KERRANG! ( UK )
12/2/08
MOUNTAINOUS ALTERNATIVE RIFFAGE FROM ANTIPODEAN GROOVESTERS
 
AT LEAST one member of Australia ’s Winterun grew up with a healthy collection of ‘90s alternative records. The quartet’s tumbling, incessant riffage conjures up the rolling majesty of Kyuss, the warped, looping lines of Helmet and the schizophrenic bleakness of Alice In Chains. There are artistic flourishes reminiscent of Smashing Pumpkins, and vocalist Nick Dunstan sounds like a gruffer Maynard James Keenan. All luminary references, but is this actually any good? Yes, actually. Once you get past playing ‘spot the influence’ it all melds together into a superb, unstoppable juggernaut where the guitars are tar-thick and the grooves positively subterranean.
 
KKKK’s
DOWNLOAD: Stompa
FOR FANS OF: Kyuss, Soundgarden

STONERDOOM FORUM (New Zealand)
30/08/2008

Winterun are a new band to me, and have produced 3 LP’s in the last four years. By all accounts they have played live extensively. This impressive work rate explains their confident and accomplished sound on their third LP ‘Into The Underground’.

The band display impressive range on this platter. They have their clear to hear cornerstone(r) rock influences but there’s more going on here as well. Anyone old enough to have seen ‘Singles’ in the cinema will find plenty of solace in these guy’s appreciation of the classic 90’s bands of that era. So we are talking healthy doses of Pearl Jam’s heartfelt song craft (especially reminiscent at times in the vocals and lyrics), Soundgarden’s update of Sabbath, hints of Tool’s earlier, more direct material and the Pumpkin’s roller coaster song structures. The sound throughout is thick but detailed and the excellent production has lots of presence, full of chiming guitars and smooth solo detail.

Generally this is a vital record with driving pace, but now and again it’s punctuated by more thoughtful and introspective parts that lend it colour and contrast, it’s good to see a band making effort to do this, and in the process giving the listener more of a landscape to traverse. It’s earthy rock is generally positive in nature with clearly distinguishable lyrics, and while having plenty of balls it also serves as a brief respite from doomier and sludgier mires.

Reviewed by Rich www.stonerdoom.co.nz

INPRESS MAGAZINE
18/6/2008 

Into the Underground is the third LP release from the as yet unsigned Melbourne heavy rock band, Winterun.  Blindingly dumb riffs abound and bounce the listener from pillar to post, but this four piece is saved from parody, rather effortlessly, it should be stated, by an acute sense of musicianship, strong songwriting structures and some affecting shifts in tone and tempo.  There are nods and easy comparisons to Black Sabbath, Smashing Pumpkins and the likes of Soundgarden, but in vocalist nick Dunstan there is a home-grown growl of say, Powder Monkey’s Tim Hemensley, and the nous of San Francisco’s art-rock wizards, Comets On Fire.  Having been around the scene for a few years and toured with such acts as The Butterfly Effect, The Angels and Rocket Science it remains somewhat incongruous no signing has occurred with either a minor or major label.  Despite this, the album’s presentation is first class and the mix superb; all deep and rumbling bass, clean and crisp leads, thumping drums and Dunstan’s exertions rich and to the fore.  This sound should travel well.

Of the nine tracks recorded, Spitfire is perhaps the most impressive.  It kicks and snarls and threatens to overwhelm before downtime brings a reverb-heavy lead and layered vocals to sweeten the attack.  Perhaps the best example of the dual worlds Winterun inhabit is the six-minute album closer, Perpetual Groove.  Over a stripped back bass and percussion run, Dunstan and Guy Martin trade jazzy notes and lead breaks before the inevitable stomping riff kicks in to bludgeon the whole thing senseless.  Back come the wicked little lead breaks, though, melting and cajoling, teasing and rolling, and the album ends on a subdued and reflective note.  It might seem like a premature emasculation to those predisposed to Winterun’s medieval crunching but the blend helps to define and distinguish and can only encourage folks immune to the whole stoner rock shtick to lend an ear.

EJ Cartledge

BLUNT MAGAZINE
ISSUE 68
MARCH 2008 7/10
 
Too many bands these days seem scared to plug into a vintage overdriven amp and simply bash a surging riff into submission, letting it build organically until the result is a simple tune with far-reaching nuances. But Melbourne 4-piece Winterun are all about chunky guitars and sludgy grooves delivered with extreme reverb overdose. Like any band with a foot in the stoner kitchen, there are fairly obvious debts to Kyuss here, but Winterun sit more comfortably with local peers like Rollerball and Fort, even though their dense analog sound and looser song structures aren’t half as polished - neither a good thing or a bad one, just different. A classic style for troubled times.
 
Luke Anisimoff

BEAT MAGAZINE APRIL 2008
WINTERUN
Into The Underground
(Independent Release/AmpHead Music)

Riding high on the overwhelming praise of their sophomore effort Welcome To…, Melbourne based heavy rock outfit Winterun are back once again with their third outing Into The Underground. Spending the last two years touring across the nation alongside the likes of Rocket Science, The Butterfly Effect, The Angels, Peeping Tom, Mammal, Rollerball, Fort and Dreadnaught has certainly made an impression on the bands sound, with Into The Underground sounding far more mature and cohesive than anything else released from the band.

Stompa (Which is also the first promotional video clip filmed from the album) is a huge heavy sounding opener that quite literally lives up to its name, whereas the slower building follow-up Heavy Rain mixes hypnotic waves of fuzz like riff work over layers of extended solos, both of which are encased in an anthem like song structure that’s sure to become a firm live favourite amongst followers. Tracks such as Spitfire, Diabhal (Prattle Battle) (Which is an old Irish/Scottish term for the devil) and Pony are by far the more immediate numbers on the album with their fast pacing and their huge catchy choruses.  On the other hand, songs such as Dirty Sky, the expansive House On The Hill and the slower earth groove of Perpetual Groove allow the band’s Pearl Jam influences to come to the fore (Particularly on the vocal front within the former two), but with a lot more confidence and originality within the song writing than anything heard from their previous releases.

Into The Underground is a huge move forward in terms of maturity for Winterun, and something that’s sure to spill over to the band’s live shows in support of the album. If you were suitably impressed with their Welcome To…, then be prepared to embrace Into The Underground as Winterun’s strongest effort to date.

JUSTIN DONNELLY

BUZZ MAGAZINE - APRIL 2008
5/5 

You gotta love a heavy high-hat four count to open proceedings. And you gotta love a band who converts the raw-ness and power of their live show onto disc. This is exactly what this Melbourne four piece have done and they’ve done so with aplomb.
Winterun is a band I’ve seen around the traps a few times. Live, they’re loud, they’re dirty and ultimately loads of fun, just the way good Stoner/Southern/Desert rock and roll should be. It’s taken my breath away at just how well their live spirit and sound have translated into the recorded form. It’s incredibly punchy stuff but injected with a little more variation, rhythmically and tempo wise than a lot of stoner rock you hear around. So much so that to limit them to a mere “stoner” classification is doing them a dis-service. You can hear the obvious Black Sabbath and Kyuss influences. There is some serious Blues and classic heavy rock going on here as well.

This album made me want to jump in my car and drive for miles across desert highways with it endlessly cranking from the stereo. It should put them in the same league as such luminaries as Clutch and Fu Manchu.

Rod Whitfield

MAG (MUSIC AUSTRALIA GUIDE)
Distributed by JB Hi Fi
FEBRUARY 2008
 
WINTERUN
INTO THE UNDERGROUND
3/5
 
Stoner rock from the streets of Melbourne; Winterun call themselves “heavy groove dealers”. Their third album “recorded in 44 mind-melting hours”, has some chunky riffs, passionate vocals and songs that show Winterun’s powerful live potential. The cryptically-titled Diabhal (Prattle Battle) and the aptly titled Stompa provide the highlights. Overall, the sound is not far removed from early Pearl Jam, but there’s nothing here to take Winterun to commercial radio; the album is called Into The Underground after all! This is to be embraced by the alternative scene - local and international.
 
JEFF JENKINS
STONERROCK.COM (www.stonerrock.com)
Winterun - Into the Underground (Undertow Recordings)
Release date: 2007

I first heard Melburne’s Winterun via the fourth StonerRock.comp, with their track “Lighter.” Between then and 2007’s Into the Underground, they released Welcome To…, and I’m guessing that was where the band shifted its sound.

The difference between “Lighter” and Into the Underground is primarily of sheen. That 2004 track had a scruffy, roguish attitude – consider it the Han Solo of stoner rock songs. Tracks like Underground’s “Stompa,” “Spitfire,” “Dirty Sky,” and “Pony” have more spit n polish on ‘em and trade most of the trappings of Ye Olde Fuzz Rock for a more contemporary, modern rock sound. I’m inclined to name check Tool alongside the usual suspects. Not necessarily in terms of composition - Into the Underground fortunately isn’t laboriously overwrought - but there’s a distinct Maynard James Keenan feel to some of the tracks – a grandiose and melodramatic delivery. And overall, the riff takes a backseat to the hook.

Once I adjusted my expectations, I found much to like with feel-goodish numbers like the above and the genuinely mean spirited “Diabhal (Prattle Battle)” (on the other hand, “Forgotten Good?” I can do without). My advice is to approach this one with an appreciation for punchy anthems and song-craft and then enjoy the ride.

Review by John Pegoraro

Daredevil Records, Germany (www.daredevilrecords.de)
January 2008

8/10

Maybe some will remember the second record from WINTERUN (Melbourne, Australia), called WELCOME TO…,  some month ago. It was a impressive mix of Pearl Jam, especially Eddie Vedder vocals, and classic Stoner Rock. Now they are back with their new CD and everything did a step forward. The music is heavier and groovier, Nick on vocals find his own way, the production (mastered by Paul Fox, he worked for Deftones for example) is fat and the artwork is awesome. The new record is a rolling blend of infectious heavy rock - chockfull of chunky riffs, grooves and melodies.

The opener STOMPA, which is the first single too, and the following HEAVY RAIN are great Alternative rockers with a lot of heavy punch! DIRTY SKY features a huge refrain and is not so full of heavinesss like the 3 tracks before. FORGOTTEN GOOD? is a another great alternative rocker which is in my eyes the better single to reach a lot of people. The song features a lot of great guitar tunes and a lot of melodies on the vocal side. Real great track! DIABHAL was led by a great groove and excellent guitar work, before the faster PONY hits your ears. The slow refrain fits perfect and give this song the right drive! HOUSE ON THE HILL is a mix of Grunge and Alternative, one of the softer tracks on that record. Another highlight is the long ending track called PERPETUAL GROOVE, which starts slow and turns into a wall of groove riffs.

Excellent song! The energy on that record is huge and if you are searching for a heavy version of Rollerball, Pearl Jam, Creed for example - get this band! A big highlight in the scene today!
TSUNAMI MAGAZINE, APRIL EDITION (www.tsunamimag.com)
 WINTERUN -INTO THE UNDERGROUND
(Independent)
6.5 / 10
 
Kick and grunt, locomotive-like driving guitars and hard-core ‘back in the day’ type ‘70s production would be the best way to explain Winterun’s third album, ‘Into The Underground’. These Melbourne lads are true testament to good and hard Aussie pub rock, with very little in the way of overproduction. You get the feeling that seeing them live would be exactly the same as listening to this album. ‘Stompa’ is an arse-kicking opener, followed by three similarly driving tracks, while ‘Forgotten Good?’ takes a slight change of pace with crying lead guitars. Winterun lean toward metal but keep it in the realm of hard rock with punching vocals rather than guttural screams.
 
Jenliza  

RAVE MAGAZINE (www.ravemagazine.com.au)
April 2008
Dust off your devil hand-sign, this one rocks

Winterun’s new album begins with what sounds like a tape rewinding, four cymbal crashes to count in then the mother of all big dumb riffs. Maybe it’s all the quiet introspective sensitive wuss-rock music I’ve been listening to lately, but the first thing I could think of was ‘shit, that just rocks’. Spitfire is a particular favourite, as a punishing Southern Rock riff gives way to duelling guitar solos and Nick Dunstan’s growling vocals. Perpetual Groove is not some sad white reggae track, it’s an almost seven minute album closer with more meaty riffs and extended passages that allow this quartet to explore the loud-soft dynamic. It’s not rocket science or a classical masterwork, but it’s not supposed to be. It’s hard-edged stoner rock, where the the guitars are brutal and muted, the drums are chugging and the solos are simple yet effective. The lads have certainly been having their breakfast, a potent mix of Weetbix and cement.

MITCH ALEXANDER 

HELLRIDE MUSIC.COM (www.hellridemusic.com)
JANUARY 2008

Winterun is as unpretentious a collection of Melbourne diggers as you’d ever want to meet, and this comes through 100% in their straightforward, hard rawkin’ music. Their numerous demos and a full-length or two have confirmed that they’ve got a jones for pounding riff rock at ear-splitting volume - nuthin’ fancy as Skynyrd would say – but their ‘Into the Underground’ takes it to the next level.

For one thing, the packaging and sound quality are totally professional, indistinguishable from a label release. For another, the playing – especially the guitar – has advanced considerably over past releases, adding considerable depth to the proceedings. The songwriting is there, as it always has been with these dudes. This is the kind of simple, piledriving, underground sound that would be perfect on radio station T.H.C., complete with a shot and a beer.

In other words, this is music best heard live, an experience that I must sadly say that I’ll probably never have. Barring the off chance that they make it to the U.S., I’ll file ‘em next to Ahkmed, Forte, Lazerwolfs, old Fu, Peeping Tom, and other quality denizens of the riffing underground. Winterun’s patented whisky-harsh, lager-smooth aural mix should fit right in.

Kevin McHugh

Stoner Rock Spain (www.myspace.com/stonerrockspain)
February 2008 

First of all let’s make a list… “Stompa”, “Heavy rain”, “Spitfire”, “Dirty sky”, “Forgotten good”, “Diabhal (Prattle battle)”, “Pony”, “House on the hill” and “Perpetual groove” are the 9 cuts in this CD that arrives from Australia with a packing and a very good design to us. I can tell you that this review is the one that costs a hell of a lot to me to do, from the beginning I was nonwise on how to begin, but with a several listenings, my ideas were clarifying and I began to point things in a notebook, like a draft… “Into the underground” is a good record from start to the end, and Nick,Guy, Joel and Gavan (the names of these four musicians), know clearly their objective and without going more far, there we have this CD, where they display its intentions, and they delight us with good subjects….I’ve noticed that Tool is a clear reference for them, but not on a huge way, just little by little as a good influence, coverall in some riffs like in many passages of wha. In adittion there’s some moments in which his singer remembers to Ed Vedder in a distant spot to us,, perhaps in some line of voice or in some choirs. In a word, that makes me think of that they are veterans enough, and that they have past enough pains and glories, and this is projecting on their songs.

When opening the drop-down of the CD, you can see a pile of photos of shows, and a pile of posters of concerts, and they have shared poster with people like Rollerball, Dreadnaught, Fort, Daredevil, Peeping tom between many others. From the first one to the last cut, it’s showed that kind of stoner, with many more influences, from old hard rock , to kind of blues point, passing through such a central metal axis, and I can assure to you that they make a good mixture, yeah Sir. The starting of the record, like it’s ussuall in this style, there is a breaker track, made on mind to begin, although those that follows to him are on the expected level.

I have hallucinated with the complet CD, but if I have to choose will say that the second cut ,”Heavy rain” is , or “Spitfire” third, or “Stompa” already mentioned nº1…. Like anecdote for our Spanish readers, I will say that when I put this record for the first time, reminds me of our friends Supa scoopa, really could be a new record of our Vigo friends, but no, we are speaking about WINTERUN, and hopefully some day, we would see them on tour through Spain, it will be a good thing to pay the entrance to see these guys on stage. So remember this name, and visit their sites and myspace, and use some of your time to listen these guys, and to know about this band.