KJones said:
From their new Arcturus stuff I can understand why August went out and did his own thing with Winds. It's just brilliantly better than Arcturus right now, in the same league as Opeth for sure, or actually even better than Opeth as far musiciansship goes even though Opeth probably makes slightly better songs. Not by much though.
Bah, I have to disagree. Even though I love Winds, they bear a few weaknesses.
For one, some of the songs sound the same; the structure of the songs are similar in many cases. August plays with feel at times, and a few of his solos are unique and very catchy, but most fit under the typical neo-classical shred formula that half of the world's guitarists follow.
Secondly, let's face it, Lars isn't the greatest vocalist. Although I do think his voice fits the band well, his performance isn't inspiring or unique in anyway.
Really, I can see why most people prefer Winds over the cosmic carnival freaks, as they're a much more accessible band in terms of style and songwriting. But, they don't even come close to the originality of Arcturus, nor do they come close to outdoing Arcturus in crafting songs, technical ability, or lyrical content, etc.
Either way, both are great bands.