Lord Wind Myspace
Through mysterious music with an unusual Eastern emphasis, Lord Wind documents the discovery of Atlantis as a metaphysical journey in the listeners mind.
If Graveland is the musical account of a soldier in fierce battle, then Atlantean Monument describes the journey of the explorer into distant lands. Lord Wind synthesise real-sounding instruments we are familiar with, the central melody being mostly dominated by synth strings or wind section while harmonic homophony is supplied by (synthesised) male and female choral voices, plucked strings such as harp and lute. Unlike guitar-dominated metal no instrument here usurps the soundscape and there is even a small measure of dynamics - instruments become hushed when the mood is subdued and intensify when triumphant. This instrumentation (and the pleasant absence of Darkens trademark screeching) is what sets Lord Wind apart from Graveland. There is also what sounds like an intentionally amateurishly played cello which works well to add to the ancient mood - a performance virtuoso would clearly be out of place and Darken is clever in realising this. Yet the album has an organic touch. One never feels as if he is sitting in a performance hall nor does one feel as if he is listening to a programmed synthesiser.
The percussion is both warlike and interesting in that it alternates between supplying a beat and supplementing it. In 17th and 18th century war the role of the military drummer was to convey orders to troops. Each beat was adapted to a certain maneuver and supplied vital information to troops telling them what to do. Instead of simply supplying a beat the drums Lord Wind drums frequently fill gaps and form patterns around the beat in combinations unique and adapted to that riff. Rock rhythms are avoided. Synth riffs cycle openly such that neither repetition nor the individual riffs themselves are noticed by the listener. These groupings develop through an alternating cycle of moods anchored by a central tonal key such that the sum of the riffs is greater than the individual riffs themselves. The effect can be repetitive but it's done so well you rarely realise it. The problem with the current metal-as-riffs theory is the question wheres the song?. Construction of open riffs placed in their relevant context with respect to another riff, as is done here, shifts the focus from the riff to the phrase. Just like the chapters of a book are immovable, misplacing a riff in Atlantean Monument would be to obfuscate the music's objective intent.
Indeed, it is songwriting and structuring where Lord Wind excel. With the musical aspects of Lord Wind's music having been dealt with, a comparison with Summoning is both inevitable and useful. One problem with Summoning is that their songs consist of a linear but logically developed sequence often recurring several times and perhaps conjoined with a prelude or interlude. This musical structure leaves the listener with little reason to continue listening once the development of the first motif has run its course. Lord Wind do not fashion songs in such a strictly linear structure, thus the listener is left to contend with a large measure of unpredictability parts of songs are rarely expendable as remnants or filler. Songs rise to jubilant peaks and fall to hushed lows. As the song unfolds you always wonder what will come next. The use of eastern and even Chinese-sounding feel to some of the melodies lends a added sense of mystery and wonder not found in western melodies currently overutilised in modern music; it is almost as if the ancient city of Atlantis is being discovered and you are the discoverer.
Broken down into its parts, a narrow listening of Lord Wind will note its monotony and apparent dullness. Melodies are often limited to three or four notes of a scale and rarely scream for the kind of attention demanded by most subdued of metal bands. But through its music, Lord Wind seeks not to vividly describe a story but is more of a documentation of events through expression of mood. Key changes mark events in the listener's mind, like the unfolding events of a battle, and tt is up to the listener to fill in the details. Lord Wind does not vie for attention, but those who search for a modest but inspired charm in their music will find it here for the taking. Its triumph is that despite its reserved ambivalence it is ultimately joyous in its expression of discovery and exploration, whatever one's expanded interpretation of that expression may be. It recognises that though Atlantis is a dead civilization, the glorious deeds of the citizens live on eternally. Among my few complaints, further improvements in dynamics and less synthesised instrumentation can only improved on the next Lord Wind release, which I will await with the kind of patience demanded by the band's music itself.
Edit: I should mention that the album is 75 minutes long (trust Darken
) Holding my attention for a whole sitting is some accomplishment.
