The unofficial WINTER NMA forum review thread...

[Master Ray]

Third time in, gets better each time. Love it 

Yeah, rub it in, you bugger...     

Maybe tomorrow...

[saille]

Well, I feel very honoured, my copy arrived  today along with the 7 inch single 

A sign of a good album, I think this is going to need at least five full listens till it falls into place. At first listen, very good. Quite different to BDAW. Marshall is much busier on this album.

Burn the Castle - I think with be an instant hit live in the mosh pit. Particularly liked "Eyes get used to the Darkness".
MD has a great run in "Born Feral"

From one of the reviews,  - "Although the album dips a little towards the end" , Didn't think that myself. Last song "After Something" is fine.

Same here, picked my 7 inch off the floor ( not bragging or owt ) & shock horror underneath cd of winter 
my pc decided that I didn't need to listen to it and decided instead to play dead, much swearing & many hours later
the sounds started to play

so far so good, as Shush said with initial listens, got die trying and echo november in my head ( and lad at work never eard NMA
was singing along to die trying ! )

looks like we are 'one of the chosen'  Shush

[Guillaume]

On first listen so my thoughts will probably change evolve on further listenings (headphones, for example)...maybe i will be a bit "harsh"for this first listen:

It's a good album (and a very good album at times for a "generic" band) but it's a slightly above average album for NMA.
I mean, i don't think there are tracks as memorable and catchy as on their best albums, the usual catchy chorus and really haunting melodies BUT there are the usual good moments and songs, and i like the overall sound and musicianship (the rythm section ifrom Michael Dean and Ceri Monger in particular). Honestly i was expecting (and dreading a bit...) a "louder" album so i'm glad that there are still enough acoustic bits and wandering "ambient" moments. I think that the album's second half is also better than the album's first half ("songs from "Beginning" to "Drifts" included...even if there are not bad songs)
For the moment...the "standout" tracks for me are: "Die trying" (very much "Higher Wall"-like?), "Strogoula", "Echo November", "Weak and strong", "Born feral", "Winter" and the decent closing song "After something".

Burn the Castle - I think with be an instant hit live in the mosh pit. MD has a great run in "Born Feral"

i agree with what you're saying about Michael on "Born feral"..."Burn the castle" is proably the song i liked the least though!

[Shush]

Guillaume, I have found this album more than others has got better with each listen, I have always believed that a song or album you eventually love has to grow on you first.

BDAW was in my mind a very polished album, as such the songs took on a different sound when played live. This album to me sounds like the band sounds live, I think we are in for some very good gigs in the next few months.

[Guillaume]

Shush, i hope you're right and maybe my opinion about "Winter" will change after many listenings and after many weeks and moments!

I listened to it twice last night, headphones and i'm still a bix mixed about it, it has some good moments and some good songs ("Born feral" maybe the best, "Winter", "Strogoula", "burn the castle" (which i quite like now!), "die trying"...but not GREAT songs in my opinion...on most (all?) NMA albums even the lesser ones there are always 2/3 great NMA tracks...for example on BWAB i LOVED  "Devil's bargain" and 'Happy to be here". The tracks on the last album are often pretty good, but not thrilling and catchy enough in my opinion like NMA at their best. I had more or less the same feeling when i listened to "Carnival", mixed and uneven album, but some of its songs have a bit grown on me (i'm not sure that the best of "Winter" is as good as the best of "Carnival", "Between dog and wold" and "Today is a good day", and i shouldn't have listened to "Thunder and consolation" after "Winter...)
But il will stop complaining for now , because i enjoyed some moments on the last album, and that's probably the most important.

[Master Ray]

So, today is a good day (someone should write a song with that title...  )because Winter finally dropped through my letterbox...

Firstly, terrific artwork... nice to see a band still making such a cool package for the fans...

As for the music... loving it.  Just onto my fifth full listen.  BDAW might have divided certain long-time fans, but I think that this one will re-affirm their love for the band.  More stripped-down, harsher... perhaps there's nothing as truly 'heavy' as Angry Planet (although Burn The Castle and Eyes Get Used to The Darkness come close) but there are a few tunes that will get the moshpit folks bouncing and doing the classic NMA 'arms waving and twisting, on someone shoulders' dance... 

I have to say that 'Die Trying' didn't work for me on the two occasions I heard it live, but the album version..?  Loving it, now one of my favourites...

Also, loving Echo November and Weak And Strong... I will post on the Favourite / Least Favourite threads...

So, that's that, the lads haven't let us down.  I suspect that we'd forgive them if they did.  After all these years, a substandard album would make us all say 'well, it had to happen one of these days, at least we'll have the old stuff at the forthcoming gigs...'

Nope.  Another cracking good album that will bother my stereo for many years to come.

[Shush]

Amen to that M/R. As a good bloke I used to work with would say, "You just slavered a bib full" 

Proud of my band for turning out yet another superb album. I am sure the doubters who walked away not liking BDAW will come back cap in hand. Welcome back. 

[Guillaume]

BDAW might have divided certain long-time fans, but I think that this one will re-affirm their love for the band.

I am sure the doubters who walked away not liking BDAW will come back cap in hand. Welcome back. 

More or less the same path with the stripped down "Eight" after the more complicated experimental "Strange Brotherhood" (which met mixed reviews from the fans back in 1998) and with "High" after "Carnival"...i am sure the doubters who walked away not liking "Winter" will come back cap in hand...next album!
But that's ok, great artists can't please everyone with their new works , especially after a long career full of gems.

[Pol]

Firstly I don't really agree with the cap in hand idea, but hey everyone is different.

Ok so here is my very early finding (definitely not any kind of review) l find the second record a good bit stronger than the first. For you new fangled cd users that's the last seven tracks ie devil to after something. Everyone a excellent track . Not gonna pick any favourites . So the first record, winter is still the strongest song for me. Sure burn the castle is gonna be the pit favourite. I think beginning will very interesting when played live. Thought a couple of the tracks had a slight stoner element possibly qotsa to them with that kinda dirty sleazy reverb bass sound .

[Rasi]

I haven't read this anywhere else yet, but to me "Winter" sounds like "Carnival 2.0", but not as polished. Since "Carnival" is a personal favorite of mine, I have high hopes for "Winter" too.
But it's still too early so really judge it.

[Shush]

Sorry, Pol, no offence was intended with that comment. Put it down to revised enthusiasm felt with the new album-and many bottles of Amstel last night. So I apologise (cap in hand)

Of coarse not everyone is going to like every track on every album. I have said here many times I am not  a big fan of "The Love of Hopeless Causes", but do like some of the tracks. I do believe if you buy an album, these days for the price of a couple of pints and like only one or two tracks on it, then that is value for money as you have those few tracks for life.

[Pol]

Fck the pints in Nottingham must have went up especially if you bought the vinyl.
Kinda was trying to say maybe bdaw wasn't everyone's favourite , me included , if anyone was silly enough to spit the dummy then it was there loss .

[Vagabondage]

I got mine on Saturday, really good album, difficult to listen to in places but some great moments on there. 'Eyes get used to the darkness' being the standout track for Me for general moshing but love all the textures that appear in a lot of the songs and some great percussion all the way through. See You all on tour, The Boys have done Us all proud here 

[Bunny]

Currently on its first play having just got home to a padded envelope. Not gonna give opinions yet cos it ALWAYS takes me a few listens. But thus far nothing I dislike.

[peternotbaldyet]

Far to good. Third listen. After 36 years they are playing the best music of their careers. They deserve so much wider recognition and always have done. Born Feral indeed.