Relapse recently reissued this 2011 masterwork of psychedelic doom, originally out from Forcefield Records. But this revamped 2023 edition of Windhand's dreamy graveyard crawl has undergone a major overhaul, virtually to the point where it's a different release. I listened to my original Forcefield CD and compared it to this, and the re-mastering by the legendary Jack Endino has transformed the sound immensely - it has this huge cavernous depth that's really noticeable to me. I still love the withered, roughened spookiness of the original release, but this one is packing some considerable extra power. Not only that, but both the new CD and vinyl editions of Windhand's eponymous debut feature more than half an hour of bonus material that'll feed the fix for any hardcore Windhand fanatics. And this also features brand new artwork from the masterful Arik Roper, which enfolds the album in an even more ghoulish visual atmosphere.

Here's my original take (lightly edited) on the five-song album proper ("Black Candles", "Libusen", "Heap Wolves", "Summon The Moon", "Winter Sun"):

So, here's where it all started for this remarkably popular doom metal outfit from Richmond, VA. It's easy to see what it is that caught everyone's ear with these folks, though, as Windhand skillfully capture the spirit of classic American doom metal while producing some really well-written songs with real staying power. And of course the presence of lead singer Dorthia Cottrell is a large part of their appeal as well, her bewitching, bluesy voice imbuing these lumbering Sabbathian dirges with a strange and earthy dark magick. They've received all kinds of accolades from the metal community since this album came out, which was followed buy a number of high-profile releases on Relapse Records. In my opinion though, Windhand has never sounded better than they did on this debut. It really takes something special to stand out amongst the hordes of Sabbath / Vitus-worshiping doom bands out there. While there's no mistaking the influence of those pioneers on Windhand's music, they twist that grim, despairing sound into something that feels both more personal and more unique, adding an extra heavy dose of psychedelic malevolence to their dark, mournful atmosphere. The guitarists bring a hefty amount of ultra-heavy droning power to the riffs, without sacrificing any of that hypnotic tone, and Cottrell's witchy moan drifts languidly and imposingly across it all, powerful and phantasmal, her deeply soulful wail echoing through a haze of reverb, having this far-off quality, rising like the smoke from a bonfire of dried, withered Eastern Redbud limbs burning low somewhere in the distance, hanging over the pulverizing psych-doom of songs like "Libusen" and "Summon The Moon". Great stuff.

With that striking vocal performance, the wrecking-ball-heavy grooves of the rhythm section of Nathan Hilbish and Ryan Wolfe, and the howling twin guitars from Asechiah Bogdan and Garrett Morris, Windhand's molten blacklight vibe becomes all-encompassing. The songs shift from menacing, insanely slo-mo heaviosity to some supremely brain-melting moments of jet-black space rock madness that emerge deeper into the album, where trippy Hawkwindian effects and cosmic guitar noise sweep across the pulverizing bluesy groove. Like the epic twelve-minute closure of "Winter Sun", which features guest vocals from Drew Goldy of RVA black metallers Bastard Sapling. Those are by far my favorite moments on Wimdhamd, delivering a picture-perfect combination of titanic riffage and sky-climbing delirium, the cumulative sound of the band achieving something so heavy and mesmeric, dark and threatening, everything steeped in a sort of rural dread that's echoed in the Appalachian ghostliness of the lyrics. Of course, all of this is what you'd probably expect from this kind of band, but Windhand do it better than most, one of the few bands I've heard that has succeeded in tapping into the same black energy as early Electric Wizard, while sounding utterly "Virginian" at the same time. Highly recommended if you're a devotee of the slow and low.

The bonus tracks are hidden early gems from the Windhand vaults. You get versions of "Heap Wolves" from their 2009 Practice Space demo and "Black Candles" from the Sound Of Music demo from the same year; both recordings have earlier drummer Jeff Loucks on the kit. Raw and rumbling. There's a remixed version of the song "Amaranth " from their split with Cough; this had previously shown up on Rue Morgue Magazine's 2012 Hymns From The House Of Horror III compilation. And the last two songs "Black Candles" and "Winter Sun" are pulled from a 2010 practice space demo. The practice space recordings and early demo material sound remarkably good, capturing that gritty, sinister vibe of the original version of the first album. It's all as pulverizing as anything you've heard from them.