You kind of know what you’re getting when a band is named Concrete Winds. For starters it’s a great name and secondly you know it’s going to be heavy as all hell. Having reviewed the bands second record Nerve Butcherer back in 2021 I already knew what to expect. Since then it’s a name that has stuck with me as a benchmark for heaviness, a band hell-bent on pushing the boundaries of the extreme. Now it’s time for the Finnish duo to do it all over again in 2024 with their self-titled third album from Sepulchral Voice Records.
Literally not a single second wasted, as Permanent Dissonance opens it’s very clear what we’re in for. Total utter sonic torment of the highest regard. Chaotic chainsaw driven riffs meld together with bass and drums for an almost Noise Rock/ War Metal amalgamation of terror. Vocally the track (and album) is as aggressive as the music itself, again akin to War Metal and indeed Harsh Noise. Virulent Glow echoes the same sentiment, to call Concrete Winds sound Experimental would even be apt. It’s kind of like a bunch of tones and sounds that shouldn’t work together but in unison there is one brilliant cacophony. It’s the kind of music that your average listener will brush off as ‘noise’ when that is quite literally the point. I also cannot imagine how difficult it must be to create and compose something so maniacal yet harmonious. Daylight Amputations keeps the Grind laden torch held aloft. Indeed, it’s at this point that I should mention that the very core of this band is Death Metal mixed with Grind, think Nails mixed with Blasphemy and then turn that up to eleven. Infernal Repeater and Subterranean Persuasion thunder through with further grit and devastation, the latter being a personal favourite of mine from the album.
This album whips through with such intensity that it’s almost hard to keep up. Rapid fire, not a second wasted, sheer barbaric force. Hell Trance makes sure to keep this up, even the more electronic jackhammer-like ending is abrasive in nature. Continuing the path of madness however is Systematic Distortion. It’s pretty massive in sound once again and those relentless Slayer tinged guitar parts keep everything fresh and unpredictable. These elements continue through Demented Gospels, another solid and anarchic track complemented by a savage harmony of destruction. The final song Pounding Devotion is the longest track and even that is under four minutes. I almost see this as mocking the trope of ending an album with a long song and I’ve got a lot of time for that. It’s a song which is no different from its predecessors too, ever brutal and continually fantastic. The ending of thundering Noise is also a wondrous send off for a perfect record.
Is this self-titled release from Concrete Winds one of the heaviest albums I’ve ever heard? Undoubtedly yes, it’s actually stupid how heavy this is and I don’t say that lightly. This album is a real test of a Metalheads tolerance for the extreme. As someone who feeds off of that energy I simply can’t get enough. Even more so than the band’s prior work this album sets a bar for Concrete Winds, and I can’t wait to see what comes next, this is one of those bands that I hope never changes and only pushes harder.
(10/10 George Caley)
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