ALBUM REVIEW: Winterfylleth – The Threnody of Triumph

Winterfylleth – The Threnody of Triumph

by Rich Price

Black metal itself as a genre has always been closely tied to the landscapes. The scene so monopolised by the Norwegians whose corpse paint, and B&W imagery is firmly rooted in the stark black and white winter landscapes of a Norwegian winter.

Whilst Winterfylleth’s music is as bleak and biting as the best Norse offering, they root themselves in English heritage and the legends and saga’s of old Albion. They’re named after the name given by the venerable Bede in the 8^th century to the full moon which marks the beginning of winter in what is now the month of October.

So, it’s a full moon, its October, the autumn leaves are scattered across the ground and winter has indeed begun to fylleth. I’m sat here staring at the breathtaking northern landscape of Mam-tor (whose name graced a song on their 2008 release ‘the ghost of heritage’). So it seems fairly apt that I put my headphones on, nudge a sheep* out of the way and record my thoughts on their latest release ‘Threnody of triumph’.

Threnody of triumph as the name suggests is a lament to past glories, a wistful and bleak sonic soundscapes which truly captures the epic landscapes it hopes to describe. They’ve very obviously worked hard on their use of melody as a means to tell their tales, and the increase in production quality allows greater definition of their panoramic old English soundscapes.

Songs like the opener ‘A thousand winters’ and ‘The glorious Plain’ are often furious as though caught in the triumph of battle the title allures to. The militaristic relentless blast beats evoke a sense of chaos and bloodshed, in stark but effective contrast to the sparse and haunting guitar melodies which bring a sense of torment and regret.

‘The Swart Raven’ has a mammoth opening, grandiose atmosphere, a veritable Hadrian’s wall of sound driven on relentlessly by the pummelling blast beats, and tremolo guitars which briefly gives way halfway through to chanting vocals building up to an epic finale which again thrusts us fearlessly back into ancient bloodshed.

Tracks like ‘Æfterield-fréon’ a measured and rich acoustic piece which grows into ‘A memorial’, another faster track on the album. It’s difficult not to imagine a scene from the days of Albion with the angles, Saxons, Jutes and Danes all vying for power in bloodthirsty battle. The ever present precision blast beats almost giving rise to the illusion you were taking a helicopter tour over the battlefield itself.

‘The fates of souls after death’ is an unrelenting cacophony of truly great black metal, which is followed by the instrumental of almost classical guitar work which is an unexpected but very real highlight of the album, and showcases the development in musicianship.

The title track ‘Threnody of triumph’ is also the album closer and is a very pleasing mixture of many of the themes throughout the entire album. Starting once again at full on blast beat laden black metal which Winterfylleth do so very well, and after a great building journey finishing on a rich acoustic guitar passage.

The whole album is a high quality piece of music, which really captures your imagination from start to finish. An album to be listened to in its entirety, it is almost redundant to try and pick any individual highlights with such a solid offering: once you start listening barring a major emergency you’ll listen to the whole thing without a doubt.

For absolute maximum effect take headphones and music player and get yourself out there into some English heritage and see just how perfectly this music fits the surroundings.

9/10

Track listing:

1. A Thousand Winters 7.36

2. The Swart Raven 7.48

3. Æfterield-fréon’ 1.55

4. A memorial 6.52

5. The Glorious Plains 6.25

6. A Soul Unbound 8.17

7. Void of Light 5.23

8. The Fate of Souls After Death 7.15

9. Home is Behind 3.10

10. The Threnody of Triumph 8.50

*Disclaimer: No sheep were actually nudged during the production of this review

Winterfylleth on metalgigs (links to site, facebook etc)

Candelight records website

Buy from Plastic Head Distribution: CD, VINYL 

Previous live reviews and photos of Winterfylleth:

at Bloodstock 2012 here, supporting Primordial here, at Candlefest here, at Seven Churches festival here

Winterfylleth are yet another reason to make it to this years Damnation Festival.  Winterfylleth will play along with Electric Wizard, Pig Destroyer, My Dying Bride and many more at Leeds university on 2nd November. Tickets are priced at just £32.00, are on sale now and can be purchase here.