Album Review: Winterfylleth – The Imperious Horizon

Eight albums into a uniquely English black metal odyssey, you know what to expect from Winterfylleth. Vast, weatherbeaten soundscapes inspired by the old Anglian wildernesses won the Manchester-based crew their reputation as the UK’s pre-eminent genre exponents and, to a degree, across the 10 tracks of The Imperious Horizon, that’s exactly what you continue to get. Rather than finding itself lost in the muck and murk of those untamed places, however, and much as its title would suggest, this is a record that ploughs through darkness with a view to the breaking dawn.

The transition from instrumental intro First Light to first song proper Like Brimming Fire sets the tone, majestically. A low swell of rich strings aching with melancholy and promise evokes the gentle stir of dewy morning before bracing blastbeats, scything guitars and ragged vocals haul us up the hillside and along a craggy mountain ridge. Dishonour Enthroned cranks the grandeur further, its blend of ancient wisdom and breathtaking atmospherics harmonising in a near-symphonic swell. Upon This Shore revels in a resplendently climactic release just four tracks in.

Absolutely pivotal are Mark Deeks’ subtly affecting, never overwhelming layers of synth, and peerless production from old master Chris Fielding which, from the towering title-track to acoustic interlude Earthen Sorrows, balances clarity and texture like an oil painting of a coming storm.

But like the vast landscape that is their muse, the value in Winterfylleth’s music continues to be less about individual snapshots than its exhaustive traverse. And as The Majesty Of The Night Sky greets listeners at this journey’s end, they’ll be glad to have kept tramping down Winterfylleth’s ever-winding path...

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Wolves In The Throne Room, A Forest Of Stars, Bathory

The Imperious Horizon is out now via Candlelight