GRAVELAND “Celtic Winter” /Slipcase CD/

Remastered re-release of the sixth demo album by legendary Polish Black Metal band.
Re-release of the cult material of the band, first time using other mix, which was never published before for 20 years, with alternative versions of the tracks.
“The Celtic Winter” originally was planned as an EP, but failed due to financial reasons. So it was released as the 6th demo tape in 1994. It was re-released on MCD format in 1994 with only three songs, and then re-released again on CD format in 1996.
"The Celtic Winter" emerges from a fusion of romantic melody and Raw Black Metal in the context of waltzlike, dreamtime music with classical aspirations delivered in microambient doses through its complexity of barren minimalist structure. Fundamental intensity in this music derives from the tension between its melodic progression and its violent, half-dancelike war-step rhythm. The songs are written in middle tempo. Darken's vocals contain a lot of reverb. He used atmospheric keyboards and slow guitars, which had some similarity to Celtic Frost's "To Mega Therion". Building on the foundations of Bathory, Graveland turn sequences of simple phrases into gradually expanding sound scapes of wintery battles. The mid-tempo riffs, which often dance around power chord shapes on top of simple drum beats in a typical Black Metal manner are rife with tension and augmented by an occasional use of keyboards that appears to be informed by early Emperor, although the approach here is more restrictive, as the keyboards usually either just double the guitar melody or provide a harmonic extension to the underlying riffs. In spite of this fairly straightforward use, the keyboard lines intensify the music considerably whenever they make an appearance, floating above the rest of the music like cold winds on a battlefield.
While this is not a very flashy release and does not quite aspire to the heights of the most prominent Norwegian classics, "The Celtic Winter" should not be overlooked, as it offers an interpretation of Black Metal that stands on very firm ground, with strong songwriting throughout, fraught with tension and bone-jarring coldness...
American edition re-release features four never released before tracks, many never published before photos, a 20-page full-coloured booklet enriched with a new graphic design, and a replication of the original 4-page b/w booklet.
Tracks 9 -16 taken from Demo III '93 (First Mix).
Red Stream, Inc., 1994/2014 (RSR-0213). Made in USA.


Tracklist:
I  
1. Prolog 3:18
2. The Gates To The Kingdom Of Darkness - Intro 0:58
3. Intro 2:44
4. The Night Of Fullmoon 5:32
5. Call Of The Black Forest 4:24
6. Hordes Of Empire 4:39
7. The Gates To The Kingdom Of Darkness 5:47
8. The Return Of Funeral Winds 7:50
II  
9. Prolog (Alternative Version) 2:36
10. The Gates To The Kingdom Of Darkness - Intro (Alternative Version) 0:59
11. Intro (Alternative Version) 2:56
12. Call Of The Black Forest (Alternative Version) 4:23
13. Hordes Of Empire (Alternative Version) 4:38
14. The Gates To The Kingdom Of Darkness (Alternative Version) 5:46
15. The Return Of Funeral Winds (Alternative Version) 2:58
16. Call Of The Black Forest (Alternative Version) 4:24
Total playing time: 63:54 min.