When gathering is no more a matter of survival, it still remains a part of human nature, serving any determined goal. When Oo’oo (pronounced ‘oo-who’), a Northern Manitoba musician and artist, created Manidoo, it was solely to unleash the northern spirits. Now, it has all the attributes of a niche label and distro, and at the same time, preserves all that makes it a real gathering, as it has been shaped since prehistoric times: a small mobile group connected by culture and natural surroundings, with its views, rituals, and sacred places.
Manidoo Gathering officially originated around the winter of 2020. Given how severe winters are in the area, with potentially six months of snow on the ground, the cold has sunk its teeth into every record the gathering’s members have produced. It is in the titles, like “Winter Maker” by Wakewaji, “In the Thralls of the Arctic Snow” by Winter Graves, in the atmosphere, or in the art that Oo’oo meticulously makes himself.
“The beginnings of Manidoo Gathering included myself and a couple of relatives, but it has since expanded to a handful of others. What unites us is our passion for black metal, ambience, and nature,” says Oo’oo.
Currently, those who shape the sound and soul of Manidoo are the aforementioned Winter Graves, as well as Zesab, Dibikimitig, Gawaji, Isputinaw, Megwayaak, Waawoono, and Wakewaji, a jam band with a rotating membership.
Sharing a deep affinity for the genre, they are among the closest to one of black metal’s essences – isolation. According to Oo’oo, this inevitable positioning is where their inspiration comes from, intensified by complex ties to the territory.
“My background is Ojibwe/Saulteaux, and its importance can’t be understated. The connections to the land and culture surrounding the area are in every sound and visual. The cover arts usually reflect where the recordings took place, i.e., Isputinaw – The Elms Arms tape cover was taken where the field recordings were collected.”
Despite the cut-off life within the big prairie the Manidoo musicians have, the hand-dubbed Canadian cassettes reach the soil of the US, Germany, Great Britain, and France, carrying their unique frost-air-bitten sound far beyond their habitat.
Although this text and the collective’s art are so infused with coldness, it is not the only natural force influencing the Manidoo’s life cycle. In 2025, the Gathering’s headquarters were destroyed by Manitoba’s wildfires.
“The HQ was owned by my uncle. I have offered to help rebuild it this summer, but he has been pretty sour about it. Hopefully soon. The Manitoba wildfires last summer were worse than ever,” Oo’oo adds.
It is wildfire season in Manitoba again. The tongues of flame ravage the lands now, with residents of Marcel Colomb First Nation (MCFN) and O-Pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation (OPCN) being evacuated. At the same time, it is the season of outdoor performances, which Isputinaw still plans and hopes to bring to life.
However vicious the natural cycle gets, the collective is no stranger to it. After all, that, too, digested and tamed, turns into those harsh and melancholic recordings you might want to listen to later. And that, too, is what makes the musicians come together. For the sake of Manidoo. For the sake of Gathering.