Winds of Tragedy - Death Wash Over Me

Winds of Tragedy is a black metal band from Chile, who formed in 2021.  It’s actually a one-man band project from the always impressive Sergio González Catalán (also of the bands My Dearest Wound and Rise To The Sky).  In addition to all that, he also runs two labels:  Tragedy Productions and End My Life records.  Busy guy but he apparently doesn’t let that hurt the quality of his output because this project’s latest, and third overall,  album, “Death Wash Over Me,” is WoT’s best album and one of Sergio’s best, overall. Krzysztof Klingbein serves as session drummer.  

Winds of Tragedy have always had doom elements to their music and this isn’t album isn’t different in that respect.  However, Sergio is now leaning hard into more blackened territory, specifically DSBM.  The result is one of the most visceral and engaging albums of 2024.  I am sorry I’m just now getting around to reviewing it but, hey, I’m a busy guy too.  Besides, it’s only been out for a little over a month so there is still plenty of time to jump in without feeling guilty.

And be careful because the waters you're landing in after the jump are brackish, endless deep that is frigid as if hell itself froze over.  What makes the album so powerful isn’t just its depressive atmosphere but also just how goddam abrasive it is.  The vocals in particular are biting—Sergio gives what is easily his best vocal performance—he barely sounds human and the emotional impact of his crushing weight can be felt as if he’s in the room screaming directly into your ear.

The pacing for “Death Wash Over Me,” is absolutely perfect.  Each song has its own identity but also compliments the album as a whole.  The six track, 41 minute runtime is the sweet spot for this style too.  It doesn’t overstay its welcome but after it is done, you’ll wish it had another song or two.  That isn’t a problem either, however, because these songs are so good you’ll just hit the repeat button.

It almost feels odd that music this bleak is also this good.  I feel like I shouldn’t be entertained by this because Sergio clearly let loose his own demons to get this album done.  So his misery makes me happy?  Is that fair?  They say an artist suffers for his/her work so maybe this is all right on track.  I will highlight my four favorite songs below but the whole album is great. 

The album opens with “Blood Will Wash All That’s Left Of Me,” and it’s keyboard laden intro will turn your heart black before ripping out its string.  The keys are symphonic or majestic: they are another dimension of death and loss.  Once the song explodes, the ferocity was startling.  The temp is fast, the vocals and guitars bleeding together as the drums and bass push out a rhythm that seems endless.   Doom elements hit like a gale force wind after the 3:55 mark but include just enough use of melody without taking away from the song’s depressive elements.

“My Feet Don’t Touch The Floor,” is an unnerving song and the audio clips certainly help with that.  This is a melodic song, at least more than the previous two, but it does nothing to abate the ever approaching grief.  High pitched wails, so often a hallmark of DSBM, intertwined with the growls and screams—absolutely harrowing.  It’s over seven minutes long but it feels far quicker, which is a testament to its profound approach to grisly subject matter. 

Never afraid to walk away from a tried and true path, Sergio uses clean/acoustic instrumentation for the beginning moments of “I’m Fine But Not Really.”  I like their use, adds a sort of rare maturity to the style and makes the blackened parts seem all the more violent.  The clean element’s return around the halfway mark is welcomed and adds to the dynamics by bridging the heavier parts together.   It sounds very natural instead of disjointed, always a good sign of strong compositional skills.  

The final song, “Giving Up On Life,” is the longest at just over 9 minus.  It too opens with clean instruments but these sound deceptively calm, even gentle. But the most tender moments can also be the saddest.  The song grips that notion tightly with a rumbling, doomy passage of distortion that mixes with the clean guitars as the song marches like a funeral procession.  The first four minutes or so is blackened doom walking a startling bleak path before the song embraces a faster tempo while still keeping the song’s atmosphere intact. 

I want to call "Death Wash Over Me" impressive.  I mean it is but it’s also a serious album that probably took a piece of Sergio’s soul from him so calling it impressive just doesn’t seem to sit right with me.  This is more like audible emotion written as a sacthing opus for all the bad and unspeakable things in life—that still need to be said.