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Welcome To Unbound Zine |
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| Album Review |
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Winds Of Plague-Decimate the Weak
(Century Media Records, 2008)
While Winds of Plague are somewhat easily associated with the deathcore genre, the varied approach of the band makes comparing them to any band in particular quite difficult. Each element could be traced to particular bands but the way everything is structured and brought together definitely has a unique feel. The band draws from everything from Dying Fetus' subwoofer testing rhythmic chunk to Between the Buried and Me's flair for sweep picking to even riffs that wouldn't sound out of place on a Nile album. Add in metalcore elements and ridiculously heavy breakdown riffs and you have an album that packs a lot of punch without being overly cliche.
Decimate the Weak could be called many things, but boring certainly isn't one of them. The band plays with incredibly energy and while there are fast moments, the band really knows how to pound a groove right into the ground. The speedier moments are certainly well done as well but if you are expecting constant speed Wings of the Plague is not the band to provide it. The music is surprisingly melodic using lead guitar lines and melody lines that wouldn't sound out of place on a power metal album. The band has an excellent grasp on what they want to accomplish with their sound and strike a balance between technicality and ridiculous heaviness. The fleet fingered guitar playing is some of the best I have heard in this genre and while sweep picking has become somewhat typical of the genre, the band uses it much better than the average band in the genre.
Keyboards are used to excellent effect with this album. It seems like every band has a keyboard player these days and typically you cant even hear the keyboards. They keyboards here are quite audible and tend to coat the music with a much different atmosphere than the riff they happen to be used with. It makes the melodic sections even more melodic and adds a unique feel to some of the heavier riffs.
Winds of Plague are a band with a lot to offer fans of the metalcore genre. They have a heavy approach that draws heavily from the death metal genre, but also have the melodic riffs and the soloing that people are beginning to expect from the metalcore genre. Throw Bleeding Through, Suffocation and Between the Buried and Me in a blender and the bloody aftermath would be Winds of Plague.
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UN: You guys were originally called Bleak December but later changed the name to Winds of Plague. What brought about the change? Do you think Winds of Plague is a better fit for the style of the band?
Johnny/vocals: We were in the process of signing a record deal with Life Sentence Records and we ran into some copyright problems with the name so we changed it to Winds Of Plague. I think everything happens for a reason and even though the record contract didnt work out I feel the name was definitely a huge improvement and a much better fit for our name.
UN: How did the deal with Century Media come about? Were you guys stoked when they were showing an interest in the band? After all Century Media is one of the biggest metal labels there is and they have one hell of a roster.
Johnny: Funny story about that. I got an email one day from Steve Joh at CM saying the label had interest and wanted to talk. I honestly thought this was a joke or a kid trying to get a free shirt out of it, but after some research I found out this Steve guy was legit and shortly after we signed a worldwide deal with CM. We couldn't be happier with our decision; CM is the only label for us.
UN: How long did the writing process for Decimate the Weak take? Does it take a long time to put together a Winds of Plague song?
Johnny: Yes, it takes a lot longer then it should. We have such a hard time because we want to write music worth listening to and something interesting from start to finish. It can take anywhere from a month to a year to complete a song.
UN: Your debut was released back in 2005. Do you feel like you guys have matured and progressed with the new album? Is it more of the type of sound you envisioned for the band?
Johnny: There is a lot of old material on this new album. However, I think in those songs it shows the most progress, it's a world of difference and it's even hard to recognize the old songs. The new songs are definitely a step in the right direction for us. I am content with them but I have great expectations for our future and dont feel we have reached our goal as musicians yet.
UN: What inspired the name of the album? Obviously it is a very metal themed album name, but is there a deeper meaning behind the album name?
Johnny: I'm glad I have a chance to explain the meaning of Decimate The Weak at first I'm sure it sounds like a shallow meat head name but I meant for the word weak to be used to represent the people in this world that live there lives blind to the pain and suffering in this world that conform without asking why? You're either part of the problem, or part of the solution.
UN: The album cover has a very cool and different look, especially right now with metal covers becoming a bit more abstract. How did the concept for the cover come together?
Johnny: I just wanted a pissed off, demonic samurai to represent the theme of perseverance that runs through the album. I ran the idea by the artist Par Oloffson and a few hours later he had that drawn up for me.
UN: Any plans to make the samurai the mascot for Winds of Plague? Iron Maiden has Eddie, youll just need to come up with a cool name.
Johnny: Today I actually thought how the hell are we ever going to top this art. So who knows! Maybe, he's definitely bad ass enough.
UN: How was working with Daniel Castleman? Did he seem to get what you guys were doing musically? Was it a smooth recording process? Was this the longest you guys have been in the studio?
Johnny: Yea it was by far the longest we have ever spent in the studio. Looking back it seemed to have been a pretty smooth operation but at the time it was harsh and grueling work. Daniel was amazing to work with; he definitely kept a relaxed environment and pushed us to perform at our best.
UN: The album was mixed by Tue Madsen who is definitely a well known producer in the metal world. Was it exciting to hear the final mix for the first time? How long did the mixing process take? Were you guys biting your nails to finally hear it?
Johnny: We were very nervous, the original mix was very clean and we weren't totally satisfied because we did not think it would be able to stay afloat in this world of heavy music, and then Tue got a hold of the tracks and made a very beautiful balance of brutality and clarity.
UN: While Winds of Plague is a very heavy band, there is also a lot of melody in the music. Would you consider the melody to be an integral part of the bands sound?
Johnny: Yes definitely. The scene is so flooded with heavy nonsense we rely on melody from the guitars and keyboards to set us aside from the core of today's heavy music.
UN: Flashy playing and sweep picking is becoming quite common these days in really heavy bands, but Winds of Plague seem to use it much more effectively than most with it fitting into the songs quite well. Is it hard to fit those elements into the context of a song or does it come naturally?
Johnny: Just gotta let it flow, when the time is right youll know it. A lot of bands try and force these elements into there music and it doesn't seem to work. And then again you have bands that focus in on these elements and pull it off brilliantly.
UN: Can we expect the band to be on the road fairly non stop to support Decimate the Weak? Are you guys excited to pound the pavement and see how these new songs go over live?
Johnny: Yes! Especially after this current run we are on right now with Dead To Fall. We were very nervous to how the public would take to this sound we are developing and it's going amazing so far and we cant wait to see what lies ahead for us.
UN: I found it very cool that you guys took the time to post guitar tabs for most of the new album online. Is it humbling that fans want to take the time to learn the songs?
Johnny: I couldn't believe how many kids hit us up asking for tabs, what tuning we are in and what not, so we decided to tab some songs out and throw them up. Kids seemed very excited that we did that and keep sending in there youtube videos of them playing the songs and it's amazing to see people so into what we are doing. This all still seems like a dream to us and we are well aware that we arent shit without our fans.
UN: It seems like more and more bands are calling it quits after only a few albums. You guys have been together for six years and seem to be catching steam. Can we expect Winds of Plague to continue making noise for a long time into the future?
Johnny: I'd love to say yes, and as of now I don't see any end to this band in the near future but just like everything else, were just going to take it day by day and see where the road leads us.
Official Winds of Plague Myspace
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