Wendigo - Темный Ритуал

Wendigo is a rather interesting band as there is almost no information out there on them. A mix of what one could call thrash sludge, the music is all over the place with anywhere from a country western feel to it mid paced thrash with progressive elements. Almost all in Russian there is a bit of a language barrier but every track seems pretty different. Like Tallah, one isn’t really sure what they are going to get despite a core sound of rough singing vocals and rather simple thrash/ heavy metal formula. Tracks like the opening one are pretty distorted, simple heavy metal/ thrash pieces with the vocals in the fore front. And then one gets a track like the 5th one that is very upbeat, almost punk driven like  Municipal Waste track with a sort of ‘polka’ feel to the riffs before it slows down to that fuzzy sludge style, and the bass is very audible. The fourth track is by far the most interesting with the progressive keyboards and almost sorrowful tones of the guitar, as the riffs can go from thrashy and upbeat to almost more folksy and morose. Again, unpredictability is the key to this band.

Some tracks like 7 are more filler with the instrumental parts, but also more progressive and cleaner than some of the others. Then we get back to the more thrashy sludge territory with track 9 that suddenly switches to a proggy western sound. Ultimately, this whole album is a bit of an enigma with tons of mystery surrounding it, whether it be the limited knowledge on the band history, members, or even that all the lyrics and song titles are not in English. One thing is certain: for those who want something to just dive into without an expectation, and even if there are some, still be pleasantly surprised, then this album by Wendigo is for them. Its basic, but proggy, but not overproduced. Some might feel it is too simple or too much of a mystery, but sometimes some random bands out of left field are just what are needed to unseat some people from their comfort zone and expose them to new things, for better or worse. Wendigo is a band to watch for because one can never be sure what they might do next. For all we know we might get thrashy black metal with country influences next time with touches of sludge.

4 / 5 STARS




1. Вервольф
2. Темный Ритуал
3. Ворон
4. Омут (Счастья?)
5. Клеймо Преисподней
6. Твой Выбор Тверд
7. Туман Каркозы
8. Вампир
9. Небесный Рубикон
10. На Закате Времен
11. Осколком Серебра
12. Летавица


High Spiders Records
Reviewer: Colin McNamara
Feb 13, 2023

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