For nearly twenty years now, England’s Winterfylleth has maintained a steady trajectory as one of the main flag-bearing acts for contemporary English Black Metal. They’re a band that takes a somewhat higher-fidelity, glossy approach to their brand of Blackened heralding. Known for a heavy reliance on soaring, shimmering tremolo-picked central progressions, and expansive songs that often stretch beyond seven minutes’ runtime. I’ve long thought of the sound of Winterfylleth as an audible representation of the sweeping hills and stunning country vistas of the English wilderness during a bygone historical era.
Album number nine here ‘The Unyielding Season’, was brought to my attention via the three singles that preceded its release. It was apparent to me from these initial teaser tracks that the band was gesturing their thematic inklings toward something of a rather serious nature. Perhaps it was the image of a forest engulfed in an inferno, seemingly in opposition to the more pretty and peaceful landscapes that adorn their previous cover artworks. Or perhaps the image of the lone tree at England’s Sycamore Gap that featured in a new music video that had been devastatingly felled during an act of pathetic vandalism in 2023. Either way, it was evident that Winterfylleth had a statement to make on this upcoming record.
‘The Unyielding Season’ opens to lead single ‘Heroes of a Hundred Fields’, a track that begins with the band’s typical tremolo chordal work in a blazing fashion. I enjoy the transitions in mood around the midsection towards something more triumphant-sounding and later to heavier, more chugging territory. Vocalist Chris Naughton’s lyrical meditations on the track reflect upon themes of a beautiful landscape and a rebellious battle taking place in a distant land. Track two, and second single ‘Echoes In The After’, staying true to the band’s usual technical formula, embodies a rather beautiful chord progression that carries the song throughout its six and a half minutes. For me, the album’s most major pitfall arrives over the course of the following three tracks. ‘A Hollow Existence’, ‘Perdition’s Flame’, and to a lesser extent, the title track all indulge in some quite dynamically linear songwriting, and it often feels like the band are on autopilot for stretches during this portion of the album. Winterfylleth are an act that have always relied heavily on their central, glossy tremolo guitar sound, and their persistent lack of deviation from it is the major reason for me why I’ve never truly been wowed by the band much. I still think that they’re a good group, but in regards to making dynamic, exciting, and truly unique Black Metal, their somewhat one-dimensional approach has always been a bit of a hindrance to me.
It’s just as well, then, during the second half of the record, from ‘Unspoken Elegy’ all the way to the album’s finale, the quality of the music and the pacing takes an impressive turn for the better. Unspoken Elegy offers a transitional instrumental in the form of a duet of classical guitar fingerpicking and cello. The piece is a welcome change of pace before the nine-minute ‘Towards Elysium’, a track that opens to some subtle synthy ambience before a singular guitar lead gradually draws the band back into the mix. The central progressive idea behind the track feels pretty epic, and I enjoy the calamitous lyrics regarding the passage beyond death into either an Elysian kingdom or a realm of everlasting fire. The final couple of minutes are particularly gripping, and overall, I consider this to be my favourite song on the album. This is followed by another two minute instrumental track before the album moves onto a pretty excellent and powerful cover of the Paradise Lost song ‘Enchantment’. I love how the unsettled, floating piano motif that opens the track really gives a sense of finality. The band’s sound and guitar tones really add a muscular bulk to the classic track. It’s a great closer.
For a band that I’ve long had a passing interest in, The Unyielding Season was a pleasant surprise, and, for the better part of its runtime, is amongst the best Winterfylleth albums to date. Despite the first half of the record becoming quite stale and one-dimensional after the initial two tracks, the album’s second leg is much stronger. Some of the hard-hitting deeper cuts later within the album do favours to redeem the listening experience as a whole. I’d recommend this to fans of Enslaved, Saor, and Fen.
