WINDHAND unveil their new hypnotic video, “First To Die” directed by Philippe Grenade. “The inspiration for the video started with the lyrics, First you die, to be born,” Grenade explains. “I immediately saw the image of a woman suffocated by the crushing anxiety of a metropolis; drowning in the delirium and being forced through some sort of psychedelic death trip and coming out the other side with a new point of view. A psychic death and rebirth. The video expresses anxiety and transformation while honoring the beauty of Windhand’s music.”
WINDHAND – “First To Die” (Official Music Video):
Additionally, WINDHAND returns to Europe next week in support of their new album Eternal Return. The headline tour begins March 7 in Vienna, AT and ends March 24 in Leipzig, DE. All confirmed dates are available below.
WINDHAND’s 4th studio album Eternal Return is out now on CD/2xLP/CS/Digital on Relapse Records. Physical packages are available for order HERE and Digital Downloads/Streaming AT THIS LOCATION.
Eternal Return, produced by Jack Endino (Soundgarden, Nirvana), represents a new era for the group, a chrysalis moment that takes them to new and unforeseen heights. Boosted by Garrett Morris‘ consistently cool riffs-forged at the crossroads of Iommi‘s otherworldly import and Kurt Cobain‘s spontaneous precocity-powered by Ryan Wolfe and Parker Chandler‘s groove-laden rhythms, and propelled by Dorthia Cottrell‘s smoky yet wistful vocals, WINDHAND‘s new album is a two-step jump for Richmond’s finest purveyors of the psycho-actively heavy.
Artwork By Arik Roper
Tracklist 'Eternal Return':
1. Halcyon
2. Grey Garden
3. Pilgrim's Rest
4. First to Die
5. Light into Dark
6. Red Cloud
7. Eyeshine
8. Diablerie
9. Feather
WINDHAND goes on tour in Europe starting March 7th. The complete list of dates can be found HERE.
“Dorthia Cottrell, one of the most persuasive metal singers to emerge this decade…End to end, it is riveting.”
PITCHFORK
“Windhand is among the genre’s reigning bands in part because frontwoman Dorthia Cottrell’s voice embodies all the rich, velvety and earthy qualities of a perfectly overdriven amp”
NPR
“Windhand pair a bass-heavy groove with frontwoman Dorthia Cottrell’s ethereal vocals”ROLLING STONE
“Windhand’s fourth and best album yet…their most melodic release, and their most psychedelic release, and they do it without losing the fuzzed-out doom riffage that made them so satisfying in the first place”BROOKLYN VEGAN
“BLEAK, BEAUTIFUL”
REVOLVER
“it’s punchy and accessible, joining the bludgeoning fuzz guitar of Windhand’s nominal genre with melodies that recall the best of ’90s rock radio”SPIN
“Windhand’s Most Gripping Record to Date”
BANDCAMP
“sound more strongly beholden to late ’80s and early ’90s grunge in addition to the band’s signature touches of weighty psych rock”STEREOGUM
“New Doom Classic”
CVLT
ONLINE
LINEUP
Dorthia Cottrell - Vocals
Parker Chandler - Bass
Ryan Wolfe - Drums
Garrett Morris - Guitar
BIOGRAPHY
For a band who traffic in measured, unhurried riffage, Richmond’s WINDHAND have moved awfully quickly over the last few years. Founded in 2009, the VA quintet have been making waves since the release of their 2010 practice space demo, a two-track CD that garnered the band comparisons to artists like Electric Wizard, The Devil’s Blood, and Black Sabbath. That auspicious start was further realized in March 2012 when the band released their self-titled debut, which quickly became an underground hit and sold out of multiple vinyl presses in a matter of months.
A year later, the band officially signed to Relapse Records. After a steady touring schedule, the band collaborated with Richmond brethren Cough on a split entitled Reflection of the Negative, which was released on Relapse in April 2013. Pitchfork deemed the split WINDHAND’s “best music to date,” and the record’s positive critical reception helped pave the way for WINDHAND to release the highly anticipated album Soma in September 2013. Stereogum, Spin, and the LA Weekly featured Soma prominently on their overall best-of lists. The album was heavily represented in countless metal publications including Revolver, Invisible Oranges, MetalSucks, and Metal Injection. Rolling Stone, NPR, and Pitchfork all took note of Soma as well; the former considered the album the third-best metal release of 2013.
Soma was no flash-in-the-pan internet phenomenon. In 2013 and 2014, the band embarked on a series of support and headlining tours across North America, Europe, and Australia, sharing the stage with the likes of Sleep, High on Fire, Dead Meadow and Kvelertak. In addition, WINDHAND appeared at major festivals including Roadburn, SXSW, Scion Rock Fest, Day of the Shred and Maryland Deathfest. WINDHAND also took the time in October 2014 to follow up Soma with a brief two-track Halloween split alongside Swedish doomsters Salem’s Pot (released on Riding Easy Records). Noisey liked the record so much that they declared the band “must have definitely sold their souls for their new split.”
WINDHAND returned in 2015 with their third full-length, Grief’s Infernal Flower, a multifaceted slab of thundering stoner doom that Noisey has called “doom metal’s most anticipated album of the year.” Produced by Jack Endino (Nirvana, High On Fire, Soundgarden, etc), Grief’s Infernal Flower is massive, heavy, and personal, a modern testament to the power of doom and stoner metal’s legacies. One sees the urgency the band have displayed over their career reflected in their music – long-canonized tropes are reimagined and reinvented. Windhand convey an irrepressible sense of motion even within the slowest of songs. Front woman Dorthia Cottrell firmly establishes herself as one of the best vocalists of the genre by perfectly balancing beauty with enormous power, and the guitar attack of Garrett Morris weaves together nine songs of perfect riffs and fuzzed-out bliss. That often-delicate splendor is all tempered by the colossal rhythmic mastery of bassist Parker Chandler and drummer Ryan Wolfe, whose lower-register expertise serves as the backbone of the new record. Though the first two WINDHAND albums were underground classics, Grief’s Infernal Flower stands to see WINDHAND cementing themselves as one of the premier metal bands of our time.
Now in 2018, WINDHAND begin a new era of gloom and grief and team up with Virginia’s Satan’s Satyrs for an amp-worshipping, acid trip from hell on an upcoming split release due out in February via Relapse! A new full-length is projected for late 2018 as well along with plenty of touring as WINDHAND continue to cement themselves as one of the premiere heavy bands of our time.
DISCOGRAPHY
Windhand - 2012
Soma - 2013
Grief's Infernal Flower - 2015
Eternal Return - 2018