Album Review - Winterfylleth - The Unyielding Season (Napalm Records, 2026)
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Written: 21st March 2026
Celebrating their twentieth year, Winterfylleth, along with bands such as Fen and Saor have long flown the flag for (atmospheric) black metal in the UK. With the release of The Unyielding Season, the quintet celebrate being on a new label – Napalm Records – but also welcome a new bassist - Mark Doyle - following the departure of long-time member Nick Wallwork. In the band’s words, "In many ways, The Unyielding Season is a reflection on – and a rebellion against – the turmoil’s and fears that are tearing the lives of many individuals apart. It is a cry against the unsustainable and constant weight of malevolence and pressure being pushed into the world by agents of an un-resting and unyielding force for evil.”
With Heroes of a Hundred Fields, Winterfylleth waste no time in going on the attack. It is an unrelenting track that is one of several here that shows how storytelling has increasingly become part of the band’s arsenal over recent releases. They state, “Heroes of a Hundred Fields is framed in a wartime, battlefield setting and uses the premise of soldiers coming together to fight against a foe who are powerful, oppressive, and domineering. It talks about how people should come together and fight for the freedoms they have and not succumb to those who would attack them and try to weaken them (or take them away entirely).” As with much of Winterfylleth’s work, powerful black metal riffs from Chris Naughton and Russell Dobson are supplemented by the arresting synths of Mark Deeks. They have always been able to conjure seductive atmospheres and Heroes of a Hundred Fields is no exception. A section that begins about four and a half minutes in has the feeling of a band of soldiers charging across a battlefield in commanding unison. They now have fought, and so have striven / Faced with foes, but stood by friends / Battled so that all be free men / Rebellions beacons now alight / Hold brethren dear now, close to hand / For victories day is only young! An opening song that quickens the pulse and sets the course for the journey Winterfylleth are about to unveil.
Darker and more imposing, Echoes in the After is adapted from the poem Since That To Death, which itself is contained in Sir Philip Sidney’s late 16th-century romance The Countess Of Pembroke’s Arcadia. Lamenting irreversible harm and calling for people to rebel against destructive forces, it was also written as a reaction to the felling of the famous 'Robin Hood' tree at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall. The rapid, propulsive blast beats and tremolo riffs of Echoes in the After create an evocative and defiant undercurrent for Naughton’s vocals. Each word erupts with cold, deliberate venom, the style of lyrics clearly showing the age of their origin. O’ light of sun, on the greyest day / Help flourish now a youth again / Embattled stags can antlers mend / Unto man’s age, death doth descend. Naughton comments, “The lyric was written like a lament from nature to itself, condemning the demise of such an iconic symbol. An event that felt like it occurred in a cold, oddly curated and premeditated manner. It was an unsettling circumstance that resonated with us all in the band, particularly as we had used the tree as inspiration for the artwork of our 2018 album, The Hallowing of Heirdom.” I have always enjoyed the moments on Winterfylleth albums that explode with the majesty of Deeks’s keyboards and the closing minute of Echoes in the After is one of the best examples of that here.
Third track, A Hollowed Existence experiments further with tempo and dynamics. It initially builds with slow, towering riffs and choral vocalisations before igniting with biting ire. Keyboards are increasingly prevalent and sometimes lead the melody, giving the track a more expansive, cinematic feel. Winterfylleth have long been adept at balancing layers of music, and such is the quality of the production, listeners can focus on one member and pick out new elements with each play of the album. Lyrically, it more deeply explores the album’s overall themes of spiritual and societal emptiness. This excellent use of keyboards continues on Perdition’s Flame which, while ramping up aggression once again, stakes its claim as one of the most searingly intense tracks on The Unyielding Season.
The eight-minute title track offers a stark reading of the state of the world and rises in defence of those sidelined by its indifference. Enduring is that force we fight / It’s hidden hands & relentless tide / It seeks to break what it can’t bind / That embers spark which burns so bright. A multi-faceted song, it encapsulates everything that makes Winterfylleth such an interesting band and just how far their songwriting has developed over the last two decades. A measured but intriguing opening gives way to poignant but stirring riffs that help weave the narrative. There is some glorious lead guitar work and the quieter central section is hypnotic and immersive. Fans who relish the breadth of ideas Winterfylleth can summon within a single track will find this to be one of the album’s standout moments.
Just as with Earthen Sorrows on The Imperious Horizon, Winterfylleth make use of a beautiful lamenting, melancholic instrumental – Unspoken Elegy - to bring a prolonged moment of measured contemplation; the acoustic guitar and cello shapes a subtler emotional register that enriches the record’s pacing and heightens the impact of the tracks around it.
Being just short of nine minutes, In Ashen Wake is the longest song on the album. Making the most of this time, the first three minutes build initially with ominous synths and then through the introduction of shimmering tremolo riffs. When the track opens up, it is driven by the precision of Simon Lucas’s drumming paired with Doyle’s muscular bass lines, giving a palpable sense of rising pressure that is maintained for the next five minutes until the slower coda unfolds into a spacious finale that reveals the full reach of Winterfylleth’s sound. Following track, Towards Elysium offers something different once more with a distinct groove that points more heavily towards the band’s origin and influences. It reflects on accountability and consequence, portraying a world where every action is eventually reckoned with, urging listeners toward integrity, purpose and a sense of moral clarity. Then shall the books be opened / And men's deeds are brought to be / So shall the righteous inherit / Of the elysian kingdoms / And as the wicked will be cast / Cast into a sea of flame.
The short acoustic track Where Dreams Once Grew ends the album shaped by a lightly medieval tone and creating a brief pause to acknowledge and consider the lyrics heard thus far.
For those interested in bonus material, Winterfylleth include a cover of Paradise Lost’s Enchantment, taken from one of my favourite metal albums of the nineties, Draconian Times. They remain close to the original, with Naughton making effective use of clean vocals. It is interesting to hear them pay homage to Paradise Lost and it is a track I always enjoy hearing, yet Winterfylleth do not reshape it in a way that makes it distinctly their own. Rather than attempting to filter it through their own atmospheric black metal identity, they perform it very much in the spirit of Paradise Lost themselves. This is not a criticism, but an observation: the intention here is clearly tribute, not reinvention, and the track succeeds on those terms, making it interesting rather than essential.
The Unyielding Season confirms that Winterfylleth remain a band of remarkable consistency, yet one still intent on refining and extending its creative voice. The care placed into the narrative flow, the lyrics and the emotional design of each piece demonstrates how thoughtfully their craft continues to evolve, rewarding any listener who spends time with the lyric book open. As the band themselves state, “We hope the album resonates with you, stirs your soul, and gives you a source for hope. But we also hope it makes you ask questions of your own circumstances and gives you pause to consider the unnerving state of the world we all share.” Those already invested in Winterfylleth’s work will find plenty here to admire. The Unyielding Season is a striking, assured release that reinforces why they remain such a compelling presence in modern atmospheric black metal.
The Unyielding Season is released on 27th March 2026
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