Winterfylleth: Begotten, In Unending Light

For black metal fans here in the UK, WINTERFYLLETH should need no introduction. The outfit, led by front man Chris Naughton, is largely responsible for leading the vanguard of UK black metal in the late 2000s. But their importance goes beyond igniting the spark that saw the UK black metal scene explode with talent – it may sound simple, but the bare bones of it is WINTERFYLLETH are just a bloody great band. Releasing new albums like clockwork, dominating the scene and making their presence felt on an international level, the Englishmen are one of the UKs hottest commodities in any heavy genre. Now they are back, revitalised from the album cycle for the acoustic folk departure of The Hallowing of Heirdom – and there is no stopping them.

“I think we learned a lot from that record, to be honest. When it kind of comes to The Reckoning Dawn, it definitely pushed us in a few different directions,” Naughton comments on the influence the experience of The Hallowing of Heirdom had on their newest record. “It started out as playing around with the idea that we could make a credible English folk album, and it wouldn’t be too much of a deviation from the atmosphere of the black metal side of us, but trying to create that atmosphere in different ways. Rather than having a wall-of-noise guitar sound, the extreme vocals and the heavy drums, we could capture that atmosphere but bring it into the acoustic music. That necessitated writing differently than we were ever used to. Bringing that to the new album, we definitely needed to think more about composition, and how to add the guitar to compliment things in a different way, how to add melody and actually keyboards for the first time on this album. We wanted to be thinking about the composition in a way that bolsters the atmosphere rather than maybe competing with it like perhaps it has at times before.”

This integration of the style WINTERFYLLETH created on The Hallowing of Heirdom has worked wonders. Though the band have always been exciting, and incredible songwriters, by the time their last heavy album, The Dark Hereafter, came around, things were getting a little bit predictable. The Reckoning Dawn flips the formula on its head, however, and stands as arguably their best release to date because of it. But while there’s plenty of sonic evolution, one theme of WINTERFYLLETH remains constant: the lyrical foundation. As ever, The Reckoning Dawn takes current issues and relates them back to Anglo-Saxon history – and the ground covered here is enormous.

“With the album title, it was broadly born of an observation that the world is becoming quite politically and socially polarised in recent years, maybe more so than ever actually. That polarisation has definitely led to a noticeable, tangible underlying tension between opposite sides of this argument about who is right. And if you look at it with an independent set of eyes, it seems to occur almost in the absence of objective reality,” Naughton reflects, detailing the underlying inspiration for the lyrics of the record. “In terms of The Reckoning Dawn, the idea would be that the reckoning will be some kind of metaphorical reckoning, either of the mind as this polarised war of ideas is won or lost, or maybe even a physical reckoning, you know, where, where perhaps civil unrest has led to some kind of resolution.”

So that’s the base inspiration – but how does that link into WINTERFYLLETH’s tried and tested theme of Anglo-Saxon history? “If you look at all those old texts and prose, it’s really interesting when you relate some of it back to the modern world and see beneath the flowery language to what’s actually going on. You can really relate to some of those things, like the very strict religious doctrine, the influence that the priests and the Church had on the ruling of society and law.” Explains Naughton on the metaphorical link between the troubles of today and the issues of the past. “Equally, you can look at things like the battles and relate that to what’s going on today. Even though the battles we face in the modern world are not often physical battles, lots of the time they’re wars of ideas and wars of ideals. I was interested in exploring some of that and creating lyrics that could be related back to specific things in the modern world.”

But The Reckoning Dawn isn’t entirely metaphor and allegory – there are some very specific stories there that lend themselves to this overarching theme. Most notably, perhaps, is that of the opening track, Misdeeds of Faith. Here, Naughton tells the tale of the downfall of a protagonist blinded by religious fanaticism.

“Essentially, it’s a reflection on how people do crazy things for their faith. It’s not aimed at any particular group, it’s more about the compulsion that people of extreme faith of any kind have to do things in the name of their faith to be considered among the favoured ones at Judgement Day. You can see that in the draconian laws in America that put religious dogma above female health care or in the acts of terror we’ve seen,” Naughton explains, detailing the background of the opening track. “The lyrics flow through the unnamed protagonist of the tale doing something crazy in the name of their religion, a misdeed of their faith if you like. In the end, the lyrics speak of how the person in question wants to be considered amongst their God’s favoured ones. It speaks to that strange blind faith that many people in the world have to varying degrees. As good as religions can be for social cohesion, equally they’ve done a lot of harm over the years.”

But this is just one example of the lyrical brilliance of The Reckoning Dawn, and, frankly, days could be spent delving into the allegorical majesty of WINTERFYLLETH’s lyrical works. Lyrics have always been an important aspect of the English black metallers, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon. But WINTERFYLLETH’s importance stretches further than as simply an excellent band with excellent lyrics – few could argue they have been the cornerstone of the UK black metal scene.

“I think UK black metal as a concept only really started around the time WINTERFYLLETH, FEN, WODENSTHRONE and a few other bands started. For a few years it was us and nobody else really, but post-2011 lots of other bands started to show up and ever since then it’s grown exponentially,” Naughton reflects on the UK black metal scene, and WINTERFYLLETH’s part in the early formation of the scene. “I’m also really proud of the fact that, not just us but all of those early bands, gave UK black metal some level of credibility. Before us, I don’t think UK black metal had any presence on an international scale, I think it was always seen as a bit of a joke to some extent, and never as a serious artform.”

The Harrowing of Heirdom may have been a bittersweet release for those wanting more of the same from WINTERFYLLETH, but The Reckoning Dawn heralds a return to brutality that is more than worth the four year wait since their last black metal album. Raise the banners, and assemble the shield-walls, ‘cause WINTERFYLLETH are on the warpath – and they won’t be stopped.

The Reckoning Dawn is out now via Candlelight Records. 

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