Winter’s Verge – The Ballad Of James Tig

Winter’s Verge
The Ballad Of James Tig
Pride & Joy Music
September 11, 2020
48:49

For many, Cyprus is just a vacation island. I have now learned that various rock and metal bands also come from this island in the Mediterranean. Armageddon (Progressive / Power Metal), Witchcraft (Black Metal) or Fallen Angels (Speed Metal). To name just a few. Like many other bands, Winter’s Verge are based in the capital Nicosia. I found different information about the year of foundation. The press mail says 2005. On Facebook or Encyclopaedia Metallum, however, you can find 2003. So let’s believe the latter. And Winter’s Verge have been hardworking. Six albums have been released so far. They toured Europe twice. After three years of work, the seventh album “The Ballad Of James Tig” is now ready, a concept album with texts by the island’s famous author and playwright Frixos Masouras.

The opener “It Begins” starts with a lot of symphonic bombast. The guitars join the melody played by the synth strings seamlessly and powerfully. But it doesn’t stay that way. What follows is a soulful ballad. The singer George Charalambous can convince with his baritone. That sounds like classical vocal training. With “A Thousand Souls” the bombast continues, but a little faster. Especially the double bass provides basic orientation for a metal. The Cypriots do not lead the pace further. “Dead Reckoning” is a mixture of mid-tempo anthem and ballad. At “Timeless” Teodora Stoyanova from the Bulgarian Viking Metal Band Freija will have her first of three guest appearances. The use of classical instruments makes the song a kind of folk ballad. Brass and string basses ensure that “Killagorak” sounds a little harder in places. However, epic choruses often dominate here. In the following, too, little of heavy metal can be heard. Nevertheless, there are always harder passages, such as at “I Accept”. This is where the guitarists can show their skills. “Blood On The Foam”, “The Sea” and “The Ballad Of James Tig” are quieter again. Of course, riffs are fired again and again, but they are subordinate to the character of the respective songs. With “The Sea” you can also enjoy the clear soprano of Teodora. And the title song is a typical folk song.

Can “The Ballad Of James Tig” be classified as a Metal album? The answer is a very definite yes and no. Certainly, Winter’s Verge use elements from rock and metal in many places. There is also a lot of symphonic bombast and a good amount of folk. Here the concept clearly prevailed over the music. I don’t want to bend over and invent a new genre for it now. However, the album is fun to listen to. Mainly because the individual songs sound extremely varied. Pure rock and metal fans should also think outside the box and listen to this album.

Winter’s Verge I ACCEPT: https://youtu.be/Y8T7L-SXtRo

Lineup:

George Charalambous – Vocals
Deniel Pavlovsky – Guitars
Savvas Parperi – Guitars
Stavry Michael – Keys
Miguel Trapezaris – Bass
Danny Georgiou – Drums

Playing time: 48:49

Track list:

• It Begins
• A Thousand Souls
• Dead Reckoning
• Timeless (feat. Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
• Killagorak
• Accept (feat. Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
• Blood on the Foam
• The Sea (feat. Teodora Stoyanova Freya)
• The Ballad Of James Tig