The Cold View/Born, Banished, Beaten, Broken, Buried/2019 Full Length Review

  Germany's  The  Cold  View  have  returned  with  a  new  recording  which  continues  his  mixture  of  ambient,  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  from  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  self  released  2019  album  "Born,  Banished,  Beaten,  Broken,  Buried".

  Drum  beats  along  with  some  slow  yet  heavy  funeral  doom  metal  riffing  starts  off  the  album  while  all  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length. Vocals  are  mostly  deep  yet  guttural  death  metal  growls  while  the  riffs  also  add  in  a  decent  amount  of  dark  sounding  melodies  into  some  parts  of  the  songs.

  When  synths  are  utilized  they  give  the  music  more  of  an  atmospheric  feeling  as  well  as  introducing  elements  of  ambient  onto  the  recording.  All  of  the  musical  instruments  also  have  a  very  powerful  sound  to  them  along  with  some  drones  and  melodic  guitar  leads  also  being  utilized  at  times.

  Clean  playing  can  also  be  heard  in  certain sections  of  the  recording  along  with  the  music  also  adding  in  some  mid  tempo  sections  at  times  and  acoustic  guitars  are  added  onto  the  closing  track  as  well  as  a  brief  use  of  fast  playing  and  blast  beats.  The  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  based  upon  existentialist  questions  about  life,  death,  loneliness  and  the  pain  of  existence.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  album  from  The  Cold  View  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  funeral  doom  metal  with  elements  of  ambient  and  drone,  you  should  check  out t his  recording.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Born  And  Banished"  and  "Broken  And  Buried".  8  out  of  10.

 http://www.thecoldview.com
https://thecoldview.bandcamp.com      

The Cold View/Wounds/GS Productions/2017 CD Review

  Germany's  solo  project  The  Cold  View  have  returned  with a  new  recording  which  also  continues  the  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  mixture  of  previous  releases  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2017  album  "Wounds"  which  was  released  by  GS  Productions.

  Distorted  drones  start  off  the  album  before going  into  more  of  a  heavy  and  lo-fi  musical  direction  as  well  as  adding  in  death  metal  growls  and  bass  guitars  are  also  used  as  a  lead  instrument  while  synths  are  also  added  into  some  parts  of  the  songs  and  elements  of  ambient  can  also  be  heard  at  times  and all of  the  songs  stick  to  a  very  slow musical direction.

  All  of  the  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  there  is  also  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  being  utilized  at  times  and  no  traditional electric  guitars  are ever utilized  and  their  music  brings  out  the  darkest  and  most  depressive  style  of  funeral  doom  metal and  there  is  also  an  instrumental  track  which  also  introduces stringed  instruments  onto  the  recording.

  The  Cold  View  creates  another  recording  that  remains  true  to  the  funeral  doom  metal  and  drone  mixture  of  previous  releases,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while the  lyrics  cover  nature,  depression,  darkness  and  loneliness  themes.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from  the  Cold  View  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Inflammation"  and  "Scarring".  8  out  of  10.

http://www.thecoldview.com

http://thecoldview.bandcamp.com

Abysmal Growls Of Despair/The Cold View/Songs Of The Deepest Skies/Frozen Light/2015 Split CD Review

  This  is  a  review  of  a  split  album  between  France's  Abysmal  Growls  Of  Despair  and  Germany's  The  Cold  View,  2  solo  projects  that  have  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  the  album  is  called  "Songs  Of  The  Deepest  Skies"  and  was  released  by  Frozen  Light  and  we  will  start  off  the  review  with  Abysmal  Growls  of  Despair  which  continues  the atmospheric funeral  doom  metal  sound  of  previous  recordings.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  atmospheric  sounding  synths  and  a  few  seconds  alter  a  very  heavy  sounding  bass  guitar  kicks  in  and  the  music  starts  going  for more  of  a  funeral  doom  metal  style  while  also  remaining  atmospheric  at  the  same  time and  after  a  few  minutes  deep  yet  guttural  death  metal  growls  start  becoming  a  huge  part  of  the  recording  and  all  3  of  his  tracks  are  very  long  and  epic  in  length  and  they  also  stick  to  a  slow  musical  direction  throughout  his  side  of  the  recording  while  one  song  also  brings  in  a  brief  use  of  clean  playing,  the  production  sounds  very  dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  despair  themes.   

  In  my  opinion  this  is  a  another  great  sounding  recording  from  Abysmal  Growls  Of  Despair  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  funeral  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Decay  Of  A  Man".

  Next  up  is  The  Cold  View  who  also  continues  his  mixture  of  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  from  previous  recordings.

  His  side  of  the  split  starts  out  with  acoustic  guitars  which  also  gives  the  music  more  of  an  avant  garde  feeling  and  you  can  also  hear  synths  in  the  music  along  with  a  great  amount  of  drones  and  when  guitars  are  added  into  the  music  they  add  more  elements  of  funeral  doom  into  this  30  minute long  track  and  there  is  also  a  good  mixture  of  both  clean  and  heavy  parts while  the  vocals are deep  death  metal  growls  and there  is  also  a  great amount  of  percussion  work  being  utilized,  the  production  sounds  very dark  and  heavy  while  the  lyrics  cover  nature,  depression, darkness,  despair  and  loneliness.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  track  from  The  Cold  View  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  funeral  doom  metal  and  drone,  you  should  check  out  his  side  of  the  split.

  In  conclusion  I  feel  this  is  a  very  great  sounding  split  and  I  would  recommend  it  to  all  fans  of  funeral  doom  metal.  8  out  of  10.

http://www.thecoldview.com

http://thecoldview.bandcamp.com

http://abysmalgrowlsofdespair.bandcamp.com

The Cold View/Wires Of Woe, Ways of Waste/Endless Winter/2014 CD Review

  The  Cold  View  are  a  1  man  band  from  Germany  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  and  plays  a  mixture  of  ambient,  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2014  album  "Wires  Of  Woe,  Ways  of  Waste"  which  was  released  by  Endless  Winter.

  Harsh  noises  and  drones  start  off  the  album  along  with  a  mixture  of  growls  and  screams  which  also  gives  the  music  a  black  metal  feeling  and  after  awhile  synths  find  their  way  into  the  music  and  the  recording  also  has  an  experimental  and  avant  garde  edge  along  with  all  of  the  songs  being very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  Guitars  are  mostly  background noises  that  have  no  rhythm  or  emotion  to  them  and  you  can  alos  hear  a  small  amount  of  acoustic  guitars  in  the  music  at  times  and  they  bring  a  more  ritualistic  feeling  to  the  recording  and  on  the  second  track  the  synths  add  in  more  elements  of  funeral  doom  and  dark  ambient.

  After  awhile  distorted  yet  melodic  guitars  leads  find  their  way  into  the  music  which  leads  to  the  music  sounding  more  metal  along  with  some  slow  yet  dark  heavy  rhythms  being  added  onto  the  recording  and  the  music  gets  more  heavy  and  dirge  like  on  the  following  track  and  the  last  song  sees  the  album  going  for  more  of  a  dark  and  atmospheric  ambient  direction  while  still  having  a  funeral  doom  metal  sound.

  The  Cold  View  bring  in  a  more  heavier  funeral  doom  metal  with  this  recording  along  with  the  music  being  very  atmospheric  and  experimental  with  elements  of  avant  garde,  drone  and  ambient,  the  production  has  a  very  dark,  raw  and  heavy  sound  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  dealing with  the  alienation  from  the  natural  world,  the  loss  of  identity  that  comes  along  with  the  replacement  of  ideal  values  with  an  technocratic  and  material  culture.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great sounding  recording  from  The  Cold  View  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Woe"  and  "Waste".  8  out  of  10.  

http://thecoldview.bandcamp.com/

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL39asHace5SHw76pYnVgoinu2lNFVoF3r

  

The Cold View Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about this project for those that have never heard of you before?

The Cold View is a small Drone and Funeral Doom project which is completely run by myself. It arose in November 2011 when I was experimenting with some open source and free music software for Linux. There was a very high potential for creating professional compositions. After finishing experimenting and moving forward to a more serious approach the first song Empty November was created. I was convinced that I will be able to go on to further satisfying results, even as a one-man project. I set the goal to create one song per month aligned to the concept of a winter album. I wanted to bring in my special feelings and nature experiences of the particular winter month. Maybe I needed an outlet for the creative pressure I had inside.

2. How would you describe your musical sound?

The sound of Weeping Winter is of a very droning, bass driven and noisy kind. It is oriented on Funeral Doom and maybe also Industrial. It's a dark and depressed, desperate and brutal sound. I wanted to create sound structures and themes that get varied and iterated, meditated in the end. The compositions are in one way abstract, but in the other way there are always points and simple melodies one can hang on.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

According to the concept all lyrics center on winter. My emotions affected by personal experiences and the influence of the nature and the winter climate flowed into the lyrics and also the music. But in the end one must not forget that Doom has its stylistic devices.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the band’s name?

Seven years ago I had the very small band project Bestial (http://www.bestial-metal.com/) with a friend of mine, who also mixed and mastered my current record. I have chosen "The Cold View" as the name of our second demo, but it never got finished or even really started. The name was perfect for my new project. It derived from a term of Nietzsche who in this case described a philosophical concept, a concept how to view the world or reality around.

5. Currently there is only one member in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future or do you choose to remain solo?

I have to admit that I do not really know what ways I will go in the future. I only know that the next step has to be a step forward. One possibility could be to found a band with several members. But currently I do not wonder too much about this. I am happy with doing things self dependent.

6. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label and if so what kind of label do you feel that would be a perfect fit for your music?

I was looking for a label for some time. But in spite of the very positive feedback of befriended musicians the interest of the labels for this very underground record was too little. There is not a high commercial potential for this kind of music.

7. Are there any other musical projects besides this band or is this full time?

Currently there are no other projects. The Cold View is also not full time. I have a full time job that involves a lot of my time.

8. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

As I stated before it has to get a step forward. A full band line-up could bring even more creative input.

9. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

I do listen to many styles of Metal, mainly different types of Doom and Black Metal. There are lots of good bands I like to listen to and who influence me, too many I could mention at this place.

10. Does Occultism play any role in your music?

Occultism or Satanism does not play any role in my music or life. If I use diabolic ideas it is just for stylistic devices like metaphors. I have an antireligious world view. This involves Satanism or paganism or other cult related things, too. Nevertheless a certain kind of spiritualism is an aspect in my music and also in my own philosophy. But this kind of spiritualism emerges from the unconscious and from deep, intense experiences of nature.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Music is the most important of my interests, but I also like art and literature. Currently I'm reading some novels of E. T. A. Hoffmann; I love to dive into his dark, fantastic and insane worlds.

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

If anyone has interest in my record, look after the direct download links in the posting about my record at this blog. Or go to my official sitehttp://www.thecoldview.com/ or http://thecoldview.bandcamp.com/ Support the underground, support free culture!

The Cold View/Weeping Winter/2012 Album Review

  The  Cold  View  are  a  1  man  band  from  Germany  that  plays  a  mixture  of  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  self  released  2012  album  "Weeping  Winter".

  Drum  programming  is  all  slow  beats,  while  the  synths  bring  a  very  dark  and  depressive  ambient  sound  to  the  music,  as  for  the  bass  playing  it  has  a  very  strong  and  powerful  tone  with  primitive  drone/funeral  doom  riffing  that  dominates  through  out  the  recording.


  Guitars  are  all  absent  from  this  recording,  while  the  vocals  are  mostly  deep  funeral  doom  growls  mixed  in  with  some  black  metal  screams  on  the  last  song  while  the  lyrics  are  a  concept  album  about  the  winter,  as  for  the  production  it  has  a  very  dark, raw  and  primitive  sound  with  the  songs  being  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  The  Cold  View  are  a  very  great  sounding  mixture  of  drone  and  funeral  doom  metal  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Grey  January"  and  "Mournful  March".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

320 kbit/s MP3 - http://www.thecoldview.com/thecoldview-weepingwinter-mp3.zip 

FLAC - http://www.thecoldview.com/thecoldview-weepingwinter-flac.zip