WINTER NIGHTS' self-titled album has been a long time in the making. There have been songs recorded from right after their previous release, "An Endless Apocalypse", in 2015, all the way up to as recently as 2019. All of these songs have been recorded in their hometown of Brooklyn. The melodic death metal band exudes a strong confidence about itself. Well, you're allowed to have that confidence.  Having said that, this album has been awaiting completion and release for 5 years, so let's see what they have to offer after all that time.

A melodic lead guitar fades in the track. Heavy, doomy guitar looms over the listener, pounding along to drums and bass, a synced rhythm that encompasses the tight and powerful "When December Burns". The lead guitar remains playing throughout nearly the whole track, such is the way with this genre. The previously mentioned bands show their influence in the vocal performance, ranging from an INSOMNIUM style death roar, to a high shriek reminiscent of more black metal influenced bands. The songwriting is very fitting with what the genre generally delivers. The one thing holding the track back is the production, which is lacking the punch and weight of these other bands.

Immediately, "Starved for Energy" seems like a more powerful song. The speed and tenacity of the main riff has a solid foundation in the form of speedy double kicks along with a hard-hitting snare. A large emphasis is put on the story telling of each song. The vocals are enunciating to emphasize every word with equal importance. The emotion contained within this style of vocal is carrying the weight of a lot of the song.

"Withdrawals" introduces the listener to the heavier, more death metal influence in the band. Even the chorus contains a very dissonant and doomy sounding melody. Evil sounding, not quite uplifting and emotional like the rest of the album so far. It eventually returns to this pained growling that we are used to, but the track remains a standout in terms of being a unique melodeath song. Even the solo is eerie, laced with what guitarists love to call "feel". The tremolo picked outro is something that Brendon Small would wish could have been a DETHKLOK song. It is dramatic, epic and it isn't afraid to be a little bit over the top either. Lead guitar feedback and whammy bar noises sound like a speeding off car, just begging to become pure noise but being subdued just enough to keep the song together.

The intro of "Unmarked Grave" is promising and intense. You wait for the payoff and you get it and then some. This black metal inspired riff takes the uplifting elements of melodic death metal and throws them out the window. What you get is a dark, dreary concoction that slowly transforms into what is currently known as melodic death. Despite this the song remains different. It's a very original take on a genre that has been around for decades.  "The Day the Sun Died" takes the black metal influence of the previous song and runs with it. The verses are fast, mosh inducing, growl fests. The choruses are crushing under the weight of the guitar rhythms matches to that of the kick drums. An album highlight, for sure.

The final track, "Encounters", returns back to the uplifting sounds shown earlier in the album, really bringing it full circle. It has an emotional weight that is carried by the soaring lead guitar and the impeccable drumming, which has been consistent all the way through the album.

Overall, on the melodic death scale, WINTER NIGHTS is currently sitting more on the death side of things. They aren't obsessed with having everything be on the grand epic, dramatic scale that their influences have. They create tracks that have extremely memorable riffs, emotional vocals, incredible bass and drumming trade off. The mixing can, at times, be a little bit lackluster. Despite the fact they have been a band since 2007, this new album finally being finished and released could be an encouraging factor in releasing a new, more refined album. Hopefully this time we won't have to wait five more years for it, though.