Paysage d'Hiver

The one man project from Switzerland (whose name means Landscape of Winter) makes both black metal and minimalistic ambient music. The focus is on themes of winter, solitude, and darkness. Releases such as Einsamkeit and Die Festung focus mainly on long and sweeping synth sounds, though they can mostly be interpreted as having very different purposes. Einsamkeit, especially Inneres Licht have a quality that lend themselves to self reflection and to examining oneself in a completely calm and detached environment. The music on Die Festung is very different, taking a look at the bands favorite theme of winter. The music has an extremely cold atmosphere, and is rather a form of escapism compared to Einsamkeit which is grounded in reality. The self titled album takes a completely different approach focusing rather on several points by using black metal instrumentation to bring out the contrast of melodies in the background. The minimalism of black metal is used to create a repetitive feeling that immerses the listener in the sound. I would recommend listening to Die Festung first, and then moving to Einsamkeit and the self titled album, simply because Die Festung is still accessible enough to enjoy purely musically, and will help a listener understand what Wintherr is trying to achieve with the music.

Official Site
http://kunsthall.ch/kunsthall/bands/paysagedhiver/mainpage.html
Distibution
http://grau.cd


Die Festung (The Fortress) (1999)
Eishalle (Ice Hall)
Koenig Winter (King Winter)
Schneekoenigen (Snow Queen)
Eisprinzessin (Ice Princess)
Prinz Frost (Prince Frost)

Paysage d'Hiver (1999)
Welt Aus Eis (World of Ice)
Gefroner Atem (Frozen Breath)
Der Weg (The Path)

Einsamkeit (Solitude) (2007)
Einkehr (Entrance)
Inneres Licht (Inner Light)
Kraft (Strength)