Review by Nathan on January 6, 2022.

Right away, you can tell this is black metal made by people who don't listen to a lot of black metal. It's evident it's a reference point somewhere, but the rich, full tone and accompanying thick chord shapes lead you away from the stock 90s influences. The music seldom goes beyond a middling pace - in fact, besides the more brisk 'Ice Cracking In The Abyss' and the chaotic conclusion, Into The Cryosphere uses groovy blackened sludge arranged in dreary, spacious repetition to carry songs forward. Many of the songs draw out a cold, flat riff for a while, with the fills and accents in the drumming providing more of the tonality and giving more of a feeling that the notes are changing. This is underscored since the bass staunchly follows the root, serving more to ground the guitars than to harmonize. There's a few parallels to "Unearthly Trance" in the fondness for intentional, eerie atmosphere and the black metallesque band he was a part of before, Thralldom. You could call it black/doom, but the drums are a bit too busy.

Into The Cryosphere is the kind of album that may have felt daring and fresh upon its release, being part of a newer, more modern direction that their genre was heading towards, New York in particular being a hotbed of experimentation. Time has revealed that this is just another black metal album, with a couple traits borrowed from other areas of extreme metal (mostly sludge) giving a marginally different flavor. It's a few chocolate chips on a scoop of vanilla ice cream...but maybe a bit less tasty. This isn't a very long album - 33 minutes - yet certain sections still drag and feel bereft of ideas. The drums do a really good job of adding tension to the songs and staying busy without overdoing it, but it often feels Tim Call is playing fills while giving the Lipynsky a desperate look, trying to get him to play something more interesting. The arrangements are fine, and a lot of these songs would work great as outros or intros, but the melodic phrasing always falls short of elevating the songs to that monolithic, gripping emotional height the band seems to strive for. The main exception is the aforementioned 'Ice Cracking In The Abyss', which is a more punchy, stereotypically "black metal" number, the only significant moment where the album gets to release the tension it built - and it's also the only faster song. I'll admit I generally gravitate to speedier music over the slower, more ambient stuff, but I can appreciate both for what they are. What chafes me the most about it is that The Howling Wind's strengths lie in their more brisk, forceful moments, and for most of this album they focus on the exact opposite of that.

That the duo behind The Howling Wind is partial to, and versed in playing doom metal is a semi-saving grace, but in a way it also kneecaps Into The Cryosphere. They clearly have some practice using less to say more, and the repetition isn't done to the point of boredom. The riffs have enough depth to them to not wear thin immediately, and the occasional uptempo moments help to break things up, but the songs often feel incomplete or like they could have gone further down the hole they were teasing at. A bit more grimy punk influence would have gone a long way towards giving this the extra dollop of spunk it needs to tap into your reptilian brain. That's the crux of why I've listened to this maybe five times total despite buying it ten years ago - this album has no charisma. The vocals are a complete afterthought (notice how I haven't mentioned them until now?) and despite solid musicianship and performances, it feels like they needed at least one more cook in the kitchen to add an extra spice - something to give this more of a sense of urgency. There's nothing about Into The Cryosphere I dislike, but go listen to Wolvhammer if you want to hear the same sound done way better, and with the necessary attitude that I'm talking about.

Rating: 6.3 out of 10