Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band exceed expectations on debut, The Gravel Church
Review by Austin Sher
Formally released on April 1st, 2020, Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band far exceeded expectations in their debut album, The Gravel Church.
What do you get when you cross the ruggedness of Kristian Montgomery’s voice, a classic country feel, and an hour plus of rock and roll cohesion? You get a fantastic album and a true breath of fresh air in the resurging music genre of Country.
Montgomery takes us through his life story told through lush instrumentation, smooth production, and hard hitting lyricism that all seems to ring true with the release of The Gravel Church. Having written over half the album while serving a sentence in prison, it’s clear that Montgomery had more than enough time to put together a masterpiece and well thought out release. The opener on the album, Boston, is all you really need to hook you into listening to the rest.
Highlights off of the album that we truly enjoyed the most were Foolish Devil, Razor Wire Heart, and the emotionally charged album closer, Auld Lang Syne. As I put on my best pair of headphones to listen, I really didn’t know what I’d be getting myself into, and more importantly didn’t realize that I’d find an album that I instantly loved so much based off the first listen. I can already tell the replayability of the album is going to be high, considering there’s so much backstory to dig into.
Coming from someone as myself who doesn’t have much of a background or impressive knowledge in country music, I obviously have my stereotypes and biases. Speaking in all honesty now though, this has broken that. Country music isn’t so much what’s being spoken or sung about, but the emotions evoked that can really tie up an album or song together. It emotionally brings you to a place of reflection and is almost as if you’re reading a non-fiction novel as to what happened in this particular person’s life. For that reason, I’ve instantly become a fan of Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill Band and fully endorse the release of their debut, The Gravel Church.
For all information and how to listen, please visit the band’s Bandcamp page by clicking here: https://kristianmontgomeryandthewinterkillband.bandcamp.com/releases
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