Nobody does anything solely out of the goodness of their heart. Anyone who wills themselves to do something has their own interest at the back of their mind. They may simply want entertainment, or they need to cry out their pain, but they’re thinking about themselves, alright.
There aren’t any rock stars who’d rather be working with blind children in the Orient instead. And, even the people working with the sick children have photographers close on hand and ready to send the pics back to Skopje. Winterblind’s“EGO” is a collection of songs about what makes us want to fight to survive, to advance, or just to have the opportunity to cry out our pain and be heard by others.
The band’s sound in itself, a complex blend of metal, prog and funk, is an example of this beautiful kind of selfishness. Why take the time to learn to play instruments as well as the group does on the opening track “Alleen Mor Steirve” when a few power chords played over a simple four-to-the-floor beat would’ve done just as nicely? Why write adventure-rock-type songs about human neurosis?
Because you own yourself, and, truly, little else. But also, because you get audience members interested in your work for similarly selfish reasons, they won’t stick around for the finale. “I AM ME,” the sophisticated jazz-metal centrepiece of the record, is obsessed with the struggle of simply having property over yourself.
And, yes, audiences will likely stick around for egotistical reasons. They’ll listen to the creaky, spooky intro of “Fossil,” wonder what’s around the corner and get pummelled by a blood-curdling scream. They’ll enjoy the mix of clean and heavily distorted vocals delivered on “Distraction Waltz.” And they may even consider the state of the world and their place in it when they listen to the nihilistic “Cult Broker.”
Where does it all leave us? Doing things for ourselves and, in that way, inching the rest of the world towards its truth, perhaps. “Keep Posing,” an eccentric modern prog-metal track with surprisingly clean vocals, criticises our collective self-centred obsession with personal image. But aren’t we all doing what’s best for ourselves? Winterblind certainly do that on the “EGO” EP, and that’s the reason why the music is so accomplished.
