"Winterkronieken," which translates to "Winter Chronicles," encapsulates three narrations of winter. The release will open with a metaphor of personal struggle encapsulated in a lonely tree standing amongst icy winds and snowfall. The second story is a musical interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen's "Girl with the Matches" fairytale. The third and final chapter of the release is entitled "Winterkronieken," an interwoven 25-minute opus of re-recorded demo songs linked together in one recording. These contain some of the first songs written for this project over 15 years ago. MELANCHOLIE blends cold Atmospheric Black Metal traditions with more melodic passages to fully capture the melancholic message of the wintery narratives."

The album chronicles three short interludes with three lengthy songs. "Introductie" is first. Only 30 seconds in length, its piano charms are plentiful. "De treurwilg" is a massive 21-minute opus. It has a traditional Black Metal opening…aggressive, raging, and quite somber. Buried within the cracks however are flecks of light. Some of the aggression also lessens along the journey, with clean vocals and more melody. Approaching the halfway mark, all of it dissipates in favor of atmosphere and ambiance. Of course, it returns once again, and from there, is a natural ebb and flow like the coming and going of the tide. Sometimes it's gentle, and other times it's angry, but it's like the natural order of things. "Intermezzo" is another short segue of piano and keyboard, and I find myself wishing these interludes were longer.

"Vervlogen met de zwavelrook" is a 17-minute song. Coming out of the gate like the previous beast, it pushes a steady dose of aggression, and while it begins to fade in favor of somber elements, I am sensing a repeating pattern. The drop happens at right around the same place as the second song, and while the varying parts are interesting, it doesn't provide much in the way of diversity. "Elegie" is the final short song; at one-and-a-half minutes. The clean vocal harmonies are wonderful. The closing title track clocks in at 26 minutes, and it's a journey you need pack for and saddle up. The aggressive parts of the song represent the more difficult part of the journey…over rough terrain or even during a wicked storm. The gentler parts reflect the ease of travel over a flat path with the sun warming you.

After a second listen, I came to appreciate the album more. The lengthy songs can be intimidating to a listener whose attention span might not be long enough, but I kept finding subtle nuances on the album. These nuances suggest a grand storyteller, and musician. I have to say I enjoyed the outright melodies more than the aggressive blueprint of Black Metal, but there is a great balance on the album between the two.