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When it comes to Black Metal, I can take it all ways: epic and symphonic, necro and raw, or even when it just plain kicks you in the teeth. Sadly, Bitter Dawn do none of the above, but instead tread a lot of old ground that is so worn certain generic ancestors must be spinning in their graves. A one-man band from the US, Bitter Dawn bash through six tracks of knuckle-dragging proto-Black Metal in the Mayhem, Hellhammer, and Beherit vein, with a nod here and there to some of the style's moodier acts; only the production is so bad (and the performances so dire) that it's hard to enjoy Winterthorns for what it could be, rather than what it is: a half-arsed demo. I mean, am I missing something? Or is it pretty hard to make a shit Black Metal demo? If so, this guy has achieved more than I first thought.

Bad songs, bad execution (especially the vocals – boy howdy!), Winterthorns, in spite of the odd biting riff, deserves to spend the rest of its days as a Frisbee, or perhaps even a coaster. In fact, you've wasted your time reading this review, so check out the one for Vitsaus and their Sielunmessu album instead. There awaits an example of how to do this kind of thing right.