The Ghost of Heritage

So Candlelight have re-issued this, Winterfylleth’s debut full-length The Ghost of Heritage which whilst might be a little soon, is perfect for people such as myself who have yet to experience this band fully or people who have been struggling to get their hands on an original copy. I was immediately impressed with the stark, yet beautiful album cover, and felt it really captured the image of the British countryside well.

Winterfylleth sometimes are pegged as “English Heritage Black Metal” which isn’t a term I’ve heard thrown around much but is often associated with these guys and Wodensthrone. Their style is very much a Folk/ Pagan Black Metal sound although they cut out all the gimmicky instruments, leaving the guitar, bass, and drums to do the talking; which is how I like it best. They convey the Anglo-Saxon themes through their particularly well constructed lyrics, and back the lyrics up with some truly inspiring melodies and riffs. The production is well done for its genre, sounding a cross between the European and US schools.

As I stated before, the band convey their style and themes through their lyrics and melodies, however to further add the band include some wonderful acoustic driven tracks, as well as some choral/ chanted male vocals which particularly give off that Pagan sort of sound. The usual vocals are relatively standard for the genre, but are very well done. The riffs particularly stand out as good, especially on tracks such as “Forging the Iron of England” and “An Englishman’s Verse”. The acoustic driven tracks are as mentioned prior, superb as well, “The March To Maldon” particularly stands out doing a great job setting atmosphere early in the album.

The Ghost of Heritage was a great debut for Winterfylleth, and I’m definitely going to have to get my arse into gear and check out their sophomore effort. For anyone yet to hear this band now is the time, with this newly reissued and their second album readily available. As bonus for those picking up the reissue there are also two bonus tracks that were previously unreleased, comprising almost 20 minutes of new music - score! Fans of Wodensthrone and Forefather will definitely find something to love on The Ghost of Heritage and as an Englishman myself I do feel rather proud listening to Winterfylleth. I don’t care much for politics or monarchy, but I do love me some excellent homegrown music. Recommended!

Originally written for

Since we already have several sub-types of black metal such as National Socialist black metal (lol) or depressive/suicidal black metal, I think the Brits of Winterfylleth have established a new frontier for unnecessary labels. I'm calling this Churchill black metal; looks nice next to NSBM or DSBM, doesn't it? Anyway, Winterfylleth hails from England, and many of their lyrical themes are related to the pride and joys of being an Englishman, and although you may find labels or gimmicks about black metal humorous, Winterfylleth is not the butt of the joke. "The Ghost of Heritage," the band's first full-length release, justifies its black metal roots with Winterfylleth's sonic malevolence, somewhat layered in the vein of fellow countrymen Wodensthrone and others.

Given the lush artwork and relatively historic labels clearly relating to heritage and their home, many could accurately presume that Winterfylleth might be some sort of an anomaly compared to the usual Burzum-ish black metal band. Those moments are here, of course, but Winterfylleth consequently incorporates many outside renderings, such as pristine sprinkles of folk influence and instrumentation, mid-paced antics used for pretty much the whole album—blast beats and other traits occur too, in case the faster side of your interests are disappointed—and even male choirs make an appearance; definitely not cheesy choirs, but very authentic and meaningful chimes which all produce a somber, excellent atmosphere. Mid-paced black metal usually does little for me, but I frequently find myself deeply enjoying every part of "The Ghost of Heritage" regardless.

The general sense of cohesiveness found throughout the whole album is magnetic to every asset "The Ghost of Heritage" has to offer. The guitar parts generally match the dark, foreboding atmosphere the band tries to achieve, yet simultaneously ring in familiarities of previous black metal leaders. The climbing, epic habitats of "Forging the Iron of England" or "Defending the Realm" lead the artistic and creative talents of these Englishmen with sensational musical pieces crawling through every facet of a heroic saga with utter ease, and it's certainly fun to witness the utter dominance they emit without changing much on the musical end. "Guardian of the Herd" and "The March of Maldon" are largely folk-fused pieces, and probably my favorite tracks; the atmosphere they paint is nothing short of magical.

One could say that Winterfylleth’s interoperation of black metal isn't a riveting purge into a new world the sub-genre has yet to unearth, yet the bare essence of the musicality makes "The Ghost of Heritage" a warming listen enrapturing a number of atmospheres to do its bidding. Maybe its the lyrical themes or the natural ties Winterfylleth boasts, but the amount of care and emotion poured upon the opus is certainly a feat worth experiencing, and it doesn't hurt that the overall package has the riffs and formulas to feasibly represent the lavish landscape captured by the album's core. It would be gravely foolish of you to skip over Winterfylleth if you have even the slightest interest in black metal.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

Originally posted on my reviews-blog at www.heavymetalspotlight.com

English heritage black metal... The phrase sounds rather dry and uninteresting when there are no connotations to back it up. Bands of the subgenre, like Winterfylleth, and brothers in arms Wodensthrone provide the much needed connotations, and rather good connotations they are too. "Ghost of Heritage" is Winterfylleth's first full-length offering to the world, and it is a very interesting offering to behold.

Winterfylleth have seemingly adopted a punchy style to their music, compared to the more "epic" efforts of some of the other bands in the genre. This is evident in many of their songs. The album begins with the almost punk-like, simplistic opening riff of "Man Tor (The Shivering Mountain)", which then dissolves into a very Burzum-esque, tremolo picking filled onslaught of yummy black-metal goodness, which gives the song a very epic, melancholic feel, which the band also use to good effect on many of the other songs on the record.

The band also makes great use of very atmospheric acoustic sections, and chanted vocals in places, features which are rapidly becoming distinguishing parts of the English-heritage black-metal sound. Winterfylleth, however, in contrast to some of the other "founders" of the genre, seem to have stuck closer to "Traditional" black metal. Songs like "Casting the Runes" would not feel out of place on a release by a band like Gorgoroth. Although this may lead the band to an expanding fanbase, the generic nature of some of the albums songs could also lead to a lack of uniqueness, although most of the songs more than make up for that.

The only place in which the album is tarnished is in the vocal department. Although some of the vocals are excellent, in other places they seem a little weak, and the recording process has not been kind; The vocals seem a lot quieter than they should be, and they are drowned a little in the mix, as opposed to riding it as they should, in some of the songs.

An interesting debut, from an interesting subgenre, I give it 8/10.

Does the world truly need more pagan black metal of an Anglo-Saxon nature? Considering the small handful of bands active in this field, I'd argue that we really fucking do. And Winterfylleth slides into this niche with ample girth.

The Ghost of Our Heritage is a fairly balanced epic. Lush folk passages fuel your nostalgia, i.e. "The March to Maldon" or the entry fee to "Guardian of the Herd". But the majority of the material is mid-paced, primal black/folk metal simmering in a crunchy guitar distortion which never detracts from the cultural vibrations. Vocals are the expected snarling variety, yet there are catchy male choral interludes, and not once does the band bite off more mutton than it can chew. Not once did I find myself squirming in the awkward, dorky moments that many so-called 'folk metal' albums proliferate. And I AM a dork, so there is that...

The entire album is good...there is not a weakness to be had. From the slow, spacious thundering of "Forging the Iron of England" to the epic transgressions of "Defending the Realm", I was quite intoxicated with this debut clarion call. The album is a given for fans of Forefather or The Meads of Asphodel, but cultural black metal connoisseurs of any shore will find much to treasure. A rousing and resounding success.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Review originally posted at http://www.teethofthedivine.com by Erik Thomas

ll, Profound Lore has done it again. This time finding a self described “English Heritage Black Metal” metal trio from the UK comprised of member of Atavist and Wodensthrone.

I’ve often wondered, with our rich history, why there are not more UK bands (though Iron Age Records appears to have uncovered a few) plying metal about the many centuries of epic wars, conquest, invasions and history changing events, as Forefather seems to be the only one that immediately pops to mind. It’s also ironic that the title of the album indeed signifies England’s fading pride and heritage that was once the cornerstone of an great empire.

So here are Winterfylleth (Saxon for Wintermoon) and their style of harsh but organic black metal that culls from England’s grand past recounting great battles and imbuing both bloody fields of war as well as castles, rolling pastures and a natural beauty that still lurks in the English countryside. While certainly not traditional ‘folk’ metal, there’s a few Anglo Saxon ethnic injections here like clean chants, spoken words and some acoustics (i.e. “The March to Maldon”, “Guardian of the Herd”), and overall the vibe is more that of the more primal and raw Eastern European folk/black metal or even The Pacific Northwest’s damp black metal scene rather than the bouncy Scandinavian sound.

The guitar tone is gravelly but not too coarse, and has that organic sound and feel, as does the drums and bass. The songs themselves are based around your standard black rasp and tremolo picked black metal riffage with plenty of slower militaristic marches, its more raw and blacker like Forefather’s early days, but with a little more of a brackish, autumnal, misty feel. As with most black metal for me, The Ghost Of Heritage is more of an experience than about singular songs or moments, especially the subject matter which hits close to home (I was actually in an organization called English Heritage that went around to various historical landmarks and re-enacted historical events and did “living history’ displays). However, “Forged in the Iron of England”, “Defending the Realm” and “An Englishman’s Verse” did stir up something in me that been long dormant since my Americanization.

So with this and the likes of Krallice, Altar of Plagues, Hammers of Misfortune, The Gates of Slumber and such, 2008 is yet another stunning year for Profound Lore Records. Now bring on 2009 and that new Cobalt album!

You ask for the best of British and that’s exactly what you’ll get! Winterfylleth’s much anticipated debut, ‘The Ghost Of Heritage’ is here and ready to scare you whippersnappers into shape. When I initially covered Winterfylleth’s demo, incidentally the first piece of material they had ever written together, I was largely impressed. There wasn’t anything in particular that really stood out or grabbed my attention, but it held promise and that was enough. Anyone would think, just going by the title of ‘Rising Of The Winter Full Moon’, that the demo was just another untalented tribute to the long since dead, but not forgotten second wave of black metal. In most respects, it wasn’t and neither is this. The traditional English, or Anglo-Saxon rather, feel to the music is special and draws out a different atmospheric quality that most other records don’t have. There is no discussion of National Socialistic views, this is just a display of pride and passion in the form of a black metal celebration for one’s own heritage. I suppose that my preferential perspective of this record is somewhat based around the idea of supporting one’s own talent. By this I simply mean in support of British metal, particularly black metal, a field we’re not too well known for. Having read the thoughts of fans of Winterfylleth from far off destinations, the general consensus seems to be that this record is the first record in a long time, probably too long, that a British band has really hit the heights of the golden old days when doom and heavy metal were adopted by England in particular. Of all the places to reveal a brilliance in understanding of the black metal and English spirit, why Manchester? Then again, Manchester has a long and illustrious history with dominating musicians, but not usually in terms of metal.

Is this a traditional epic? No, its not. The lyrical themes immediately establish this record as a quintessential British slice of black metal. Of course, there are other aspects of the aesthetics that make this record remarkably divergent from the supposedly decaying scene. Winterfylleth’s lyrics, although not provided by Metal Archives, are a celebration of heritage, hence the title for this record. The lyrics display loyal qualities to the Anglo-Saxon bloodline that dominates the British Isles. As well as discussing themes of heritage, Winterfylleth also touch upon other notable, yet interesting subjects such as ‘Paganism’ and ‘Pride’. Although I do not necessarily consider the nature of the lyrics to be important in the outcome of this record, it is always interesting to get some background information on a band and consider the influences of this piece. Winterfylleth do however, despite displaying a difference in content to most black metal acts in the modern era, do serve up some nice traditional moments. There’s something about the guitars, the way in which they tend to slowly digress from the normal standards of black metal tremolo leads, that reminds me of the slow transgressing nature of doom metal, a particular favourite of the British scene. The distortion in the guitars, particularly shown on songs like ‘Forging The Iron Of England’ indicate this sense of belief in the listener that there just might be a doom metal influence on the music. Of course, despite the slow nature of some of the leads, the guitars do access fast tempos and these themselves are still, but not as quite accessible.

The slow churning nature of the instrumentation indicates the strength in the song structures. Black metal tends to pride itself of fast rhythmic sections but this record doesn’t do that. It does use double bass blast beats, it does use rasping vocals and it does use heavy distortion to display its proud stance, but it also uses melodic acoustics, clean vocals which come in different forms (including a chanted style, which conjures imagery of British battalions conquering the European landscape, or displaying the beauty of the English landscapes in subtle soundscapes) and varied tempos which, once again, distinguish it from the normal standards of the black metal genre. ‘To March To Maldon’ is a perfect example of the eloquence that this record sometimes takes on. The beauty of the acoustics, mixed in with a rather haunting atmospheric nature (plagued by the distortion, warmed to by the interesting contrasts) make this a uniquely terrifying, but unusually beautiful record. The song writing and musicianship of Winterfylleth’s creators is exceptional and excellent. The interesting contrast between the sublime and the aggressive is another outstanding aspect of this record. The guitars and percussion, which is incredibly varied in its own approach, is where the aggressive is born and the bass alongside the varied vocal work and atmospherics is where the stunning side of the soundscapes comes from, songs like ‘Brithnoth: The Battle of Maldon (991 AD)’ and ‘The Ghost of Heritage’ portray this well. An interesting take of black metal, given its interesting vibe and one for any fan of any sub-genre within black metal. Best of 2008? No, but still pretty fucking good.