Paysage d'Hiver is an ambient / atmosperic black metal band from Switzerland.
The band name is french for "Winter Landscape", and reveals the most prominent lyrical theme of the band: Winter...
Other lyrical themes are astral projections and darkness, but many claim that Paysage d'Hiver's music is the aural definition of winter.
At first, the band may be hard to "get into", because they're one of those low production bands.
However, as daunting as that may seem at first, I feel like the low production has really added onto the atmosphere in this case.
Without the low production, it would not have sounded as cold, bleak or desolate as it does right now..
The guitars are heavily distorted, the vocals are extreme and violent, but quite distant and low, nearly drowned by the guitars and noise.
There is, however, still a synth or some sort that adds extremely much to the atmosphere.
At first I didn't really like (or say, "get") the band, but after just about 6-7 minutes in the first song of their demo "Winterkaelte" (or Winterkälte), I was absolutely mesmerised.
Very trance-like stuff, hard to explain, but it just evokes this sense of atmosphere that surpasses that of many other black metal bands.
Paysage d'Hiver only has demos, but don't think that they're just your random myspace band, they have 10 or so demos released so far, each with very lenghty songs (Winterkaelte for example, is a 6 track, 90+ minute demo).
If you check metal-archives, you can see that 8 out of 11 demos have 90+% average ratings, and some people even claim that they're one of the best black metal bands of the beginning of this century.
I can't help but agree, although I have to say that they can be hard to get into at first, and you have to sit down and listen to it focussed, preferrably in darkness or outside to get the full experience.
I'd also like to add that this is the first low production band that has truly captivated me like that, and keeping my attention for more than 90 minutes is quite a feat.
It's very hard for me to explain exactly what it is that I like so much about them, so you're going to have to check them out yourself and see if you get the same feeling that I get



Discography:
Steineiche Demo, 1998
Die Festung Demo, 1999
Schattengang Demo, 1999
Kerker Demo, 2000
Paysage d'Hiver Demo, 2000
Kristall & Isa Demo, 2001
Winterkaelte Demo, 2002
Schnee/Das Winterreich Split, 2003
Paysage d'Hiver / Lunar Aurora Split, 2004
Nacht Demo, 2004
Einsamkeit Demo, 2007

Paysage d'Hiver online:
Band's MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/paysagedhiver

Personally, I would highly recommend Winterkaelte.
Most people think it's their best, but not very accessible to people who want to "get into" this band.
I kind of disagree, since it was the first album that I checked out, and I absolutely loved it.
Once again, the first 6-7 minutes may be quite an adjustment, but after that, I was captivated until the very end of the CD.

Hmm, I've listened Winterkalte.
The first 7 minutes are bad and boring, after that it gets better indeed, not bad, but in the middle of the second song I've turned it off.
I think the music is too much the same, no variations, that's no problem for 5 minuten, but for 10 minutes or more it's not very interesting anymore.

Interview with Wintherr, sole member of the band.
Translated by someone from Norwegian to English:

Quote:

Greetings, Mr. "Wintherr" Hello, 1. How did you get the name "Wintherr"? The name just popped up in my mind. It’s a mix between „Winter“ and „Herr“ (Lord of Winter). It’s just natural, as everything in Paysage d’hiver is natural. „Wintherr“ reflects my innerself , it’s expression... 2. What was it that made you want to play music? Please, tell us a little about your background. I was never fully satisfied with what other people did with the music which meant a lot to me. So I had to do it by myself. Especially 1995-2000 was quite frustrating concerning album releases, which gave a lot of effort to me for continuing of what I loved so much in this kind of music, by myself. And especially, I had / still have the feeling, that the people behind that music didn’t really understand, what they actually created. I wanted to have more spriritual depth behind the music. I try hard, but I also realized, that many things just flow through me and aren’t done intentionally. They just happen and I learn to understand them after a Demo is finnished...I am still learning, even from the first recordings. It goes very deep...a lot of it is washed up from my unconcious. So it really is a travel through my soul. It is a tool for sinking deep down to myself and to widen my own spiritual borders...Paysage d’hiver is a ritual. 3. When did you start playing music? Did you start of by playing black metal? Well, my first instrument was Violin, which I started playing when I was about 10 years old. Distorted quitars was always pure magic for me, even as a kid, so it was natural to find my way to Metal music, which had it’s peak within Black Metal in the beginning of the 90ies. I never intended to play this or that kind of music, it just came out like it is. It is natural. I also listen to a lot of (old) Death and Doom Metal. Of course this influenced me a lot (as you can hear). I never considered Paysage d’hiver to be a Black Metal Project, it just turned out like this, as it seems to offer the best platform for the world of Paysage d’hiver... 4. How many bands do you have, what are their names and which one plays what? I have Paysage d’hiver. I am part of Darkspace as well, but I am only one part there and it should not be discussed here. 5. You seem to be quite interested in nature, quite similar to Ildjarn (Vidar Vaaer), and maybe especially the winter, but do you have any political message in your music, that beeing fascism, national socialism anti-semitism, misantrophy etc etc.? No, no political message at all!!!! Politivs has nothing to do with Black Metal in my opinion. Black Metal for me means something inhuman, something not of this world, something anti-physical, something purely spiritual, a soul journey! Politics are probable the most human factor there is, so it really has nothing to do with Black Metal in my opinion. But it is lonesome, and thus misanthropic to a certain degree. 6. Which is your favourite Paysage d'Hiver album? And why? I don’t have a favourite Album. They all belong together. Some are better handcrafted than others, but they all belong to the whole of Paysage d’hiver. It is like different chapters of one story. It’s not possible to see just one for me. 7. Which is your favourite album off all times? Which album and band inspired you to make music? Hard to say, I have many favourite albums. The biggest effect on me probable had/still has Burzum’s Hvis lyset tar oss and filosofem. I have never before and after experienced such soulshaking feelings provocated through music...making music by myself was just a natural step, as I need(ed) a tool for expression to let my inner world loose...to travel inside. It actually doesn’t necessarily have to be music, that’s why lyrics and paintings/pictures are also a very important part of Paysage d’hiver. It is a world of it’s own, with it’s own history... 8. What kind of bands do you listen to? Currently I listen a lot of different stuff. Evoken I like a lot at the moment. But I also listen to old Heavy Metal, Black,Doom,Death, Dark Ambient, Classical (Arvo Pärt), experimental stuff, etc. No borders. Mostly dark, mystic, psychedelic and melancholic music. 9. How many albums have Paysage released, and on which labels? 8 Demos where released. All of them by Kunsthall Produktionen. The Split-Lp with Lunar Aurora was released by Eternity records. The Split-Lp with Vinterriket was a Label-Split. The re-releases of the Demos on Vinyl is a co-operation between Kunsthall and Miriquidi Productions. 10. Tell us about your own label - Kunsthall. Well, Kunsthall was intended to be a platform for music which has an „artistic“ approach in our own sense of the term. It will never be big, as we don’t have enough time to let it grow much more. If we get a hold of something we think worth of releasing, we will do it. Next Release will be the „Die Festung“ (second PDH-Demo) on Vinyl. Followed by a 7“ EP by Hungarian „Nefarious“ and the first PDH-Demo on CD. 11. Have you ever performed live? No. Paysage d’hiver will never perform live. 12. Have you ever contributed on another bands/artists album? Have any bands/artists contributed on your albums? No. On „Steineiche“ there are two other participiants mentioned, but that was more in a spiritual sense, not musical. They didn’t contribute on the album in any other way. 13. What instruments do you play? Violin, guitar, Bass, Piano/synth, drums. All I need for my form of expression. None of them on a high level! I rather want to create atmosphere than rehearsing technical matters...my skills are quite poor, as they never needed to be better for what I want to do... 14. "Welt Aus Eis" is probably the best song I have heard this year. Tell us something about the idea behind this excellent song. I absolutely love the violin. The whole Demo describes the „overall“ of the world of Paysage d’hiver. That’s why it is selftitled. 15. Are you planing on releasing any new material soon? And are your future releases going to be albums in a larger amount of ex. and on 'real' formats? I am always working on new material. I had a quite hard phase in my live the past two years. As you can easily hear and see within the „Nacht“ Demo. It was a state of night in my mind in that time and it was a long and hard path, full of struggle to come to the point where I am now. It was quite silent around Paysage d’hiver in that time. I think 2006 will be a very strong year for PDH. I am working on a Demo which will be titled „Das Tor“ (The Gate) right now. It will still take some time to finnish it...there are also other ideas evolving, I will see what will happen with them. All „Demos“ will be re-released on Vinyl, and very likely also as A5-Digicd’s. So that’s probable what you call „real“ formats. Future releases will be released as all the others before: Tape first. I think this „Demo character“ suits well to Paysage d’hiver. Especially, as I will never have a total clean sound. 16. What is the most important things you consider when you make music? Paysage d’hiver is highly ritualistic. It is a form of meditation to me. It is a special state of mind, when things start to flow. It is not easy, and not always possible, to achieve this state of mind. THIS state of mind is the most important. Nothing around than myself and my inner world...a lot happens there which is not describeable (other than with what you get with a PDH-Release)... 17. You are not a very famous person in the black metal scene, despite the fact that you have albums that are among the best I've ever heard. Is this something you are happy with? It’s not important to me. I don’t push things. But still, if people want to have the music, they should be able to get it. Paysage d’hiver is very „egocentric“, so that’s the most important. If the musical result of my own journeys can give something to other souls, it is a very positive thing, and I really appreciate it, but it’s not important for me. 18. Do you have any opinions about the black metal scene; how it should be/not be and so on? Well, it has become very big in the last couple of years, as far as I can tell from what I get to see. There are too many bands with no atmosphere, with no soul in their music, in my opinion. I don’t think it is very hard, to give something special to the music, and there are still many many new things to explore. People play too much what already has been done. That might be „fun“ to play, but who really needs this (ecxept of the people playing it)? BUT, I don’t mind so much, if it is not totally unique (my own music isn’t really new either, isn’t it?) , as long as it has got atmosphere and soul... In general, I think Black Metal is a bit too conservative and too much shittalk. And you know my opinion about politics in Black Metal! But I’m far away of telling people what they should do!! They do it anyway, so why bother? I do my own thing, and that’s it. If somebody likes it, that’s fine, if not, well that’s just fine as well. Thanks for answering, is there something you would like to add? You’re welcome. Nothing to add... Best regards W.

Also, more info on the limitations of his works:

Quote:

There are three reasons for the limitations: 1. The packages were/are made by hand (in the case of the Demos the tapes were home-copied too.). 2. The financial aspect. 3. The concept. In no way do the limitations have anything to do with "elitary" in this case! ...Even when "the unique/special" is seeked, which of course leads to the limitations of the copies naturally... The A5-digis will of course be unlimited! Here the aforementioned concept of 500 copies first, then more, will be applied. But it won't be "simply pressing more" this time either, because it will mean a lot of work by hand again! And remember: We're not talking about one CD here, but (so far, might be more) about 7 CDs at once! = 7 x (so far) 500 pieces, by hand... it seems hard to grasp how much work this really means, before one has done such a thing oneself. Machinal crafting is either impossible, or too expensive. At least it will be massively less work than with the LP-Versions... Yes, it definitely took too long before an unlimited release of CDs happened. For one thing this was for profane reasons such as time and money (would there really be something coming out of this financially, it would eventually be possible to reduce the work-time, so that in the future (besides creating new audio material) records could be released in shorter periods of time), for the other thing it requires a certain "detachment process" to make something very personal - if not intimate - available for a broader audience. So one doesn't have to wonder why there are bootlegs coming up. But when money is made with these at the expense of the artist, it of course isn't really fair. But there seems to be a demand for the records, and when the artist oversleeps to meeting this demand, its probably his own fault! I think it is better to underestimate one's own records, than the other way round... W.

I think he's a very humble and honest guy.
Not an elitist in the slightest, no political meanings behind his music.
He also described his music as a kind of ritual, a way to delve deeper into his soul, and it's this feeling I get when listening to them as well, so I think he succeeded in conveying this atmosphere.

I just ordered my copies of the A5 digibooks of Die Festung, Schattengang, Kerker, Paysage d'Hiver and Kristall & Isa.
Can't wait to receive them, I've been looking forward to these releases for over 2-3 months now!

Don't know if anyone over here is interested in this band at all, but whatever

Upcoming Paysage d'Hiver releases (exact dates unknown):

Paysage d'Hiver DLP
Kerker LP
Paysage d'Hiver/Nordlicht - Split LP
Kristall & Isa LP
Winterkaelte A5 Digipack/3LP
Nacht A5 Digipack/DLP
Schnee A5 Digipack
Einsamkeit A5 Digipack/DLP
Das Tor A5 Digipack/DLP/Tape
Steineiche A5 Digipack/DLP/Tape

As you can see, most of these are re-issues of the old tapes in A5 digipack and DLP format.
Das Tor is an all-new album, and Schnee is a compilation of the three parts of the collective "Schnee" (part one is on the split with Vinterriket, part two appears on the "Wurzelgeister" DLP compilation, and a new part 3 will appear on the split LP with Nordlicht)

After these releases, the entire Paysage d'Hiver will have been released in A5 digipack/LP format, we will get both a new split CD with Nordlicht and an all-new album, plus an album containing all three parts of Schnee, as well as the chance of obtaining 2 of those ever-elusive tapes.

I'm already saving up