A decade is, by all accounts, a long time. So much can happen in that span of time that nothing is ever guaranteed especially when it comes to the concepts of change, action, and plans of any nature as things can happen so quickly even in just a single day. As such, when a band stews for over a decade with not much to call its own, it can be very easy to assume that the name wouldn’t be up for much in one form or another. That doesn’t always keep the persistent down, though. After over ten years of lurking in the underground, Deathwinds’s arrive with their first full-length album cashes in on many years of built-up anticipation.

When you only have two EPs to call your own over the course of nine years, it can be difficult in every sense to stake your claim and really gain a foothold in the constantly shifting realms of the underground, but sometimes a lot of patience is necessary so that whenever you do make your strike, it’s downright nuclear in nature. There are throngs of names out there biding their time for one reason or another, but I don’t think there are many that can hold a candle to what Deathwinds has achieved within their first album, “…Towards Doom…” that capitalizes on that eternity in the oven. Eleven tracks of utterly fiery and scathing black metal drenched in death metal and punk tendencies, this is a record that holds nothing back and craves nothing more than to rend flesh from bone. Incredibly dense yet raw in practically every aspect, the whole of “…Towards Doom…” is an embodiment of the unsightly side of the very floor of the underground where the most obscure and nastiest of acts thrive with the very production of the effort offering credence to the madness that Deathwinds wields like a well-bloodied axe whose edges have long been dulled against the bones of its victims. Clear in its vision but always red-eyed in its voracious bloodlust, the light of the universe itself is not safe before this creation. Deathwinds has taken its time to ensure that their next step was one that would leave a lasting impact, and it should go without saying that this 37-minute mauler does that to dramatic effect.

What’s accomplished here is a snapshot of the madness of the underground itself. Deathwinds is an act with a vast amount of experience behind its primeval menace, but it’s clear that in taking their time to ensure this album’s quality, they captured a dark essence the likes of which few can ascertain in such fashion. “…Towards Doom…” is nothing if not a caustic listen with rewards galore for those that can stomach the bloodthirst that Deathwinds can never truly sate.

LISTEN to “…Towards Doom…” on Bandcamp here.

FOLLOW Deathwinds on Instagram here.