WINTERFELL – The Veil Of Summer

George R.R. Martin is a writer of heroic fantasy stories who has created a fictional world where a preternatural event threw the seasons off balance. In this land, summer and winter seasons can last decades … a small kingdom called Winterfell is caught in the middle of a story full of intrigues and heroism. This story inspired five guys from Pensylvania, USA to name their band with this kingdom’s name.

The band’s ancestry could be easily mistaken, since Winterfell’s sound has strong Power Metal foundations rising from the European Metal scene. This is truly a surprise because it’s more than difficult for one to remember a band from the States playing music from this genre.

Their first release was in the form of a four-track EP entitled Winter is Coming. So, this is their first full-length album after 5 active years in the band’s log book. The release of the album was self-financed, and it’s up to the listener to decide whether or not Winterfell deserves a legitimate record deal.

“Threnody” comes first in the song list, opening the album with a fast Power Metal rhythm. The pace quickly changes into mid-tempo, with some Progressive influences that are carefully hidden between the Epic clean vocals and the dominating drums. The guitar work is impressive, featuring some sophisticated solos and leads. After almost 8 minutes, “Autumn Knight” enters with a clean guitar intro that brings to mind some Iced Earth tunes. The catchy chorus leads the listener to the guitar solo that has a Metallica feeling in the style of “Fade to Black.”

“The Iris” features some progress time signatures and changes, which outline the need for additional listens in order to avoid misjudging the album. “The Legacy” follows a direct Power Metal approach, with fast riffing and some nicely played guitar arpeggios from Malmsteen’s guitar school. “Asartu,” maybe the best track in the album, enters with an Iced Earth–ish intro from the Knight of of the Stormrider album, with cutting edge riffs and a galloping guitar rhythm. The listener should bear in mind that this is a self-financed release, so any mistakes in the sound production should likely be expected and forgiven to some degree.

The epic atmosphere is perfectly supported with Robb Graves’s clean and powerful vocals, which follow the European performance style. The time to slow things down comes with the classic guitar in “Once Again.” The guitar distortion meshes in to perfectly support the beautiful vocal melody during the chorus lines. Somewhere in the middle of the song, the tempo is accelerated with fast drumming during the guitar solo. A fast tempo can also be found in the next track, “Campaign of Shadows.”

The lyrics in “The Beggar King” focus on A Song of Ice and Fire, a book that belongs in the aforementioned book series by R.R Martin. The song in question follows the same pattern of tempo changes, with clean and distorted guitars that carry the sign of progressiveness. The seven-minute “Catacombs” is the last (but not least) song of the album. The exceptional guitar work in the rhythm and the lead section shows that these guys have potential to compose at an even higher level providing that they get the opportunity to sign a deal with the right record label.

Everyone who is into the traditional Power Metal sound with some Progressive Metal additions should by all means check the band’s official site and order the The Veil of Summer, supporting at the same time the extinct species of the American Underground Power Metal scene.