Behold yet another black metal band with roots in
the new world. Calgary's Operation Winter Mist is a 4 piece and play it the
old way on these 3 tracks, starting off with what is essentially the Canuck
version of "Panzer Division Marduk". Vocalist Panzer, of all things,
heralds the dawn of his band's coming by declaring war in a brief break in
the attack;then it's back into the maelstrom we all know and love. This band,
though, decides to mix it up a bit more than most and thus earns some extra
points for originality. The pace slows to a mid-paced march in "Forever
Frost", with some nice progressions on guitar leading into "Blood on Ice".
I really liked the lyrics to "Frostbitten Northern War", and they
collectively reached inside of me to tell my Scandinavian side to get back up
north and out of this infernal summer heat. The tracks are all fairly long for
this style of black metal, yet everything remains interesting thanks to some
well laid out drum arrangements and ample variation. The imagery and brutal
simplicity of it all tells me that the future could hold an even more violent
offering from Operation Winter Mist. The potential to create something better
than the rest is definitely here. Engineered by Thorazine axeman Joe Sikorski,
this CD is surely a sign of great things to come from a keyboardless war
machine.