Winds of Plague - The Great Stone War
Returning with concept album 'The Great Stone War' Californian deathcore band, Winds of Plague, set the scene with 'Earth' a spoken introduction to their brutal blend of Scandinavian black metal and classic death metal. Vocalist Johnny Plague has written a narrative album about the demise of civilisation and uses his guttural vocals to drive this story home. Plunging in to 'Forged In Fire' they commence their soundtrack to Armageddon.
This album marks the recording debut of keyboardist Kristen Randall who makes the clear instrument stand out above the blend of sound and utilises it to illuminate the tracks, drawing your attention upwards around the dynamic patterns of guitarist Nick Piunno and Nick Eash. A maelstrom of noise is held in check by Art Cruz on drums and Andrew Glover's bass, providing a backbone to the constantly changing sounds which continue from start to end.
At the 27 minute mark, 'Our Requiem' commences with a spoken word statement "Tonight we shall leave this earth as legends. Our only way to never die", ensuring you know exactly where we are in the story. The chanted end "This will be our requiem our testament to the heavens" fading into 'Classic Struggle' on which you can feel the struggle through the soul wrenching guitars and bass. Title track 'The Great Stone War' is the culmination, the clash, the war, the death of the world and the frenetic track captures this clearly. Ending the story with 'Tides of Change' a soft piano led track that saddens your soul and completes the journey with a final spoken statement.
This is not an album of individual songs, that point made crystal clear through the consistent sound and the lack of silence between tracks, with most running into each other. As a concept album, it is a 37 minute long story that takes you through the apocalyptic journey and reminds you, as noted by Plague, that "Even in the world's darkest times you always have to take a step back and see life for what it is and not lose sight of what is most important".
Winds of Plague have produced an opus in 'The Great Stone War' making full use of their talent to bring Johnny Plague's saga to light. Leaving you mentally and physically drained this is an epic production.