Andy Winter, Mastermind Of Winds, To Release New Album

[Andy Winter]

Incomprehensible: Out January 22nd On The End Records
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Featuring Guest Appearances By Members Of Agalloch, Borknagar, Novembers Doom, Tristania, The Devin Townsend Project And Many More

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Click Here To Pre-Order 'Inconmprehensible'

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif]Andy Winter has been behind several noteworthy releases in the more progressive and avant-garde spectrum of the Norwegian post-black metal scene. His style of subdued, classically influenced progressive metal is probably not quite what most people think of when they hear the words Norwegian and metal mentioned together, as his music features a far more classical and progressive influenced sound than the groups of his usual co-collaborators.[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif] He founded his first band in 1998, the quartet known as Winds, which consists of members from several well-known bands on the Norwegian metal scene (Mayhem, Arcturus, The Kovenant, Khold, etc.). From there he went on to form Age of Silence in 2004 (with members from Borknagar, Solefald, etc.). He has since participated on two records with Subterranean Masquerade and one with Self Spiller, in addition to recording a full length album with Sculptured (the side project with several members from the American folk metal band Agalloch).[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif] Having kept busy making several records with his main bands throughout the 2000s, in addition to an instrumental piano EP as a solo artist, he started working on a new full length effort in 2008. His vision for this recording: To collaborate with some of the various musicians he had crossed paths with over the years, through his work in his own projects as well as some of the new friends encountered through being a The End Records artist for over a decade.[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif] The result is “Incomprehensible” – a full-length album featuring the following tracks and vocalists:[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif] 1. Reversed Psychological Patterns (Agnete M. Kirkevaag of Madder Mortem)
2. My Illusions Are My Own (John Haughm of Agalloch)
3. Perfection Is The Blank Page (Kjetil Nordhus of Tristania, Trail of Tears & Green Carnation)
4. Somewhere Else To Disappear (Dan Swanö of Nightingale & Bloodbath)
5. Through The Eyes Of A Surrealist (Lars A. Nedland of Borknagar, Solefald & Age of Silence)
6. Far Beyond Autopilot (Heidi S. Tveitan of Star of Ash & Peccatum)
7. The Transversal Conjecture (Paul Kuhr of Novembers Doom & Subterranean Masquerade)
8. Back To Square Two (Lars E. Si of Winds, Before the Dawn & Sensa Anima)[/FONT]
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Also appearing are Jan Axel von Blomberg (Mayhem, Arcturus & Winds), Carl August Tidemann (Winds & Arcturus), Øystein Moe (Winds & Ulver), Don Anderson (Agalloch & Sculptured) and Mike Young (The Devin Townsend Project). The album was produced by Andy Winter himself, mixed by Shaun Thingvold, mastered by Maor Appelbaum and features artwork by Travis Smith.[/FONT]
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Having continued his approach of always applying a very genre-defying style, “Incomprehensible” is yet another unmistakable and unique record from Andy Winter, and one that provides a different experience altogether when compared to anything else in metal, or indeed most music.[/FONT]

Links

[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif]Andy Winter Forum
Andy Winter Facebook
The End Records Website
The End Records Facebook
The End Records Twitter[/FONT]

For Press
[FONT=Helvetica,arial,sans-serif] Kip Kouri
Leslie Cuc[/FONT]

 

[Alteredmindeath]

This is going to be a wonderful album of notes. I can tell something is special about this album.

 

[bcarrico14]

Your solo stuff and projects are great But let's face it... Winds is by far the best project that Andy Winter has been in. The last album was released... I don't even know how long ago anymore. Plus there isn't any live stuff on youtube. I beg you to start a new project. Winds has recently become my favorite band. And you guys should at least do one live show or have some studio live things. Anyways, I think you guys would start to pick up momentum if you released another album. . keep on kickin ass.

Brady

 

[Andy Winter]

Thanks for your comment!

I guess I've always viewed Winds as my "main" focus, but at the same time it's also nice for me to expand my horizon and do different things in-between. This is why I started Age of Silence many years ago, and it's the same reason why I did the solo album this time.

Some people have asked me if I did this solo album because Winds and Age of Silence are on hold, and actually it's the other way around... Winds and Age of Silence have ended up been on hold for a while mainly because of this solo album, which took me more or less the last 4 years to make.

I've been writing material for the other bands too during the same period, but I wanted to do this record and it felt right to make it a priority at this point after having done 4 CDs with Winds, 2 with AOS and 1 with Sculptured, 1 piano EP, plus guest appearances with Self Spiller, where I play piano/keyboards on all of them.

I wanted to do a more vocal-driven record where I play guitars (and it may come as a surprise, but there are in fact no keyboards on the new album at all)... plus I also wanted to collaborate with some of the various people I work with in a different setting, as well as some new people too. It was definitely the right time for me to do this album, and I'm very happy I did it.

Less than 2 weeks until it comes out...

 

[Vorturus]

...and what a long week and a half it's going to be! I'm extremely anxious to hear the end result after years of anticipation.

I believe you have previously posted on this here forum that Jan Axel had recorded the drum tracks a few years ago already. Since it took so much longer to complete the rest of the recording process, did any of the drum tracks have to get re-recorded due to different ideas for specific riffs or song structures that may have arisen?

No keyboards?! That definitely comes as a surprise to me; unless you just mean no electronic keyboards. There will be piano yet, no?

 

[Andy Winter]

Glad you are anticipating it. It's been a long journey for sure...

Jan Axel and I are the only musicians appearing on every single track on the album. The rest of the musicians/singers alternate in the different tracks and it was all recorded in different places at various times over the past years.

Aside from drums, which were done in late 2007 and early 2008, the rest of the tracking was done from 2008-2010. I've spent the last couple of years working on it intermittently as far as mixing, etc. There were indeed A LOT of mixes. And they all sounded great (different), but the challenge for me here was to make this record sound cohesive as an entire album, not just as individual singles. That part was very important to me.

So I worked a lot on it until I felt I had achieved that goal. Like you said, took me a few years... but I'm happy I spent some time on it, because the sound/tone and mixes changed a lot over those years until it became what it is today. We didn't have to re-record anything, but it was mostly a matter of working on the sound stage and "feel" of the album.

It's amazing how much mixing and mastering affects the final outcome, and I really explored that to the fullest this time around. As a reviewer pointed out, "it comes off as an alternative-minded, low-budget gem, and this may have been entirely intentional..." - he pretty much hit the nail on the head!

And yes... surprise...!!! No keyboards, no piano, no key instruments of any kind anywhere on the album. It's guitars, bass, drums, vocals - that's it! (but I think this will all make sense to you when you hear it)

 

[Frankgate]

And yes... surprise...!!! No keyboards, no piano, no key instruments of any kind anywhere on the album. It's guitars, bass, drums, vocals - that's it! (but I think this will all make sense to you when you hear it)

*crying*

 

[Andy Winter]

By the way, for anyone interested, we just got our first two reviews...

Both received 9/10 points (and some great feedback):


"incredibly creative, wildly interesting from start to finish, and unlike anything that is out there now"

http://www.metalforcesmagazine.com/site/album-review-andy-winter-incomprehensible/


"Incomprehensible" is a different, beautiful and haunting experience that radiates talent, feeling and personality

http://www.behindtheveil.hostingsit.../new-albums/1041-andy-winter-incomprehensible

 

[UMUR]

I´m actually in the process of writing a review of "Incomprehensible" and boy did I get smarter by reading some of the details above. From listening to the promo I was send by The End Records, I initially thought that the guitars, bass and drums were emulated on keyboards because of the rather "different" sounding production. There´s a digital edge to the sound that I mistook for emulation. So thanks for sharing the details, so I wouldn´t look too stupid posting my initial thoughts in the review .

BTW the review will be posted here:
http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/
http://rateyourmusic.com/~UMUR
and if I can get them to add you on Prog Archives also here: http://www.progarchives.com/

...oh and I´ve greatly enjoyed listening to the album. Quite a nice and original sounding surprise...

 

[Andy Winter]

Thanks for your nice comments about the album, and that's quite interesting to hear regarding your initial thoughts on the production.

We used a combination of digital and analogue gear for these recordings, but everything is recorded using real instruments. The production and things you mentioned probably relate (at least in part) to the processes being very different from my previous albums.

I've always mixed on consoles using Neve or SSL - not so this time. It was all mixed in Pro Tools (but using a vast array of analogue outboard gear such as EQs and compressors and so on). The mastering is also largely analogue.

But of course the main tracking these days is usually done to computers using hard drives, and not tapes. We used tapes for some of my very early records, and it sounds nice (but truthfully, it's a bitch to work with... and I don't miss those days much)... also the rooms with these million dollar consoles are getting increasingly more expensive to book, and honestly I think I can now get better results working in the box with outboard.

Not the least because working this way, I can now spend two weeks mixing one track, instead of having to do 2-3 tracks per day. So it allows me to experiment more with the settings and get it a lot closer in terms of levels and balances, than what is possible when you're "on the clock" in an expensive room. Of course, those methods do tend to give you that "digital" and "flatlined" sound, so we worked a lot on trying to make it more three dimensional (an aspect I think is missing from a lot of "new" albums these days).

Anyway... I could go on and on talking about this - I hope you'll post a link to your review once it's done?

I'm also on Facebook now (for anyone who wants to add me): https://www.facebook.com/pages/Andy-Winter/158725026367

 

[UMUR]

I´ve made a note to post links here when I post the review.

...while the sound production definitely is "different" I think it´s one of the assets of the album that sets it apart from other recordings. I think it´s obvious you´ve spend a lot of time experimenting and thankfully with a succesful result.

Talking of sound productions in general I do usually prefer the warm and organic sound productions of the seventies (which IMO can´t be 100% replicated on digital equipment). Some of the early- to mid seventies Wishbone Ash productions, 10cc and Supertramp (you can insert a lot of other artists from those days here) albums had some of the greatest sound productions IMO. Extremely detailed, warm yet with an edge. Oh...and Zappa should be mentioned too...

 

[UMUR]

Oh...and you wouldn´t know where I can find samples (besides the short samples on Amazon) that I can present to the guys on Prog Archives? They have a relatively strict addition policy and since I´m not going to share my promo with anyone, I´d like to present them with streaming samples so they can evaluate your music and hopefully get you added ASAP.

 

[Andy Winter]

Incomprehensible is now out and available!

Sites like iTunes, Spotify and others have put up samples of the album, and the www.andywinter.net website has been updated with some more info as well the my back-catalogue, etc.

More updates to the site to follow soon...

Oh, and also Dan's track in its entirety is featured (for free streaming) here: http://www.popmatters.com/pm/post/167511-andy-winter-somewhere-else-to-disappear-feat.-dan-swanoe/

 

[Andy Winter]

Andy Winter Earns A 5/5 for Incomprehensible

January 28, 2013 at 10:18 am
ALBUM REVIEWS!; New Music From Voivod, Black Rose, Andy Winter, Helloween, Love & Death, Void Of Sleep, Fen, Chickenfoot, Holy Grail, Crashdïet, Thy Art Is Murder, Pink Cream 69, Otep; January 23rd 2013

HOLA!
Some really great stuff out this week, including new music from Love & Death, Thy Art Is Murder, Holy Grail, and an epic solo album from Andy Winter. To top things off, we have a box set from Chickenfoot, and the recently acclaimed semi-reunion album from Voivod!
enjoy! \m/

“Incomprehensible” by Andy Winter
Progressive Metal/Avant-Garde Metal
Released January 22nd 2013

What’s fascinating about this album is just how much is brought into this one mix, without losing focus or coming across as pretentious. On top of Andy himself performing, this album features appearances from members of Star Of Ash, Madder Morterm, Agalloch and many more, all adding to the general concepts and ideas set in place by Andy Winter, who masterfully crafts and bends every sound at his disposal into something truly unique. All of the material progresses and builds throughout their lengths, taking bits from the likes of shoegaze, soul, gothic rock, alternative music, and tons of concepts to create a meaty album, draining at every turn, and riddled with subtle hooks that are irresistible. As much as this is Andy’s work of genius, equal credit goes to the many guest performers, who add so much heart and soul to this already superb record. To put it simply, the album is a masterpiece, a work of artistic integrity and a statement to Andy Winter’s incredible passion for music. It’s as unique and open-minded as Diablo Swing Orchestra, as progressive as early Genesis, and as mighty as metal can get. Well done Andy, I hope this is the first of many incredible records from you.

Rating: 5/5 (Masterful!!)

Order Incomprehensible today!

iTunes
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Incomprehensible-Andy-Winter/dp/B00A8ZZ5P2/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1359386383&sr=1-1&keywords=andy+winter"]Amazon [/ame]

The Omega

 

[UMUR]

I´ve now posted my review on Metal Music Archives: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/incomprehensible--review.aspx?id=281383
and on Rateyourmusic: http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/andy_winter/incomprehensible/

Hopefully it won´t be long before I can post it on Prog Archives too.

 

[Andy Winter]

Incomprehensible gets 4/5 rating from Metal Music Archives.

http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/incomprehensible--review.aspx?id=281383

 

[UMUR]

And finally I was able to post my review at Prog Archives too: http://www.progarchives.com/Review.asp?id=928296