Here's where I should proclaim that Kult are innovators not followers, but fuck it. This music isn't original, and I don't really give a damn. They may be travelling a well-beaten path, but they're doing it really well. Songs like "Seven Blades (of the Reaper)" (that'd be one of the Carpathian Forest rockers) are proper fist-pumping anthems of pure thrashing black metal that never grow old. Also, Kult fulfil the fantasies of many a black metal fan with "Enstrangement", a high-octane ripper that keeps on going and never slows down for verses or choruses, because there are none -- it's entirely instrumental and entirely wicked.

The lack of originality and occasional lame riff -- "Il Crepuscolo" contains a bit of a stinker -- notwithstanding, _Winds of War_ shows a lot of promise and dedication to a noble cause. A worthy debut from a name worth remembering.