new media!

our last show has been filmed! the videos are on youtube, visit the channel of our guitarist Lankraf.

Lankraf's Channel

furthermore I'm currently updating our homepage, exchange parts of the design and upload new pics and stuff. should be finished soon

Winterblast LIVE 4.9.2009

finally we play our first show with two guitars. after boris had joined the band last year, we were busy learning the newer songs, but now we are able to return on stage!

the small things...

well...recording is much more work with winterblast than I had expected. it will take some time for all band members to learn the songs in a sufficient way for sure, so what we can do while learing new songs is simple: small shows with no effort at all, playing the songs we used to play at the last show and in addition to that some songs of Garden of Grief (because these are, while having a fine atmosphere, easy to lern for our guitarrists and to get the songs live on stage which would be not possible at all for GoG without session members at the moment)

shows will be arranged as soon as we have decided what to play, dates of upcoming shows will be posted here. the recording of our album should not be further postponed according to these activities...

a new home for a new project

I just made a new blog for Garden of Grief in order to not confuse Winterblast and the work on my project. on this blog I will post information about the Winterblast recordings and everything happening inbetween, and on the other blog you will find everything about Garden of Grief.

for further information on GoG visit: Garden of Grief's Blog

Garden of Grief

finally I have finished all the songs for my new project Garden of Grief. at least 2 of them I want to play myself on the guitar, still this will take some more time to learn according to my starting to play this very year...for the next time I will be busy in writing the missing lyrics to the songs.

the first recording, although the date of release could be some time ahead from now will contain the tracks:

1. Volunteer...(for Euthanasia)
2. Across the Plains of D'ara-Khun
3. Mourning the Fallen
4. Return to Na'Thaar Keep
5. The Horizon of my Dreams

total playing time will be approximately about one hour - enough worth listening to...
it seems to me that I could actually manage to learn the first 2 songs on the guitar with some effort, the other ones are yet far away from my skills by now as I suppose, so there has to be some assistance in dealing with those

Epilogue

What’s coming next? well in fact this question might concern my plans for the future as well as the story of the album which will continue for few episodes and then will be not the main theme of my lyrics for some time...

i recently started playing the guitar as well as ocarina...got no real use for the ocarina yet, but as I got this Garden of Grief project besides the band there's at least use for any guitar playing skills. some more practice and I will be able to play most of the parts of the GoG songs, so there could be also some records within the next year. as GoG ist not really supposed to be a live act, there could be some songs appearing in one Winterblast show or another, or maybe smaller sessions with minimalistic arrangement of the songs - there is also the idea of cooperating with other people having such one-man projects and helping each other in performing live if necessary. first of all my skills in playing the guitar have to be improved, then we will see...

so what happens to the main charcter of Arcane Inferno now? I considered putting a name to all things sometimes, not just leaving everything as an abstract landscape and characters with everything defined in detail except the character itsself...if I will do that sometimes, I have not decided yet, but the story will continue for sure (just for now its over after 3 or 4 songs following after Arcane Inferno). After Arcane Inferno there will be war on the plains of the wastelands. an ancient place of power has been deiscovered and different forces struggle to gain control over the mountain ridge under which there is the second "important" place besides the mystic vale...maybe I will write some songs about a second quest for the vale after those events, but I would rather stop the story after the war raging in the wastelands for this is actually the end of my concept by now. Still there is some idea deep within my mind...ah forget it...it’s time for war now...

final stage: arcane inferno of devastated dreams

so now the story has reached an interesting point: can the power of the avenger inflicted on the human soul solve all problems? for what we already know the avengers power is mainly a destructive one. in the end the quest of our hero is such that needs no use of force, if you would agree with me on that point. the entrance to the vale could be indeed opened by force, but we will see to that later (referring to the songs around "volcanic blood" and "thus the empire rises"...).

this is the last stage of the journey - I think it's best to give no details about this part of the story for everything can be found within the lyrics leaving no gaps to fill. in these last songs "Winterblast" and "Arcane Inferno" the album titel gets its qualification at last: the meaning of "loss" will be the main topic now.

“Winterblast” as the first full length song after the interlude “Freezing Hearts in Silent Storms” is not the fastest of the album, but surely the one which seems to be. a really cold and dark atmosphere prepares the way to downfall. “Arcane Inferno” afterwards represents the rush of conflicting emotions resulting from the events before. eventually this will lead to another attempt in bringing this damn life to an end. that long story just to die in the end? well the main character of this whole thing can’t be that poor-spiritied, can he? in fact the solution to this is the end of “Arcane Inferno” and also the end of the album...

ok now what tells us the story? besides some great deal of personal motivation there is this idea of what the worth of life itsself can be. as long as life is all nice and funny this thought doesn't even spring to mind, but at the edge of sanity after all important things in life have vanished there is plenty of time to think about what keeps one from dying yet. so after defining the reason to keep on living, what happens if this reason also disappears? that's the point where we get befor the final song of the album. what happens then is a tricky thing - the option of just living implies indifference towards what happens to yourself and everything around, because otherwise there would be only death as an temptation. so as cowardice is not the right way as I would say, there has to be the thought of what to do when you have no reason to live but at the same time chose not to commit suicide. I won't give further information about what the intention behind this story is for with the plot already told you can all use your wits and guess what all the details not mentioned here and in the posts before are all about. the whole concept is far beyond just telling a story - indeed a wierd one but still something that can happen to anyone of us. I won't steal the act of thinking from all of you before anyone had even a chance to listen to the album, I just would rather provide a short summary of the plot than have everyone interprete the lyrics in a completely wrong way...

...according to latest information I think we would have to postpone the release of the album to late october or november 2009, but organizing the next shows earlyier than expected. Winterblast could be on stage again in summer if nothing of cosmic importance crosses our plans...

of power and how to use it

the avenger returns and reannounces his offering...the trade of absolute commitment against outerworldy powers. again the same high price for the small chance of regaining control of events, yet the situation is a different one. desperation influences the decision in a positive way - the offering is accepted.

the character gains some of the power the spirit provides - instead of all problems becoming solved instantly, the avenger just turns him into a new being, not entirely human anymore, yet still without any major physical changes visible. simultanuously the view of things changes and the aims vanish in a blur of emotions, most of them of aggressive nature. not bound anymore to human morals all the hate and frustration erupts like lava from a volcano - utter destruction is spread over the land, without any target burning everything to dust. the avenger is gone and the pact is sealed - the price of power was just power itsself...

just as the first part of Unholy Avenger "Tempest from the Past" shows the events from the avenger's point of view, not the main character's. by the end of the song our hero stands between the ruins of the world he knew, still in search of the mystic vale and his lost love...no progress at all in any task. all that the powers have brought was the disabling of every sense of humanity and in addition to that a mere bonus of being able to blast everything out of the way what might seem inappropriate. combined with all the desperation and of course anger for the reason of not regaining control over the situation, the awareness of strenght leads to heedless use of all powers resulting in an inferno of unseen dimension. as the first fit of rage is over, it's time to recollect what is left and continue the struggle. still there's someone to be found and a paradise to be regained - no problem with the blood of a demigod running through your veins, isn't it? we will see...

illusions of life and death

a question: do you know that you are alive? if so, what makes you believe that this is a fact? some of you will say "of course do I know!" but what proof do you have since no one knows what death is like? considering this statement the story gets a weird touch for the next song "Illusions of Clarity" could be seen as the death of the character...or just a vision of death, a lucid dream, realistic enough to drain the last whit of wit still left by now. the difference of those possibilities seems quite big, beeing already dead or just the experiance of dying while staying alive. but as the story continues it will become a nicety which is just something to ponder on while not being essential for the whole plot. between dreams and visions it might actually be possible that our character would not notice his own death, so in this case the story (after "Illusions of Clarity") would be completely set in afterlife being just another illusion.

nevertheless the story will indeed continue no matter how one interpretes the lyrics of Illusion of Clarity. the following part is a exclusively epic one. "Visions" is a song to take you away somewhere, far enough to forget such nuissances as matters of life and death or even less crucial things. with only few faster parts breaking the tranquility, the 15 minutes of "Visions" represent exactly what the song is all about. dreaming between the worlds there is no need for profane thoughts. the philosophic approach to all problems that have yet to be solved takes its time and its toll...fatalism and apathy would eventually be the outcome. the thought of reality being not real enough to be worth any effort makes you believe that nothing you do is of major importance anymore. therefore the insight gained in this state of mind might prove not that purposeful as suspected. but still the target is locked and the quest continues. as our hero focuses again on the tasks ahead, the avenger offers his help once more...

< /life > ... or: the power of hope

Nostalgic dreams...compared to what is real there's always some bitter taste when thinking of a perfect past. not at all for having lost something, but even more because the wish to regain control of events comes forth. the next song of the album is exactly set when the search for the mystic vale of dreams has ended in front of sealed gates. looking for another way to get in, our plagued soul is haunted by painful memories which are clearly displayed in the lyrics to "Über den Pass des Wahnsinns". melancholy is overwhelming now: a decision between life and death, conceding or continuing the struggle is at hand.

the conflict of emotions is a very complex one...on the one hand you have a great depression, mourning of what has been lost, suicidal thoughts. on the other hand there is the urge to regain control, find his lost love and return to the vale behind the gates. combined with the thought of suicide being an act of cowardice our hero decides to try once more...

"Und eines Tages frag ich dich,
sag, hat es sich gelohnt für mich,
noch mit dem Zeitpunkt abzuwarten,
an dem ich gehe ins Verderben,
und einmal glücklich sagen kann
heute ist ein schöner Tag zum sterben..."

...at the end of the song there is still one question left: is there a point in continuing the struggle? or is everything lost already and death would be just the solution to end the misery?

dreams of reality...

"Im Tal der Nebel" is a quite important part of the plot. what happens in this song is merely a dream, leading to further confusion. although the main content are just thoughts, emotions, and fears, there is a big question at the end of it all...was this all real?

the whole song is actually about the discovering of a vale, some kind of paradise, which - surrounded by mountain ridges - can be entered only at one place: a gate at a pass high above the vale. crossing the borders to the fantastic ground everything seems to turn better, ways out of the misery spring to mind and a feeling of deep harmony arises. in fact this whole part is missing in the text itsself, but this image of the vale is an essential part in order to understand what the rest is all about.

what happens then is part of the vanishing of borders between reality and dream, the biggest part of the whole story. not knowing if the mystic vale was just a dream, a frantic search is initiated for the charakter has yet to find his lost love and a whole place which is not known to even exist for sure. confusion is complete as the search hast to continue both in reality and dreams. in this most emotional part of the plot the german language does it's part pretty well, its actually intensifying all the feelings and simultanuously adding a rough edge to everything because of the harder pronounciation you might already know from listening to german lyrics in general.

by now its not clear whether the vale itsself is a real place or not, and so it will stay throughout the rest of the story. at the end of "Im tal der Nebel" the vale is finally found again - either in another dream or in real life - but no matter what, the gates are locked and there's no way to get to that wondrous place again. this is the point when everything fades into melancholy, depression and frustration. still all those suicidal emotions can't devour the urge to find a solution to the scenario yet...

the offering

Continuing with "The Unholy Avenger" the whole story gets a slightly epic touch. being some manifestation of outerworldly powers, the spirit, just known as "the avenger" in the context, appears. within the situation it may not be clear what exactly the intentions of the spirit are and why it gets in contact with the main character of the story. I would consider the appearance of this power a cosmic intervention just to provide the chance to mess up with everything for a while. actually the only quite disruptive part of this events is the way which the avenger offers his help in.

it seems not appropriate what consequences the intervention of the avenger would have at last. so seemingly still in control of the situation, our character is declined to accept the provided auxilliaries and continues the struggle on his own. you might say ok whats the point in not having your soul sold - as its still black metal you know - but put that thought aside for a while. actually in that part of the plot there is really no point in accepting help for a high price. you wouldn't do that if you thought you can get everything the way you want it, would you?

what is left now is the impression of the contact with the spirit, quite amazing if you look at it that way. cosmic powers trying to involve you in some kind of deal or something - not a trickster mage's move you see everyday. after all, not taking any help from this weird spectre makes him even more apt to think he could indeed be not able to manage the events himself than afore. suspicion, doubt, hints of intrigues and even more malicious thoughts are constantly coming forth, letting reality, dream and vision become indistinct...

a lovestory? well...

When you hear the first chords of "Approaching the Shores of Solitude" you might expect something completely different from what is coming next. in fact I tried to create an atmosphere that, according to the monotony and the quite strange harmonics, is actually very dark and depressing. to me it was the perfect introduction to a story that indeed contains at least in the first part exactly this feelings. the contrast to the lively "Winter Moonlight Tragedy" first doesn't seem to fit in this context, but as the story continues you will see that WMT is actually far away from being that happy as it sounds when you're listening to it.

as the titel of WMT already tells, the plot starts in winter. not as grim as the surroundings is the story itsself, indeed quite nice to be honest. at least the first sequence starts off as a lovestory - however, this is still black metal so it can't be that easy, can it? as it must be, its not at all a happy tale...I would like to say its too drastic to be real, but as life shows I have to admit that it is not far from what one might expierience everyday.

after all the first few moments of happyness fade away - left is suspicion, doubt, but also a certain determination to get everything in order at last. still there's nothing completely lost at the end of WMT...

what's it all about? - the plot

delay ahead...I was informed that Sabian has neither in Austria nor in Canada a 15" aax-treme china available - this makes my setup incomplete until March, if I'm lucky, for Sabian will have to make the cymbal brand new just to get me the one I want :P

this will set the beginning of any recording as far back as at least end of March if not April 2009

same day I was kind of forced to explain the whole story of the upcoming album - not that easy according to the fact that it was late evening and I was on the way to getting me pissed^^ actually I managed the task, now thinking that if I already informed someone about the overall context including some further details, I could also make this information public as well. the following discussion about interpretation of my statements made me think it would probably better to simply outline the plot of the album yet leaving my personal thoughts and intentions of the songs in particular unmentioned. this will be done soon here...

the whole album will contain 11 tracks, by name:

1. Approaching the Shores of Solitude (Intro)

2. Winter Moonlight Tragedy

3. The Unholy Avenger

4. Im Tal der Nebel

5. Über den Pass des Wahnsinns - Das Ende einer Reise

6. Illusions of Clarity

7. Visions

8. Tempest from the Past - Memories Enshrined in Darkness (Unholy Avenger part II)

9. Freezing Hearts in Silent Storms (Interlude)

10. Winterblast

11. Arcane Inferno

as mentioned before, some tracks will not appear on "Arcane Inferno" despite being part of the story or related to it. these songs entiteled "The Empyreal Abyss", "Heir to the Throne", "Coronation of Abyssmal Sorrow", "Volcanic Blood" and "Thus the Empire Rises" along with some other tracks, will probably come with the 2nd release of ours.

artists and more...

unexpectedly I can announce that I've found someone to professionally finish the cover artwork of the upcoming album. VampireKrabat from Thüringen (DE) will get us a hopefully great picture of the concept I sent him lately...I don't know what's exactly the outcome of his engagement, bust i suspect that if you need something designed - thats the man!

the cover image is closely related to the content of the album, real deeply symbolic character...well it wont be something you get when just listening to it a few times, more to that when our artworker's job is finally done!

further information according to winterblast: our shirts (front: winterblast logo back: extract of "Unholy Avenger" lyrics) are available for 12€ (shipping not included) Sizes: S,M,L,XL ... Fruit of the Loom, real sound quality!
contact boronian@gmx.net for any information or orders