Winter Music?!

We're all aware of the summer classics - the anthems. You know the ones... the songs/albums that make us want to drink a cold beer in the day and party long into the night with a gaudily coloured cocktail in hand.

But what about the flip side? What about the music for the long, oppressive darkness off the winter months - The music that encapsulates the cold morning air, the frozen ground, the bone chilling winds? Here are my suggestions for some albums that bring the melancholy of the long, cold nights to mind. The albums to listen to as you look out of a window across the frozen landscapes, and for those walks in the woods. I'm sure some more will come to mind over the next few weeks...keep an eye put for updates.

1. Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

In fairness, you could pick any album you want by these morose chaps, but this is the one for me - Not least because it contains the track "Falling Snow". There is a beauty here, nestling deep in the bleak, desolate heart of this most melancholy album of  meandering forays into the world of post-Black Metal. The coldness  of the guitar tones and occasional harsh vocals are balanced by the soft melodies, acoustic parts and the almost trance-inducing clean singing. There is a very Finnish feel to this album (despite the band being American), but they infuse this base with neoclassical and folk elements to create a sound of their own. Essential winter listening.

2. Burzum - Filosofem

Unlike Agalloch, there is no winter theme present here, rather just a general cold, darkness that pervades this entire album of trance-like Black Metal brilliance - although I hesitate to use such an overly simple and easily misunderstood term. This is so much more than shrieking vocals and aggressive guitars. There is an almost meditational feel here...the repetitive rhythms and haunting keyboards are perfectly suited to a contemplative walk alone in the woods or for sitting on a wall overlooking fields of white, your breath freezing in front of your eyes. Dare I say it....genius!

3. Kampfar - Kvass

Of course, this is once again a Black Metal album. This is music suited for the cold months of darkness, the long periods where you see little natural light. This is a far more straightforward affair than the previous two. Here you find six long, rambling tracks of hypnotic, cold Norwegian Black Metal. Everything you could want from an album of this type is here. The repetitive, rhythmic guitars, harsh and at times screeching vocals (with lyrics in the bands native Norwegian) and the atmospheric melodies that the northmen are so adept at. This is a sinister and disturbing trip into the dark past of Scandinavian folklore and into the overall psyche of its people. Essential.

4. Fleurety - Min Tid Skall Komme

This album opens up with some almost lounge jazz mellowness, before a dark, creepy heavy guitar part takes over. This sets the tone for the album. It is a melting pot of influences, ranging from the gothic metal of Paradise Lost all the way through to the Black Metal of bands like Khold. This is not going to be music for everyone, but if you approach your music with an experimental ear and an open mind, this will take you on one hell of a journey. You will get the aforementioned jazz influences throughout (not least in the bass), odd wailing female vocals (occasionally dual layered for added weirdness) and a whole host of genres taken in along the way. It is on the second half of the album that things get more than a little sinister. It is here you will find the creepiest, most disturbing vocals you are ever likely to hear...Genuinely harrowing, tortured high pitched screeches that will send a chill up your spine. Not one to be listened to alone in the dark....or is it?

5. Nest - (insert title here)

You can choose any song/album by Nest and add it here...this isn't dark music, it isn't evil, melancholy, and it certainly isn't sinister. This is ambient nature music...beautiful and evocative. It is the ultimate in relaxation music for me. Just lie on your bed, close your eyes and forget all about the outside world. To be fair, this is music for any time of the year. It conjures images of bubbling brooks, of eerily silent forests, of mountains and of a bygone and maybe even non-existent time....a time where the world was unspoiled. Enjoy