Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile: Winter Of Silence

It's time to profile our 35th band in our Saultites In Out Of Town Bands Profile Series! For the first time in 10 months (and apologies for the day's delay), we're looking at a solo project featuring a past or present Sault Ste. Marie resident, and like in previous months, we'll look at this band's local ties, material, bio, and information so you guys can get caught up on this latest profiled band! So, what should you know? Read on below, and e-mail me if there's anything incorrect or missing! (Updated on November 26th, 2014)
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Winter of Silence (Ontario)

Lineup: (Saultites in RED; ex-members in italics)

Ryan DeWinter (all instruments)
"Kold" (instruments)

Official website: http://www.winterofsilence.webpin.com
Official MySpace page: http://myspace.com/winterofsilenceband
Official BandCamp page: http://winterofsilence.bandcamp.com/

Local Info: The leader of Winter Silence is musician Ryan DeWinter, who was a recent student at Sault College! I don't know Ryan personally, so I don't know a whole lot about his local ties, but he still actively works in musical projects, including a newer Nordic black metal project named Brynhildr. As well, I've found old Southern Ontario metal bands like Cimmarian and Coprophilism that Ryan was a part of in the past, but those aren't otherwise linked to his current material. Huge thanks to Mike Boychuk for letting me know about Ryan's local connections and music!

Band Bio: Active from at least February 2010-May 2012, Winter of Silence was a down tempo black metal band led by Ryan DeWinter. Though visibly only an in-studio project, they have released one EP in 2010 named "The Stars of Existence Have Faded" on various formats through Self Mutilation Services. They briefly enlisted San Diego musician Kold (who worked with Ryan on the project Lost Inside) as a second band member last year as well, though that was short lived. Following a brief breakup in late 2010, Winter of Silence worked on a planned new album named "A Ga Blandt De Hellige Trærne" through Razed Soul Productions, before breaking up for good and being succeeded by Brynhildr this spring. There isn't a lot of posted material to check out from Winter of Silence, but the songs from their EP are definitely an interesting take on black metal! Some sites described it as "depressive", and there definitely is a slower and darker vibe to their songs, and a very deliberate pacing. The vocals are used more minimally than other similar bands, but when Ryan does unleash some black metal singing, they're used to great effect, and he has the right voice for the material! For casual listeners, Winter of Silence may be tough to get into, but Ryan is a talented multi-instrumentalist, and if you like slower & more downbeat black metal, Winter of Silence may be what you're looking for!

In terms of media, there are limited copies of Winter of Silence's debut EP available to purchase at this location for $7, so act quickly before they're all sold! You can also purchase some of the EP (though not all of it, oddly) online by clicking here. Their material can also be freely obtained on other websites, though I recommend Ryan's YouTube channel, which features two songs from "The Stars of Existence Have Faded", an EP ad, and a newer song, among other uploads! Here's their newer track "Nar... Vi Grat Ved Elvebredden", and hopefully their other older material keeps up the trend!


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I hope you guys liked this month's profile! Next month, we'll be taking a look at Peterborough progressive hard rock quintet Azriahl in this series, as their guitarist is former Sault Ontario resident Paul Tikkanen! This should be an interesting post, so look out for it back on our normal schedule on May 26th! That's all for now, but stay tuned later tonight for a new show, a band reunion, and new videos! Thanks everyone!