WINTERFYLLETH
Winterfylleth’s position has been firmly established since day one. Their beautiful album covers stand in direct opposition to the dark forests that graced the covers of many a black metal album. They forewent the mandatory homages to the horned one and, instead, shriek of English heritage with an eye to raising awareness of the rich mythology of England’s shores amongst the blackened mass. And in eschewing the liveries of black metal, they significantly reduced the distance between evil envoy and audience and so were able to establish a more direct relationship with the “common man” and impart their message. After all, pseudonyms, corpsepaint, leather, and spikes don’t exactly scream, “Come! Let us join hands and rejoice in the many legends of our lineage!” do they? A fantastic work, their debut ‘The Ghost of Heritage’ got many a tongue wagging, and their sophomore, ‘The Mercian Sphere’, saw the band remain true to their aim and make significant steps in the way of establishing themselves as a focal point, as heralds even, of the British black metal scene.
With debate and controversy remaining close bedfellows, here we are with album number three and as has become tradition it seems, again we have just the music and that contentious message. Blighty’s history, its ancestry, its folklore, and its landscape again pervade the epic compositions that are as noble and majestic, as heroic and proud, and as emotive and rhetorical as the most pious and persuasive patriot. Winterfylleth have again moved from strength to strength, the harsh black metal core suffuses the album’s sonic extremities as much as it does the gentler acoustic and choral passages. As melodic as it is stirring, this is remarkable from start to finish and sure to perpetuate mass debate, not just about Winterfylleth’s political leanings, but also what it is to be English (cue ‘Jerusalem’), and what it means to be an English black metal band. If you considered the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony to be no more than propaganda that constructed rather than represented Britain’s subjects, ‘The Threnody of Triumph’ will be right up your tributary. Oh, and a ‘Threnody’ – if you haven’t Googled it already – is a hymn or poem composed and performed as a memorial to a dead person. A hymn to dead triumph? I see the debate continuing, but isn’t that what art is supposed to do?
With debate and controversy remaining close bedfellows, here we are with album number three and as has become tradition it seems, again we have just the music and that contentious message. Blighty’s history, its ancestry, its folklore, and its landscape again pervade the epic compositions that are as noble and majestic, as heroic and proud, and as emotive and rhetorical as the most pious and persuasive patriot. Winterfylleth have again moved from strength to strength, the harsh black metal core suffuses the album’s sonic extremities as much as it does the gentler acoustic and choral passages. As melodic as it is stirring, this is remarkable from start to finish and sure to perpetuate mass debate, not just about Winterfylleth’s political leanings, but also what it is to be English (cue ‘Jerusalem’), and what it means to be an English black metal band. If you considered the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony to be no more than propaganda that constructed rather than represented Britain’s subjects, ‘The Threnody of Triumph’ will be right up your tributary. Oh, and a ‘Threnody’ – if you haven’t Googled it already – is a hymn or poem composed and performed as a memorial to a dead person. A hymn to dead triumph? I see the debate continuing, but isn’t that what art is supposed to do?
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Candlelight Records
Album
THE THRENODY OF TRIUMPH
Review by Jason Guest
RUNNING TIME:
65:00
RELEASE DATE:
10th Sept 2012
TRACK LISTING
1) A Thousand Winters
2) The Swart Raven
3) Æfterield-Fréon
4) A Memorial
5) The Glorious Plain
6) A Soul Unbound
7) Void of Light
8) The Fate of Souls After Death
9) Home is Behind
10) The Trenody of Triumph
2) The Swart Raven
3) Æfterield-Fréon
4) A Memorial
5) The Glorious Plain
6) A Soul Unbound
7) Void of Light
8) The Fate of Souls After Death
9) Home is Behind
10) The Trenody of Triumph
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
UK
"If you considered the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony to be no more than propaganda that constructed rather than represented Britain’s subjects, ‘The Threnody of Triumph’ will be right up your tributary."
