Winterfylleth – The Threnody of Triumph (2012)

With the same power and intensity of bands like Primordial, today we have Winterfylleth and their highly anticipated third release “The Threnody of Triumph”. After re-releasing their debut masterpiece earlier this year, “The Ghost of Heritage”, through their current label Candlelight Records, the band is ready to return with yet another excellent release. Everybody that claims to play Black Metal with atmospheric elements should take a page of the Winterfylleth book since they manage to create very furious songs that suddenly change 180 degrees and blow you away with some brilliant atmospheric stuff, the best example is the opener track “A Thousand Winters”.

Furiously blasting through tracks like “The Swart Raven”, “A Memorial”, and “The Glorious Plain”, the band will decimate your ears with their uniquely crafted wall of sound created by the distorted guitars and greatly complemented by the majestic drumming. This sound is greatly enhanced by the occasional keyboard hints here and there and it gets elevated through the excellent clean vocals the band throws around.

A clear example of the band’s great ability to sound extreme and yet melodic at the same time is the perfectly crafted “A Soul Unbound”. Here we have powerful riffs, but a very mellow tempo that allows the vocals to give out their aggression but is nicely offset by the atmosphere of the song. At times this UK band reminds us of some of our favorite, and less known, Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal bands like Sad Legend, old Avec Tristesse, and Thurisaz, due to the exciting balance of atmosphere, melody and direct aggression through the vocals.

Perfectly carving a niche for them, Winterfylleth can satisfy both the kvlt Black Metal people and the more relaxed Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal fans. “The Threnody of Triumph” is a clear improvement over the band’s previous releases and should not be missed by anybody. Each of the ten tracks in this release is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat since while you might know the core sound of the band, this release still has some surprises behind its back.

Release: September 10th, 2012

Genre: Melodic/Atmospheric Black Metal

Country: UK