Review by Dominik on July 30, 2026.

Winterfylleth remains one of those bands that are incapable of releasing a truly bad album. In my review of their previous record, I wrote exactly that. “The Unyielding Season” does not disprove that theory. What it does prove, however, is that Winterfylleth continues to flirt with habits that keep them hovering just below true greatness, and this release does not challenge the statement. It is a good album. Often even a very good one. Compared to its predecessor, some of the little flaws that previously lingered around the edges have not disappeared; at times they even became more prominent (more on that below). Which once again demonstrates that bands should really start listening to me more carefully. Me, a completely self-appointed arrogant authority on extreme metal whose qualifications mainly consist of owning too many records and surviving several atmospheric black metal albums without falling asleep. An expertise, which is entirely based on stubbornness, sleep deprivation, and years of emotionally investing in blast beats. Stay with me long enough, and perhaps the immeasurable depth of my wisdom will eventually reveal itself. It is there, and some bands just refuse to claim it.

“The Unyielding Season” starts with a lot of promise. To be exact: four promises. Four songs in, I genuinely thought the band finally churned out an album that breaks beyond the 9/10 barrier. The opening stretch is truly exceptional. 'Heroes Of A Hundred Fields” jumps right from the gate without wasting time on cinematic intros or atmospheric shrubbery. It is Winterfylleth to the core and showcases the kind of melodic yet rugged black metal the band built its reputation on. The song sounds exactly as it should with sharp, melodic riffs, relentless drumming, and keyboards that appear more frequently than before without suffocating the aggression underneath. The bass remains audible and is adding depth instead of merely existing as an abstract concept. Chris Naughton on vocals continues to sound like a man delivering grim historical revelations from atop a freezing hill somewhere in northern England. His range has never been enormous, but his voice fits this material in the same way rain fits a funeral procession.

'Echoes In The After' is even stronger. The imploring guitar melodies carry the entire song forward while Naughton tears through lyrics which are an adaptation of an old poem by Philip Sidney, where love, mortality and emotional suffering are constantly intertwined. All that is done in the way black metal somehow does better than genres supposedly designed for emotional expression. The pace remains relentless, yet the track is weirdly catchy, at least by black metal standards, where “catchy” usually means “the riff has haunted your subconscious for three consecutive business days”. For me, this is one of the album’s highlights. Anyone still insisting this genre is just for basement-dwelling noise addicts should be forced to listen to this track repeatedly until either enlightenment or Stockholm syndrome sets in. Few genres capture emotional bleakness with such strange beauty.

My second favorite track arrives immediately in position four with 'Perdition’s Flame'. It is another excellent five-minute piece displaying the band’s greatest strength. The guys can write riffs that are simple on paper but deeply memorable in execution. Especially the build-up toward the second and fourth verse works brilliantly, creating tension before the keyboards storm in and slightly dilute the impact. Still, the song closes on a genuinely epic note carried by elegant guitar leads. At that point, I honestly began wondering whether the band had finally delivered the elusive 90+ album, had the whole affair ended here. Obviously, it didn´t.

Unfortunately, this is also the exact moment “The Unyielding Season” begins wandering away from its strengths like a man confidently hiking into a swamp because he “knows a shortcut”. The second half reminds us why this band continues circling greatness instead of fully grabbing it by the throat. There are two things Winterfylleth never completely gets right in my opinion. The first is slower material, and the title track demonstrates why. It drags itself across eight minutes with so much repetition that it´s borderline monotonous. The song leans too heavily on melancholy and sits right on the periphery of depression. There are bands capable of making slow-burning black metal feel hypnotic. Winterfylleth, more often than not, sound like they are fighting against their own instincts when they attempt it. And sadly, some of the album’s second half leans into exactly that territory. Add to this the acoustic interlude 'Unspoken Elegy' that is technically flawless but emotionally nonessential, plus an outro that contributes little beyond extending the runtime, and parts of the record begin feeling suspiciously like decorative filler.

Still, the true irritation and point number two remains the choice of bonus material. Now, traditionally, a bonus is supposed to be a reward. An extra pleasure. A small act of generosity. Here, at least for me, it seems to be the emotional damage I collected while listening to the “bonus track”. Winterfylleth closes the album with a cover of 'Enchantment' by Paradise Lost, a nine-minute brooding gothic piece that barely resembles black metal at all. While the original might be beloved for good reason, this version feels fundamentally disconnected from the rest of the album. More importantly, it barely feels like Winterfylleth at all. The band does not even attempt to reinterpret the original through a harsher black metal lens. Instead, they largely play it straight, handing vocal duties over to keyboardist Mark Deeds, whose cleaner delivery naturally lacks the abrasive edge of Naughton´s voice. The result is technically competent but strangely toothless. Made for those who like “gothic karaoke in the world’s saddest pub”.

To be fair, the rest of the second half is not without its moments. 'Towards Elysium' in particular works very well and partially compensates for the album’s weaker stretches. But it cannot entirely make up for the fact that nearly one third of this one-hour runtime feels average at best or unnecessarily indulgent at worst. So what remains is another (very) good Winterfylleth album that should have been exceptional with a little more discipline and a little less wandering away from their own strengths. I hope and wait for the day the band just sticks to its own guns, instead of meandering at times in spheres as if they started to treat their original style like a traumatic childhood memory.

Rating: 8.4 out of 10, because even when Winterfylleth lose themselves straying through unnecessary atmospherics, melancholy detours, and a “bonus” track that feels legally classifiable as psychological warfare, they still write better black metal than most bands manage across their entire discography.

Review by Maverick on May 4, 2026.

What a release. This album stands as an unwavering statement of Winterfylleth’s dedication to English black metal, and it delivers with a ferocity that is impossible to ignore. It would be a genuine shame if this record didn’t receive the recognition it deserves. Unlike some of Winterfylleth’s previous releases, this album arrives with an uncompromising black metal ethos that grips the listener from the very first note and never loosens its hold. Its ability to move between thick, almost percussion-like riffing and punishing yet atmospheric blast beats makes a compelling case for this being not only one of the band’s strongest releases, but perhaps their finest to date.

The band’s musicianship is on full display throughout. The guitars are dense, weighty, and undeniably physical in their impact—almost percussive in the way they strike. Layer upon layer of cold, churning riffs create an immense wall of sound, with Russell Dobson’s songwriting holding everything together with remarkable precision. What makes the album’s atmospheric qualities so effective is that they never feel forced or overly decorative. There’s no need for post-rock indulgence or unnecessary stylistic detours; the atmosphere is built entirely through black metal’s own language—through cold melodies, relentless tremolo work, and crushing rhythmic momentum.

The production strikes an impressive balance as well. It’s raw enough to preserve the genre’s feral spirit, yet polished enough for every instrument to cut through with clarity. The drumming deserves special praise—not because it reinvents the wheel, but because of its sheer discipline and execution. Every blast beat, every double-kick pattern, every thunderous accent feels deliberate and perfectly placed. There’s no obsession with technical excess or convoluted time signatures—just clinical precision in service of the songs themselves. It’s the work of seasoned musicians who understand that black metal doesn’t need mathematical complexity to sound devastating.

If I had to single out one track, 'Heroes Of A Hundred Fields' would be the obvious choice. It feels like the album’s spiritual anchor—the track that captures everything this record is trying to achieve. Perhaps that was intentional, considering it was one of the pre-release singles, but regardless, it stands as one of the album’s defining moments.

The vocals are equally impressive. They possess a certain elegance while still sounding abrasive enough to hit with full force. Rather than relying solely on the genre’s typical nasal shriek, the performance feels far more personal, powerful, and commanding. There’s passion behind every line, and the vocal delivery blends so naturally with the instrumentation that the band never feels like separate components working together—it feels like a single entity moving as one, from beginning to end.

The album’s riffs are further enhanced by subtle background elements—classical strings, acoustic passages, and folk-inspired textures that add another layer of depth to its already crushing sonic landscape. These pagan-folk nuances never soften the impact; instead, they amplify it, giving the record a sense of history, mysticism, and identity that feels authentically English. Combined with the relentless aggression of the core instrumentation, the result is a record that feels both immersive and utterly overwhelming in the best possible way.

The enjoyment I got from this album honestly cannot be overstated.

Noteworthy tracks? 'Heroes Of A Hundred Fields'… 'Towards Elysium'… actually, forget that.

Just listen to the whole album.

Every riff. Every blast beat. Every atmosphere-drenched moment.

Consume it for all its worth.

Rating: 9.8 out of 10