English instrumental metal project Windsinger began as an avenue for developing a more progressive approach to modern metal and music production, resulting in a sound they describe as “emotional, captivating, energetic.”
Windsinger, inspired by the title of a book by William Nicholson, is a solo project that was formed as part of a final major project at university, in which the man behind the music studied Music Performance. He’s been a musician for around 18 years and played with various instrumentalists across the south of the UK.
And on the Windsinger sound, he told us: “I would say it’s an emotional and thematic-driven take on progressive rock/metal.”
Our latest taste of this is A Call Beyond, which was released on Friday. It opens up with a lively high-pitched lick, which feeds into a cool piercing lick with bouncier guitars in support. The pace drops with a sliding lick that’s joined by a more intense lick in a big atmospheric section. That drops into mellow guitars, which end with a big bouncy riff joined by eerie backing synths to bring the track to an engaging conclusion.
On the track, Windsinger told us: “I think people should expect something raw, something groovy and something fun. A Call Beyond has been an absolute joy to write and perform, it’s one of the bounciest tracks I’ve ever written. I always picture moving images when I write music, and all the time I wrote and recorded this track, I pictured summer, top-down cars and people having a great time surrounded by people they love.”
That comes from Windsinger’s upcoming second album Tartarus, which will be released next month and on which they said: “This album has been a work in progress for quite some time, it was put on the backbone due to some severe writers block, but after checking out old demos and my first EP Volume I: Elysium, I fell back in love and the ideas started flowing through.
“Tartarus is a culmination of many emotions, the intro track to the album delves into themes that Elysium led with, whilst showing a descent into the darker, hellish realms that Tartarus covers. Listeners should expect to hear repeated thematics similar to concept albums, dirty and distorted polyrhythmic grooves, with a story behind each track. Stories of war, love, grief and despair.”
The Windsinger sound has been inspired by artists from the 2000s metalcore scene, including Atreyu, Architects and Escape the Fate, as well as more alternative bands like Periphery and Sleep Token. While their guitar approach has been influenced by the likes of Mark Holcomb, John Petrucci, David Gilmour, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Halen, John Mayern and Django Reinhardt.
And on what inspires him to write music, Windsinger told us: “It’s a tricky one to say but I think the best way I can answer this is by saying I write ‘stories with no words’ that develop throughout the piece. For example, one of my first tracks I wrote off Elysium is called Aether. The chorus was written about my cat that passed away, and I envisioned her running erratically through ‘northern lights’ like waves, wherever she ended up. Sounds sad really, but to me it’s always about the message that the listeners perceives. I like that idea a lot.
“A Call Beyond touches on this, a war of attrition between something human and something beyond comprehension, with the culmination of a final battle towards the end of the piece with the human side ultimately grasping the message they’ve been trying to convey, and in turn receive, this whole time.”
Windsinger’s second album Tartarus will be released on 5 September, but he’s already hard at work on developing a third part to the saga. He’s also mulling over playing the songs live, if he can find a band to play with.
And he added: “If you’ve ever checked me out as Windsinger then, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for giving me an opportunity to grace your streaming platform of choice. I love seeing people listening to my music as it’s my favourite art form. If I can share a piece of music that resonates with someone, then I’ve done my job as a musician. I sincerely hope you enjoy Tartarus, its been a long tike coming but i promise it’ll be worth the wait. I’ll have more music afterwards, and perhaps if I get on top of it, live shows. The gates have opened, and I’ve only just begun.”
You can follow Windsinger on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, and check out their music on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
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