VIALS OF WRATH: Dark Winter Memories (CD-digipak)

Vials of Wrath - Dark Winter Memories [Digi]

2019 Flowing Downward

01. Into The Brumal Woe (Instrumental)
02. A Black Bile Fog
03. The Cold And The Hope
04. Reflections Of An Old Soul
05. With Distance
06. Calling Upon The Ancient One
07. A Hiemal Aura (Instrumental)

Time: 41:00
Media: Digipak (6 panel gatefold with English lyrics)

“The cold aroma of a winter’s fire… warm memories overwhelm. They become dark all too soon like the day, last of days.”

Steeped in atmosphere, Vials of Wrath’s newest creation in “Dark Winter Memories” is a journey of soulful-reflection by the band’s sole creator, DC Mills. Derived from a variety of personal highs and lows over the course of several winters, the seven tracks of DWM deeply connect with the listeners to convey the tapestry of the weathered landscape that the artist has traversed. Comprised of emotions that humans experience; loss, pain, sorrow, solitude, searching, hope and unwavering resolve, Vials of Wrath ever-so-precisely plucks the heartstrings in us all. Thick in mood, timeless in sound, forged from the fires of refinement and risen from the cold of grief-laden days, like age-old bark clinging to ancient trees in lonesome woodlands, the sound-scape of DWM stands as a stalwart of divine affinity amidst the centuries that pass on by.

“Distance, time and space. The chasm between what is and was… allows me to find nothing. Distance, like newfound faith. Can come between what is and was… allows me to find everything.”

Join this adventurer as he takes the listener through neo-folk instrumentals akin to Agalloch, Alcest, Skogen, Ulvesang, and Nebelung while plunging into atmospheric black metal riffs full of texture and description like Drudkh, Wolves in the Throne Room, Veldes, October Falls and Enisum. Heartfelt narratives and passionate growl vocals merge with story and truth amongst the shifting winds of winter forests. Taking off where the “Ataraxia” EP and the digital-only tracks from “The Ways of Old” from 2018 ventured towards and the tremendous “Days Without Names” (2015) and “Seeking Refuge” (2013) gave hint to where this smokey mountain wanderer was treading, “Dark Winter Memories” is the anthem of an authentic soul in the wintry alcoves of the coldest, darkest season to man.

A “brother to dragons and a companion to owls”, what will one do with the story shared from these “Dark Winter Memories”?

“The loudest whisper, truth hard as stone. Like a December’s snow, my elders are falling. Yet, have ne’er stood so strong. A celebration for the ages, a rebirth unto dust. They will always be with me until I am with them.”

Lyrics from “A Black Bile Fog”, “With Distance” and “The Cold and The Hope”

- Nokternal Hemizphear