Great Stone War

Personnel: Mitch Lucker (vocals); Nick P., Nick E. (guitar).
Audio Mixer: Tue Madsen.
Recording information: Big Fish Studios, Encinitas, CA (05/2009); Sound Temple Studios, Rancho Cucamonga, CA (05/2009).
Belying their Southern Californian provenance with a deadly brew of extreme, Nordic-inspired metallic fury, Winds of Plague specialize in a head-kicking, stentorian sound that's melds symphonic metal and deathcore. Their sophomore album, THE GREAT STONE WAR (2009), continues the blend of continental and stateside influences that defined their 2008 debut, DECIMATE THE WEAK. A finely honed yet relentless blitzkrieg of blast-beats, thrashing riffs, and lead singer Johnny Plague's "Cookie Monster" gutturalisms, contrasted with nearly Classical-sounding orchestral and keyboard textures, THE GREAT STONE WAR injects some much needed life into an increasingly hidebound metal scene.