It’s been six long years since WINTERFYLLETH released an all out black metal album. 2018 saw an acoustic/folk based effort entitled The Hallowing Of Heirdom. The result of this time off has been nothing less than a complete reinvigoration of the band; The Reckoning Dawn is the best album WINTERFYLLETH has ever done.
This is blurry, high speed black metal at its absolute peak. The pace is relentless, but the songs are full of emotion and majesty. Listening to this album, I experienced shades of rage, sadness, defiance and pride. The riffing reaches back to the dawn times of Albion and has a feeling of ancientness to it.
I could see Saxons and Celts clashing as ‘Absolved Of Fire’ and ‘A Greatness Undone’ blaze with blackened fury. The vocals are predominantly harsh, but WINTERFYLLETH know where to inject melodic clean male group chants at just the right time, to give an extra feeling of pride and antiquity to the songs.
It’s pretty much impossible for me to pick a favorite here, as the quality is remarkably consistent across all 8 tracks. This is something new for WINTERFYLLETH as well. If I had to go out on a limb, I’d pick ‘A Hostile Fate (Wayfarer Pt. 4)’ as the best of the lot. The riffs here are just amazing.
A fantastic return to form for WINTERFYLLETH, The Reckoning Dawn will surely be in my top 10 of 2020 list!
Review By: Dr. Abner Mality
WINTERFYLLETH
The Reckoning Dawn
Spinefarm / Candlelight
5.5 / 6