Westwind is a musical project from the French post-industrial scene, created by Kris G. since 1999. Over the years it has mixed influences such as Martial industrial, Post-industrial, Dark ambient, Neofolk and Neoclassical music. Westwind's 9th album, 'Despair' is more atmospheric martial industrial than anything else, although it does have its digressions. Hard to believe that in over 20 years I've never heard, nor heard of Westwind, but there's so many artists out there not getting a lot of publicity and attention that it really shouldn’t be a surprise.

In order to really get an idea of the project's progress and evolution I listened to the last couple of releases - 'Survivalism' (2014) and 'Ravage' (2010) which are both multi-disc albums, so there was a lot of material to consume. In comparison to these earlier releases, 'Despair' is definitely a step up in composition, recording and execution. Although there were some interesting tracks on the earlier albums, the sound was primitive and often didn't sound fully fleshed out. Right from the get-go on 'Despair' the music comes on strong with a good martial beat, distinct heavy chords, voices and a simple but effective theme. Westwind doesn't name any tracks on 'Despair,' just like on 'Survivalism' so I won't be doing a track-by-track analysis, however the album is 8 tracks in about 58 minutes. Although the track following the opener starts out kind of martial-electro with a prominent synth riff, it leans more towards the martial than anything else; instrumental and drum heavy, but yet with a simple melodic theme.

There is a definite sense of unease and prelude to war throughout much of the material on 'Despair,' but because (most of) the compositions aren't more specifically themed, there is a generic quality about it too. Beats and ambiences are varied from track to track and some are more complex than others but the majority of this could easily be used as the saber-rattling soundtrack to some militant video game. Then there is the noise issue, which doesn't emerge often, but when it does, you'll know it. The only song with vocals (track 6) has lyrics courtesy of Death in June's Douglas P., but I'm not familiar enough with DIJ's repertoire to know if there is any musical similarity. The final anomaly (on this album) and only other track with voice(s) on it has (sampled & echoed) ranting phrases such as "You say the sexual deviant is the problem...you say the man that hates his fellow man is the problem...you're the problem...tropical rain forest...the murderer...the taker of human life..." and so forth. I know Westwind is trying to make a socio-political statement here as all these voices are drowning in a miasma of noise, but I wouldn't ever want to hear this more than once.

Once again, compared to Westwind's earlier material, 'Despair' is streamlined and mostly on-target, a cool professional product for those who like martial-industrial. The last track was a bit off-putting though. This release is primarily on vinyl and you have to buy the record to get the CD, which has a couple of tracks that the LP doesn't. Cheapest option is digital with all 8 tracks.