INTERVIEW: Chris Naughton – Winterfylleth

WINTERFYLLETH are one of the leading names in the UK black metal scene. Since their inception in 2007, the band have become a prominent player through a series of stunning albums and countless excellent live performances. This year saw the release of the band’s sixth effort, The Hallowing of Heirdom. Completely acoustic and pushing their folk influence to the forefront, their new album explores a side to WINTERFYLLETH that usually hides in the background of their distorted riffing. Prior to the album’s release, we spoke with vocalist/guitarist Chris Naughton to get the lowdown on their new album including its origins, themes and creative process alongside having a wider discussion about the relationship between black metal and politics and man’s responsibilities for the Earth. 

What spurred the decision to do an entirely acoustic album?

Chris: I think it’s always been in the back of our minds that WINTERFYLLETH could do an acoustic album and that it could make sense as part of our discography, but it probably wasn’t until about 2015 that we started talking about doing it seriously. Nick and I were writing a lot of acoustic material together at the time and had thought about maybe recording it as an EP, just under our own names or something like that. But the more time went on, and the more we thought about it, the more to made sense for us to expand upon the ideas we were coming up with, and to involve the other guys in doing it as a WINTERFYLLETH album. As it turns out, it came at quite a good time for us, in that we were all in a similar state of mind, particularly Dan (our lead guitar player) who had also been working on his solo, WOLCENSMEN album Songs from the Fyrgen – that happens to be in a similar vein. So, given that we were all in the right head space for it, we put our minds to it, under the guise of WINTERFYLLETH and spent just over two years writing it and then recording it.

I think, going into this album, we knew that we were stepping out of our comfort zones as writers and performers, so we really put the time and effort into it creating every aspect of this album. Primarily to make sure that it stood up to our metal albums and was just as emotional, moving or passionate as anything we’d ever done before. But also because we genuinely believed that we could make something great in this style. In some ways, it feels like we’ve gone out on a limb here – as I’m sure this record has the potential to be divisive within our fan base. But, it also feels like a natural step for us to take, given we’ve always put material like this on our albums before. Even if it was never in an expansive way. Also, given that some of our favourite bands like ULVER, DRUDKH and EMPYRIUM have made great and credible albums in this sphere, it doesn’t feel like a wildly leftfield leap for a black metal band to take when coming up with an album.

How far did Dan Capp’s work under WOLCENSMEN influence the album?

Chris: Not a lot really, as they started up as quite separate things. It almost goes without saying that Dan was a key addition to the writing of the new WINTERFYLLETH album, but we actually started working on it in an unknowing parallel to Dan working on his WOLCENSMEN project. Dan had been working on versions of WOLCENSMEN songs and demos for a few years before he joined WINTERFYLLETH, while Nick and I had also been doing something similar with WINTERFYLLETH, even before the last metal album The Dark Hereafter. So, while Dan’s writing ability and instincts have obviously helped to craft what the WINTERFYLLETH album has become, we didn’t decide to do it as a result of WOLCENSMEN.

The song titles and thematic focus seem to return to the Anglo-Saxon heritage focus of earlier albums like Threnody of Triumph and its predecessors. Was this a conscious decision to return to those themes and ideas, or was it more of an organic decision given the acoustic folk music being written?

Chris: There isn’t that much about Anglo-Saxon history specifically on this album as it turns out. Its more wide-reaching and deals with other elements of British lore such as riddles, odes, rhymes and folk tales. So, slightly more modern history than some of the Saxon poetry we’ve used in the past. Interestingly we’ve used elements pastoral poetry in some songs this time around, like the first track on the album, The Shepherd. The Shepherd is based on a poem called The Passionate Shepherd To His Love by Christopher Marlowe from 1593, which is one of the earliest examples of English Pastoral poetry. It is often studied by English Literature students and is quite a uniquely British type of verse, referencing views of pastoral idyll and a heartfelt love for the natural world. The words are used to create a private, flawless vision of rural life within the context of personal emotion and seem to profess romanticism for elements of the natural world. I think these kinds of sentiments echo our own feelings of romanticism for the natural world and instil a deeper feeling that it is a thing worth saving, rather than exploiting.

There is also a companion song to this one on the album, called The Nymph which is a poem by Walter Raleigh called The Nymph’s Reply To The Shepherd which is a line for line rebuttal of the The Shepherd. It’s a slightly sarcastic, take on the pastoral romanticism of the opening track and provides a deeper look into the somewhat jaded and sarcastic nature of British humour, and was an interesting companion song to the opener. It was performed by Angela Deeks, who is Mark’s wife and also a very talented stage performer in her own right. It was also a nice change from the mostly male voices on the album, and was fitting for a track which is supposed to be the words of a female field nymph replying to a Male shepherd.

Where does WINTERFYLLETH’s interest in Anglo-Saxon heritage arise from? And why Anglo-Saxon in particular over, say, Celtic or Viking?

Chris: The interest in it originally rose from the fact that it’s one of the earliest well-documented periods of British history, yet is one that is less well known and taught in UK schools, or spoken about in social discourse etc. There are some amazing works and literature from that period of time that just seem to go by unnoticed, that we wanted to use them as reference points and inspiration for the lyrics. In one way because they are deep and beautiful, and in another because they are a window into the people who were the forebears of our islands, and got us all to where we are. While Celtic and Viking history is interesting and also relevant to the fate of the British Isles, I think its fair to say that it has been done to death by lots of bands, and is often a more cartoonish reflection of history in popular culture than say the Anglo Saxon period. Plus, we live in chaotic political times of such revisionist history and of outright propaganda, through Europe particularly, that it’s important to take things back to the source material in some ways and try and see through it all and inspire others to do the same. I think that our distaste for revisionism and for the media led, social narrative we seem to be bombarded with all the time is part of the reason we wanted to try and tell our own truths with WINTERFYLLETH. It’s a great platform through which to do so and is all based on source material that others can reference if they are interested.

Has your interest in early medieval history informed the love of nature that you often focus on – thinking of songs like Resting Tarn or Green Cathedral or Whisper of the Elements – or is that a separate matter?

Chris: For me the two things aren’t mutually exclusive, but I think the focus on nature and the natural world mostly runs in parallel with the interest in history. It’s fair to assume that having an interest in history and the fate of our islands has obvious links to nature. Particularly in that the landscape and the geography of the natural world has put (and does put) constraints on world leadership decisions, and has dictated how nations prosper or decline – even to this day. If ever you needed any more evidence of that, the book called Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall frames that beautifully. So, in that context, history and nature are very closely linked.

For WINTERFYLLETH however, we discuss nature more in the sense that we are all tied to nature and landscapes, even if some of us don’t ever consider it. If the natural world fails, or becomes even more frail than it already is, then we all suffer. Without espousing endless platitudes about it, it’s obvious to anyone that has even a cursory thought about it, that humanity plunders the natural world for selfish gains every single day. For all our political wrangling and divisions between people, the most important thing for all of us is that we don’t ruin our planet. Everything else is superfluous if that happens. As you can’t argue about Brexit, or Foreign Policy or housing if you’re struggling to feed everyone or can’t breathe the air. And that is something that transcends class and social strata. We talk about it to try and get people to think about it and appreciate it. We all know from our own lives that its often difficult to lift our heads from the grindstone and consider anything other than our immediate circumstances. So, I’d like to think in some small way that the WINTERFYLLETH albums are an excuse, or a pause, to reflect on that and do so – maybe with a view to people living slightly differently as a result.

Coming back to the original point. That general area of thought is where songs like Whisper of the Elements, or Green Cathedral come from. A writer friend of ours called Ben Myers said it best in his ode to the Green Cathedral on our last album The Dark Hereafter:

“The Green Cathedral is that unsanctified space to be found where the street ends.

It is the moors, the mountains, the marshes. It is a place where tangled roots run deep into the soil of the past and branches stretch up into an unknown future. It is the tarns, the screes and the woodlands, where water carves a way, foxes bloody their mottled mauls and nesting ravens watch on from their tree-top eyries.

The Green Cathedral transcends politics or religion. It is beyond borders and boundaries. Its doors are open to all who have the capacity to stop and look and listen to their breath. To feel their heart beating in their chest. To taste the salt of a lone trickling bead of sweat.

For too long man has tried to tame, maim and colonise the landscape. Now is the time to realise we are just visitors. To find beauty in nature and holiness in our surroundings – to worship it as others slavishly worship fictional deities – is our only hope of preventing total environmental disaster. We all must seek out our own Green Cathedrals and go there.

Beneath the pavement… soil. The worms await us”.

Looking at the wider world, the resurgence of far-right politics in Europe and the West has brought about a closer examination of similar politics in black metal as a whole. What do you think about this wider scrutiny, and do you agree that it is a necessary undertaking?

Chris: I think it’s a very loaded question to ask, particularly as there is patently so much extremity at either end of our left/right wing political spectrum, be that in bands, or in campaigning/lobbying, or just in life generally, that it’s almost laughable if it wasn’t having such an impact on social discourse. The lines seem to have become so blurred in recent times, the further left or right one chooses to lean, that I’m not sure most people even know who the ‘good guys’ are anymore. Or even if either side are. I also think that the prevailing social justice narrative seems to have taken well intentioned initiatives like political correctness or inclusiveness and turned them in tools for shutting down free speech, for derailing public discourse and for stymying opinion. So, for me, it is certainly multifaceted and complex topic to answer.

Also, when we spoke on the phone about this, you framed this question more from the perspective that it was networks of Journalists and the Press specifically being the people propagating that examination, behind the scenes – for better or worse. So, I will paraphrase what I said to you then with this topic in mind. There is a really nice quote from the American Historian (and Pulitzer Prize Winner) Doris Kearns Goodwin that states: “Journalism still, in a democracy, is the essential force to get the public educated and mobilized to take action on behalf of our ancient ideals”. I think we would all, at our core, wish for that to be true, and I believe some journalists still hold that frame of mind as sacrosanct when approaching their work. I personally think that the issue of “examining politics in music” as its stands today is best framed by wider observations that see increasingly insidious political agendas permeating our press (of all levels) in recent years. It’s clear to me that it’s almost like some publications are actively looking to push biased, political agendas, of either “wing” to people over and above the neutral facts of a case; and, that subjective, often misinformed, opinion is becoming more important than factual truth.

I’m not sure whether that is because the individuals involved truly believe themselves to be justified in doing so, or maybe it’s just so they can appear to be “right on” to their contemporaries on Twitter about certain issues. Or maybe it’s something else. Either way I think it’s a slippery slope we are on where publications (or key figures within publications) think they have the right to dictate what is and isn’t ‘acceptable’ for everybody else. It also feels like they have such a personal entitlement in this regard they seem to need to try and occupy and police social discourse, music, politics and policy making as though they are the sole source of truth and goodness in the world. It was the English Poet Siegfried Sassoon that once said “I am a soldier, convinced that I am acting on behalf of soldiers”, and I believe that seems to frame this entitlement shown by these types of people.

Opinion is after all subjective and biased, and often based on our personal circumstances and heartfelt values. We seem to have lost the ability within discourse to critically think about that and assess issues properly – ahead of being the first person to spout an opinion on a topic. Yet many in the press would have you believe that their views are so interwoven with the fabric of society that it is beyond reproach to disagree with them. When in reality we need to create compromise and cohesion amongst groups people if we are to tackle the truly important issues of our time (like the destruction of the natural world for example), rather than trying to police one another’s perspectives on issues we don’t agree with. I think the current situation in music is just a trickledown effect of that wider issue. Now, its fair to say that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and that political extremities arise when their mirror image gains traction. Those interested in politics would be wise to scrutinise both ends of that political spectrum, with that in mind. But, do I think this needs to happen in black metal specifically? Certainly not unless the bands in question actively and hatefully promote certain strands of politics through their lyrics, image and most importantly, real world actions. Witch-hunting within a musical genre that is built upon flair and extremity is probably just naive and destructive. So many would do well to consider this before putting pen to paper on certain issues.

I think this level of entitlement (to control the social narrative and discourse) has grown to critical mass; to the point where people are actively looking to shut down people’s platforms to perform or to speak in public, because they hold different views. To my mind, doing that has been shown not to work in the wider political regimes of recent history, and only serves to drive things underground, or to conflict. We seem to be forcing people into corners in politics at the moment, when what we really need is a measured voice to bring both sides together. We should be looking to engage with people and understand their perspectives to reach an accord, rather than try to tackle them with violence and slander. Ultimately, I think it reflects poorly on us as modern humanity and I worry that the forebears of democracy would turn in their graves if they saw what we were doing with it today. Thus, we ask that very question in the title track of our new album – “So who are we now? A horde of their ghosts? Or oaks that were acorns, from the trees of their hopes”. I think we could all do to reflect on that and examine how things are going with a more collaborative, rather than destructive viewpoint.

Moving back to the album, will you be taking the whole thing on the road along with similar songs from your earlier works and One and All Together For Home for An Evening with WINTERFYLLTH?

Chris: Yes, we have a few album release shows coming up over the next few weeks. The first is on release day in Manchester, at Chetham’s Library on April 6th and the second is a week later at St Pancras Old Church in London on April 13th. We will be play a mixture of old and new acoustic material from across our discography, with a focus on the new album as you would expect. With the shows being in such special locations, we are hoping to provide the audiences with a special and unique event in both cases, and hope to be able to take the shows on the road at the end of the year.

Lastly, if someone could see into your soul, which songs, albums, or artists would they find there?

Chris: That’s problematic, because I buy lots of music across a few genres.

Black metal – DRUDKH, ENSLAVED, HATE FOREST, PRIMORDIAL, THE RUINS OF BEVERAST, WINDSWEPT, ULVER , HAVUKRUUNU and WHOREDOM RIFE.

Doom metal – EVOKEN, COLOSEEUM, CORRUPTED, WARNING, SWALLOW THE SUN, ESOTERIC & SHAPE OF DESPAIR.

Death metal – BOLT THROWER, HAIL OF BULLETS, IMMOALTION, SULPHUR AEON, NAPALM DEATH, FALLUJAH, MORBID ANGEL & GRAVE MIASMA

Ambient/electronic – STARS OF THE LID, CARBON BASED LIFEFORMS, ULF LOHMANN, THOR PHIEFFER & MAX WURDEN

The Hallowing of Heirdom is out now via Candlelight/Spinefarm Records.

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