WINTERS BANE – Redivivus

Ohio, USA-based Winters Bane started their career back in the early 1990s, and they have made themselves an established name in the underground Metal scene. In 1993 they released their debut album Heart Of A Killer with Tim “Ripper” Owens (ex-Judas Priest, Iced Earth) handling the vocals. In 2000, Century Media Records re-issued the album as a 2-CD set, which made many new Winters Bane fans.

After Owens left the band, St. Paul, the founder and lead guitar player, took over the vocal duties for the album GIRTH, their heaviest album. Winters Bane kept searching for a frontman; they wanted a man with the vocal abilities that Tim Owens had. After many years, they found Alexander Koch (ex-Spiral Tower, Powergod). Today, Winters Bane has their most powerful lineup, consisting of: Alexander Koch (vocals), Jeff Welch (bass), Mark Cross (drums, ex-Helloween), and Lou St. Paul (guitars). Their brutally exciting mix of European Power Metal and New Wave Of American Heavy Metal is proven with their new album Redivivus.

Redivivus is one of those albums where there is something missing, but it still works. It could have been pure genius, but instead it just has to settle with being great. The album was produced by Curran Murphy (ex- Nevermore, Annihilator) and Chris Tsangarides (Judas Priest, Helloween, Glyder), a combination that suits the album well.

The album opens with “Seal the Light,” setting the mark for the rest of the album … energetic guitars, driving drums, and Alexander Koch’s amazing vocals — he sounds like a combination of Bruce Dickinson and Michael Kiske — wide range and a rawness you don’t find all that often.

The third cut from the album, “The World,” shows a band that masters the art of Progressive Metal; a dark song about how humans consume more than they need. Another highlight on the album is “Remember To Forget” … the riffs sounds a lot like Trivium, and the beat is great for headbanging! “Waves Of Fury,” an aggressive fist of Metal, as angry as Power Metal gets, has superb harmonies within the classic-type chorus, which works great with the more raging verses. Amazing too are the lead guitars in the outro. The album closer, “Despise The Lie,” is a fast Metal piece, which has a sound and feel to it like Helloween’s Keeper of the Seven Keys Part II. It is a perfect closer, ticking in at 3:30 … your only wish may be that it was longer.

Winters Bane Redivivus consists of 9 blistering songs, totaling 40 minutes of very solid and worthwhile Metal.