Winter - 2022 - Looking Back

(62:42; Wintergothic Records)

Track list:
1. We Believe in Rock 4:32
2. Coming Home 3:27
3. Heartbreak Road 3:11
4. The Flyer 3:20
5. Child of Everdream 4:08
6. Blood Red Vengeance 4:45
7. Princess of the Night 3:22
8. Beneath the Blue 3:58
9. We Wear Black 3:50
10. Angel 4:08
11. Bleeding Heart 3:42
12. On the Run 3:30
13. I Stand Alone 4:34
14. Gasoline 4:19
15. A Love Worth Dying For 3:53
16. Take It Slow 4:04

Line-up:
Markus Winter - vocals, bass, guitars, violin, keyboards, synthesizer
with:
Hugo Ribeiro - drums
Carsten Enghardt - drums
Michael Donner - keybaords, synthesizer
Jasmin Stillger - backing vocals
Bianca Stillger - backing vocals
Danny Winter - backing vocals
Tom Jott - backing vocals
Dirk Hardegen - backing vocals
Peter Mücke
Niels Schön
Olaf Wollschläger
Rüdiger Lotter
Martin Kühn
Jan Peter Ploenes


German artist Winter has a career as a musician that goes back to sometime in the 1990's from what I can gather, although information about his past endeavours appears to be rather difficult to track down on the internet. Besides various solo albums he has also had a few band projects over the years. "Looking Back" is a compilation of select tracks from his solo artist back catalogue, with the oldest entry dating back to 1995 and the most recent entries being from 2019.

With various descriptions revolving around Gothic rock and synthwave applied as tags on this album, the contents here strikes me as not adhering all that close with either of those terms. Granted, these aren't genres I'm overly familiar with, and as I'm thus approaching the music here from a slightly different point of view that will obviously also colour my perceptions.

The vocals are the key element that I'll associate with anything -wave related here, with Winter having a calm and relaxed vocal style that for me comes with associations towards a band like Depeche Mode, and with a timbre that does add a dark tinge to the proceedings throughout. We do get a couple of cuts here and there that do adhere to the kind of music I associate with Gothic rock too, with dirty, dominant guitar riffs and cold floating keyboard textures creating an unnerving and haunting mood and atmosphere. But the majority of the material gives me associations in rather different directions, namely AOR style rock and hard rock. With a few nods in the direction of hair metal on occasion.

Radio friendly rock and hard rock with a distinct US-tinged sound is how I'd describe the majority of the material here. With some cuts appearing as made for mainstream radio, while others would be natural additions to the playlist of classic rock radio. There is a distinct 80's sounding vibe throughout too, with some guitar riffs and movements that wouldn't sound out of place on a mid 80's ZZ Top album and other songs borrowing elements here and from the type of music MTV used to play a lot when rock and hard rock was hot property. This foundation is often expanded upon though, with keyboards and synthesizers adding a flair of new wave or synth pop to the proceedings, but for me at least these are secondary support elements rather than dominant and defining features. Expanding the palette used and the borders of the landscapes explored, but not changing the scenery itself.

The exceptions we get are primarily within what one might expect inside this context, with some songs having a bit more of a ballad or power ballad touch to them. Of the ones that stand out a bit more than that in terms of style or elements used are the ballad 'Angel' due to some haunting violin textures applied to this one, the keyboards and synthesizer drenched 'Beneath the Blue' that gave me some associations to one of the more underrated 80's ballads by UFO and 'On the Run' due to it's more strict electronic rock expression and what might be slight tendencies towards industrial rock.

From my perspective this album should be an interesting listen for those who love and treasure a slightly more expressive variety of rock and hard rock that operates within the triangle of AOR, rock and hard rock, with occasional dips into Gothic rock territories. Especially if some additional new wave and occasional synth pop flavoring to these landscapes are regarded as a positive.

Olav M. Björnsen, August 2022

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/WINTERpalehorse
http://www.bob-media.com/