I’d also like to add that the use of vocals as something of a sample-type instrument (akin to the bass in parts of Miasma’s “Changes”?) was also a significant development, especially when the technique vied with the rhythm guitar across the tonefloor.

Finally, a housemate of mine was actually in correspondence with Eric Friesen just days before his death. I keep forgetting to ask, but when I do I’ll pass on any relevant information that came about from those emails.

Much too little is known/appreciated about this band, and word has it that Leland has given up music for a life of mountaineering and carpentry, which is basically what he was up to while the band was kicking around. Oh well.

A great and unfortunately obscure band, at least that much is agreed!

But to be more clear – the degree to which the duo honed their sound and strayed from a reliance on a tabloid phenom like Twin Picks with the debut WHILE maintaining that dark sound of a compelling base rhythm – sturdy enough on its on – only to be shattered by leads unheard of beyond cock-rock strikes me as the foundation of an album that’s quintessential to a criminally underlooked band.

Each release is great, but this is by far the greatest imo. There just aren’t any drawbacks I can find.

Windham Hell was a great band, but to mistake their great music for what has been said here is a definite mistake.

As was said before: it’s not hard to play what was done once you get it, and so the placement is all that matters anyway. That’s sort of the point here.

http://www.mediafire.com/?z32jzrzzzj4

I think Leland had a firm grasp of the dark otherness WH was meant to be, while Friesen had the talent to make it happen and then some. In my mind this dynamic came to fruition on the second album, and aside from “Excarnation” along with a few inconsequential moments later in the album I’m not sure how their second release ever sounds straightforwardly metal (samey or derivative) in any way.

In fact I would say the second release retains just as much of an outsider identity as the first, except it’s executed much cleaner and with less reliance on Lynch baggage/sampling. Even in a vacuum I’d say the music is generally much, much more compelling than anything this group released before or after.

All their releases are of high quality, but “Window of Souls” is the pinnacle, only without that CBS/Malmsteen crutch of the first. The end result stands up just fine on its own.

Portions of the interview below elucidate what I’m talking about:

http://www.maelstrom.nu/ezine/interview_iss2_47.php

Eric Friesen’s playing didn’t give the impression that he was a musician who really belonged in the Metal underground (that side of things seemed to rest entirely on Windham, with his vocal and drumming style) and so all he could really do was embellish the atmospheres that reflect the thematic and cinematic source material throughout the album.

On that note, it’s what leads me to regard ‘Window of Souls’ as being quite hollow due to the fairly more straightforward ‘Metal-ness’. It sounds like a Malmsteen trying to write Speed or Death Metal riffs to go along with his leads, making for a very awkward listen. I thought ‘Reflective Depths Imbibe’ had a little more going for it, but lacked cohension in much the same manner.