.

Fully actualizing both the potential of their Pestilence and Peril debut as well as the members’ own history in the Thralldom project, The Howling Wind’s Into the Cryosphere is a creepy and otherworldly journey into USBM dementia and villainy.

This album is a solid listen throughout, and takes the sludgy doom sound of guitarist/vocalist Ryan Lipynsky’s other outfit, Unearthly Trance and essentially formats it for the black metal hard drive, inserting ace Celtic Frost influences and hateful, netherworld atmospherics into the mix to great effect. The end result is both brutal and listenable, simultaneously capturing the imaginations of occult metal fans and recent doom converts alike in its listenability.

The album’s presence on the Profound Lore roster seems to be no accident, given the label’s talent for scoping and scooping up new talent, bringing them to the next creative and artistic level. The Howling Wind is certainly no exception to this trending rule, with Into the Cryosphere serving as the band’s best and most full-sounding record to date. Solid.

Disclosure: A review copy was provided by the publisher. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.