From the frost bitten plains of Murmansk, Russia, the world’s largest city north of the Arctic Circle, OLD WAINDS has remained one of Russia’s noteworthy and committed Black Metal band since 1995. Back in the late 1980s, with bands such as RUSSKAYA ZIMA, KREMATOR and their contemporaries, they laid the foundation of extreme music in the Russian underground. That beginning was followed by some explosion in the mid 1990s, spearheaded by the notorious Blazebirth Hall movement. The best of their collaboration can be heard in the revered “Hammerkrieg” spilt, between five of the various Blazebirth Hall movement Black Metal bands, namely FOREST, BRAINKALD, RAVEN DARK, RUNDAGOR and NITBERG. Apart from them, one of the bands that appeared from the Russian underground in the 1990s was the admired OLD WAINDS. Unaffected by fleeting fashions and public exposure, founder Morok and various cohorts over the years, have spent three decades forging barbaric hymns of no nonsense Black Metal. Now, following their recent “Stormheart” offering, Darkness Shall Rise Productions delivers a long overdue reissue of their landmark 2002 debut album, “Религия духовного насилия”, also reads as “Religion Of Spiritual Violence”. While their earlier demos toyed with fury like raw aggression, this album represents a significant step up in terms of both songwriting and production versatility while still retaining those ferocious edges. Better says, the record serves as a definitive sonic manifestation of grim, ice cold hostility, which feels like Black Metal that is meant to be. Its raw execution, total conviction and a freezing atmosphere echoes through the eight tracks, comprising of titles and lyrics entirely in Cyrillic. This presentation of the tracks surely gives away the first hints of what’s they uphold. It starts with the opener ‘Поверженый и растоптанный | Thrown Down And Crushed’, and forward with ‘Святой мёртвый | The One “Holy” Dead’, ‘Объятый пламенем | Flaming One’ and ‘Нечестивый северный метал | Unholy Nordic Metal’. These tracks reflect, these Russians forged something that any devoted fan demands from Black Metal. The memorable moment occurs with ‘Объятый пламенем (Flaming One)’, which anchors the record with crushing mid tempo sections and everflowing tremolo melodies. It again reestablishes the fact that pure Black Metal doesn’t require hyper loaded drumming. Instead, the minimalistic, old school kick and snare sounds create an atmosphere of total worship. This is followed by ‘Врата холокоста зимы (Portals Of The Winter Holocaust)’, which explodes with raw, unpolished melodies and a tremolo soaked outro that demolishes any typical atmospheric Black Metal record. The title track, ‘Религия духовного насилия’, which also means the poetic line of ‘Religion Of Spiritual Violence’ introduces a spoken intro before diving into icy, tremolo-picked melodies that feel like an explosion beneath the northern lights. Accompanied by wooden drum rolls and tortured vocal lines, the track transmits a sense of spiritual violence where one is either made or broken. With all being said, this reissue, which was remastered by Jack Control and Maor Appelbaum at Enormous Door, surely breathes fresh vigor into a record that has been buried for years and deservedly is now up again for exposures and admirations. If you demand your Metal barbaric, sincere and dripping with cold laden subarctic horror, this is a mandatory possession. “Religion Of Spiritual Violence” is available with a complete restored layout on vinyl LP (250 copies on classic black vinyl and 250 copies on galaxy red black vinyl with gatefold sleeve and A2 poster) and on cassette, digi CD and digital formats. Find out more about the band and label here: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565691417094, www.facebook.com/darknessshallriseproductions