Review Summary: Naturalistic black metal mastery.
Since their debut, “The Ghost of Heritage”, Winterfylleth have grown to become masters of a stem of black metal, in under a decade, which focuses on captivating the soul, rather than obliterating it. And as sonic enchanters of the majestic essence of English landscapes, that are bonded with a strong sense of ancestry, and delivered with gracious malice, they are essentially the younger, English cousins of Emperor and Primordial.
The concluding reception with each release from Winterfylleth is generally that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” With their fifth album, “The Dark Hereafter”, there isn’t really much different alongside their previous work: the picturesque album artwork, the recognisable flow of streaming tremolo picking and the vivid lyricism are a few features that remain unchanged by the band.
But once you pierce the familiarities of Winterfylleth’s identifiable sound, a number of fresh attributes will materialise. One obvious example of this is the album closer, ‘Led Astray in the Dark Forest’, which is a cover of Ulver’s ‘Capitel I : I Troldskog Faren Vild’ from “Bergtatt”. Not only do Winterfylleth do an admirable job of recreating the soulfulness of the original, but it also serves as an opportunity for Chris Naughton to sing clean vocals, a first for Winterfyellth, which brings a satisfyingly pure and subtle ending to the album.
The title track and opener instantly sets an apocalyptic scene. At just over four minutes, there isn’t much time to expand on their sounds but Winterfylleth opt to focus on their strengths and execute an onslaught of frantic, yet composed, riffing complete with Naughton’s suitably icy screams: this is as straightforward as Winterfylleth get. ‘Ensigns of Victory’ and ‘Pariah’s Path’ follow a similar pattern but they both are longer than the title track so there is more room for the sonic space to be expanded. The former track traverses through a variety of emotions, ranging from the noble beginning to previously trodden passages of darker and commanding paths, and within this cacophony of desperate sounding atmospherics, the vocals do not get buried in the mixing; a void where a lot of black metal bands stumble into.
The centrepiece of “The Dark Hereafter” comes in the shape of the 13 minute ‘Green Cathedral’. It’s an oceanic piece of music in terms of expansiveness and rhythmic diversity which completely transports you to desolate fields by way of the slow, tranquil opening to dense forests- places where you can get lost searching through the passionate melodies of Dan Capp’s guitars and Simon Lucas’s focused drumming. Towards the final few minutes of the song, Winterfylleth create cinematic visions when Mark Deek’s keyboards give way to lamenting chants and regal black metal rhythms.
Similarly to Behemoth, Winterfylleth have grown from the roots of the underground metal scene and are now scratching the surface of mainstream acclaim. “The Dark Hereafter” exemplifies black metal’s ability to captivate the soul and is simply, the band's best work yet.
