Winter of Sin

Winter of Sin was formed in early 1998 by R, C and D, joined shortly after by W on vocals, Matthijs on drums and G on keys. At the end of 1999, the band released its first demo 'Hailstorm'. Hailstorm contained melodic black metal songs, combined with some more doomy influences. Although satisfied with the songs on Hailstorm, some problems arose during mixing. The result was that the overall production of Hailstorm was not as the band had anticipated. Nonetheless, Hailstorm received some very positive reviews.

In 2001, Winter of Sin recorded their second demo 'Obscura'. The production of Obscura was a big step forward compared to the previous album. At the time Obscura was recorded, the band had also changed its musical style somewhat. Although the album still contained fast melodic black metal songs, Obscura also had a definite doom feeling. Obscura received very positive reviews, and was even elected ?demo of the month' in the German Metal Hammer.

A short while later, Matthijs decided to leave the band, partly due to musical differences, and M joined the band on drums. M's style of drumming and musical preference fitted well with the musical development of Winter of Sin towards faster and more complicated black metal.

In 2005, the full length album 'Woest' was recorded, again, like Obscura, at Berthus Westerhuis' studio. After a short while, CCP Records offered to release Woest and signed Winter of Sin for two additional albums. Woest was officially released in 2006 and received mostly positive reviews in various zines. Compared to previous releases, Woest was much less doomy and overall much 'blacker' and faster than the previous releases.

Woest was also the last album with W on vocals. In april 2007 he made way for J aka Gheest. The successor of Woest, called 'Razernij'(meaning rage or fury in Dutch), was recorded at the famous Soundlodge Studio by J?rg Uken. He managed to combine the grimness, complexity and furiosity of the music with a fairly open and dynamic sound. Razernij is a semi-concept album and reflects the further aspirations of Winter of Sin into the realm of extreme and sophisticated black metal.

Winter of Sin ? 2008