WIND DOWN “The Burning Past”

WormHoleDeath, April 2025

Genre: Groove Metal, Progressive Metal
Website: 
WIND DOWN Facebook
Digital versions of the album
Duration: 40:03 (10 tracks)
Country: Poland

Once, there was a band called THETRAGON which started around late 90s in Poland. For some reasons, the group had some breaks in between regular activity and a few years after their last reunion, in 2021, the members decided to start anew as WIND DOWN and with the EP called “Uśpieni Ludzie”. After a set of concerts in Poland as well as some abroad we now get a full album called “The Burning Past”.

After a short intro called “First Meeting”, it smoothly turns into “Falling Down” which appears to be one of the heaviest track on the record. It has groovy riff that slowly marches with the company of low growls. The song speeds up for some short moments, but still it is both crushing and atmospheric at the same time thanks to some scarce melodies played in the background. It is not that the rest of the album is an easy listening after that, but there are also other moods to come.

In my opinion, one of the biggest advantage of the album is the fact that the band is quite difficult to frame into one style as there are tracks from various musical worlds. “Connection Point” has some oriental vibes here and there and very melodic refrains, while being quite raw in instrumental parts. The song keeps the good balance between both and that definitely makes the listener interested. “Without Doubt And Illusion” is a well written ballad with very emotional singing and guitar solos. Right after that, we get a solid punch with thrashy riffs in “I Have To Run”. Another track, “A New World” is a good contrast as it is definitely more catchy when it comes to chorus and the guitar work – again very groovy here. The final track, “Moonlight” has some doom metal tendencies in the first part, then it speeds up and has interesting guitar solo at the end. On the other hand, if I could, I would erase the track called “Spirit Of The Night”. The riffs are quite monotonous and the vocal lines in the verse and chorus do not help to let that feeling go.

Anyway, as I wrote above, WIND DOWN serves us a mixture of various musical tastes, but they are all around metal in general. All that matters is that the band feels quite confident and proficient in their diverse musical world. At the same time, the album sounds coherent and does not seem to be a compilation of separate songs. Thanks to really powerful sound of all instruments “The Burning Past” sounds tight and dynamic. The fans of energetic, heavy music would definitely like that.

Tracklist:
First Meeting
Falling Down
Connection Point
I Don’t Need You
Without Doubt And Illusion
I Have To Run
A New World
The Burning Past
Spirit Of The Night
Moonlight

Line-up:
Tomasz “Wiśnia” Wiśniewski – vocals
Wojciech “Świerszcz” Wojtyczek – guitars
Marcin “Ver” Borula – guitars
Franciszek “Fran” Trybus – bass
Damian “Blady” Jurek – drums

Rate: 8/10