Ukrainian black metallers WINDSWEPT unleash the first glimpse into their forthcoming offering, “A Sign of the Cloven Hoof”, to be released through Primitive Reaction on September 25th.

As most of you already know, WINDSWEPT is yet another creative vehicle for the primitive force Roman Saenko, known for his work in Drudkh and Hate Forest among others. While most of his musical creations stem from black metal, thankfully, WINDSWEPT is consistent in this regard and unapologetically restrictive, retaining Saenko’s characteristically hypnotic riffing coasting atop a wintry atmosphere.

In 2024, WINDSWEPT aligned with PRIMITVE REACTION for the release of the mini-album “Der eine, wahre König”. Now, the band return under that banner with their fourth album, “A Sign of the Cloven Hoof”. Inspired by Ukrainian demonology and Mykola Gogol’s early stories, “A Sign of the Cloven Hoof” maintains WINDSWEPT’s characteristic surging austerity – solemn yet fiery, impassioned but deadpan, violently unrestrained whilst artfully rendered – but with two of the 35-minute album’s tracks stretching to or exceeding ten minutes, new(er) vistas of the trio’s imagination open up.

That they can downshift so effectively – nay, poignantly – into something perhaps more powerful, all while retaining that austere intensity, speaks volumes about the creativity at the core of WINDSWEPT.  Elsewhere on “A Sign of the Cloven Hoof”, the momentum remains monolithic even if the delivery becomes relatively livelier; however, labor under no illusion that there’s anything superfluous here, either in exposition or delivery; WINDSWEPT are nothing if not unadorned, iron-fisted and -willed to the very end. Those who know, know, and will heed “A Sign of the Cloven Hoof”…

Witness the piece “Buried Face Down” below: