“Obscura” is already the second album released by this Dutch band from Groningen and just like their first album, “Hailstorm”, produced by themselves, because Winter Of Sin unfortunately does not have a record deal. Something which I find almost unbelievable because this band sure as hell is talented and their melodic black metal manages to sound quite refreshing. It is not really strange however that this band sounds professional, since some of its members are (ex) members of bands like Immortalized, Cantara, Katafalk and As It Burns and have been in the metal scene for quite some time. Winter Of Sin’s music definitely reflects the different backgrounds of the people involved. Their debut album, “Hailstorm”, was already very decent but with “Obscura” they have taken their music a step forward, and I must conclude that this album is definitely more mature. The music on “Obscura” is very diverse. Most songs are well over 6 minutes long but the level of variation in each song is high enough to keep the listener interested; the boring and slightly goofy “The Room” being the only exception to this. Influences range from death and doom metal to even grind; and Winter Of Sin’s music has an excellent dark and at times melancholic atmosphere, which really makes this band shine. It goes almost without saying that this atmosphere is their best side.

The only band that comes to mind that I can possibly compare the music to is the Norwegian band Enthral. I simply must conclude that this band has succeeded in creating their own sound. Okay, this album is not totally deprived of the almost necessary melodic black metal clichés but compared to most other melodic black metal bands, these clichés are kept to a minimum. Most noticeable is the role of the keyboards, which are pushed to the background (and sometimes not used at all); even though they are actually quite refreshing; not the type of pompous keyboards which are being used by almost every melodic black metal band. It must be said that Winter Of Sin is a pinpoint of light in the endless darkness that is the Dutch black metal scene. “Obscura” is just a very good underground melodic black metal album with a good production and I can only think of one flaw. The same flaw as on “Hailstorm”; the clean vocals are slightly weak. Although they add a brilliant atmosphere to the music and excellent dynamics to almost every song, they are slightly disappointing. If Winter Of Sin is able to improve on their clean vocals, then I really can’t think of anything that might stand in the way of a record deal with a good label. You can acquire your own copy of “Obscura” for 7 Euros from Winter Of Sin’s web site: http://www.winterofsin.com.