Origin: Russia
Location: Mikhaylovsk, Sverdlovsk Oblast
Formed: 2017 (as W from 2014–2017)
Status: Split‑up
Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal
Label: Zaindevevshaya Ryabina
Themes: Winter, Nature, the Urals (early); Death‑worship, Drugs, Personal Collapse (later)
Wintaar is one of the most prolific and haunting atmospheric black metal projects to emerge from Russia in the 2010s. Founded by the late WV—a restless, solitary creator whose output spanned dozens of projects—Wintaar became the central vessel for his winter‑obsessed vision. What began as the instrumental, frost‑bitten project W evolved in 2017 into Wintaar: a name that would soon be attached to an avalanche of releases, each steeped in cold melancholy, raw emotion, and the stark landscapes of the Ural region.
Winter, the Urals, and the Birth of the Wintaar Myth
The first Wintaar releases—Wintaar, Battlewinds, Nightchants, Forgotten Hymns of the Urals—established the project’s core identity: hypnotic tremolo riffs, lo‑fi production, and a deep spiritual connection to winter and the Ural forests. These albums feel like solitary wanderings through frozen valleys, shaped by WV’s instinctive, unpolished approach to composition.
2018 marked an explosion of creativity: Northernmight, Frostland, Songs of White Wilderness, Deathshine, Winter’s Curse, and more. This period is often considered the “classic” Wintaar sound—icy, melodic, mournful, and deeply atmospheric.
Darkness, Death, and Personal Descent
By 2019, Wintaar’s themes began to shift. While winter remained the dominant aesthetic, the music grew darker, more introspective, and more openly tied to WV’s personal struggles. Albums like Till Eternity, I’ll Be Buried in the North, Into Darkness We Return, and Innersorrow reveal a growing fixation on death, addiction, and emotional collapse.
2020 was another monumental year: The Revelation, Sail to the Winterdominion, Winter Worship, I Am Ruin, I Am Death, Streams of the Paleghosts, There Is No God in War, Northern Intention, and Our World Is a Grave. These works blend atmospheric black metal with depressive, ritualistic, and sometimes hallucinatory elements—reflecting a period of intense personal turmoil.
Decay, Experimentation, and Final Statements
From 2021 onward, Wintaar’s sound became increasingly varied. Some albums returned to the Urals‑focused winter aesthetic (Ice Heart of the Urals, From Darkness of Ural Forests), while others plunged into raw emotional extremity (Pain Is Every Memory, Insects in the Kingdom of Nature, Deathentrance).
2022–2023 saw WV pushing into harsher, more chaotic territory—Rabble Coven, Harshkvlt, Swansongs, Immerse Veneration, The Last One. These releases feel like both an unraveling and a final purge of everything that drove the project.
WV passed away in 2023. Posthumous material (Edict of Depravity, Splits, 2025) represents the last fragments of his immense archive.
Wintaar stands as one of the most prolific atmospheric black metal projects ever recorded—dozens of albums in under a decade, each a snapshot of WV’s inner world. His music captured winter not as a season, but as a state of being: cold, solitary, and endlessly expressive. The shift from nature‑bound mysticism to death‑obsessed introspection mirrors the arc of his life, making Wintaar not just a project, but a document of a creator burning himself into the snow.
WV – all instruments, vocals (2017–2023) (R.I.P. 2023)
Namiros – guitars (2020–2023)
E.J.C. – drums (2020–2022)
Wintaar – Full‑length, 2017
Battlewinds – Full‑length, 2017
Nightchants – Full‑length, 2017
Northernmight – Full‑length, 2018
Songs of White Wilderness – Full‑length, 2018
Till Eternity – Full‑length, 2019
I’ll Be Buried in the North – Full‑length, 2019
Into Darkness We Return – Full‑length, 2019
The Revelation – Full‑length, 2020
Winter Worship – Full‑length, 2020
I Am Ruin, I Am Death – Full‑length, 2020
Our World Is a Grave – Full‑length, 2020
Ice Heart of the Urals – Full‑length, 2021
Pain Is Every Memory – Full‑length, 2021
Deathentrance – Full‑length, 2022
Swansongs – Full‑length, 2022
Immerse Veneration – Full‑length, 2023
The Last One – Full‑length, 2023
Edict of Depravity – Full‑length, 2025 (posthumous)