It still seems bizarre to me that, as Manchester’s Winterfylleth hit their 20th anniversary and ninth album, The Unyielding Season, they still are relatively unknown and destined to play smaller venues than their quality and status deserve.
Winterfylleth – The Unyielding Season
Release Date: 27 March 2026
Words: Paul Hutchings
I have seen Winterfylleth many times over the years, from the bizarre setting of an early afternoon holiday camp, to a sparsely populated Rock Club, to appropriately packed audiences at the likes of Bloodstock and Damnation. They have never let me down, despite a plague of technical difficulties that must have driven them to the end of their tether at times.
Album number nine finds them in stunning form. The Unyielding Season is undeniably a grower, getting better with each play. As usual, the playing is intense and technically top-level, whilst lyrically they wrap social commentary in crafted prose and poetry.
Now firmly ensconced on Napalm Records, their first offering for the new label opens with the blistering first single, Heroes Of A Hundred Fields. A pummelling of shimmering Black Metal riffs that power with rich melody lurking beneath, hypnotic riffs that swirl whilst layered synths add texture to a track that describes a fight of brave minds for freedom against a common oppressor.
Beneath the history that forms the baseline of Winterfylleth’s narrative. There has always been a focus on the current, and in The Unyielding Season, we see the band reflect the pressure and fear that is being pushed into the world.
Adapting Sir Philip Sidney’s 16th century poem, The Countess of Pembroke’s Arcadia, into a track is not something many Metal bands could consider. Yet that is what the mastery of this band have done on Echoes In The After, a reaction to the felling of the Robin Hood Tree at Sycamore Gap on Hadrian’s Wall.
Underneath the maelstrom of raging, Winterfylleth capture the emotions that most of us felt at this senseless crime. “Nature with care we can revere, and nurture, so it long remains, some men resolve to grow a life, but others tear it down again.”
There is ample trademark sound across the album. Hollow Existence sees the anthemic style that is the hallmark of Winterfylleth present itself. A slower tempo in parts, but with no less heaviness, the song soon hits top speed whilst Chris Naughton’s distinctive snarling delivery rages above.
This album also marks the debut of new bassist Mark Doyle, who joined in 2025 after the departure of long-serving Nick Wallwork. Doyle joins Naughton and co-founder member, drummer Simon Lucas, alongside keyboardist Mark Deeks and guitarist Russell Dobson.
A stable line-up on great form, evidenced on the massive title track, which stands as a central pillar in the centre of the album. Colossal in feel and delivery, The Unyielding Season draws attention to the current world situation whilst railing for those whose voices are currently silenced.
Letting their music seep into my very soul
What sets Winterfylleth apart from many of their peers is their ability to create such atmospheric pieces. Even if you do not delve deeper into the lyrical content, the sheer soundscapes they carve with their musicianship are guaranteed to envelop you. I certainly find myself closing my eyes and letting their music seep into my very soul.
And they can switch from blazing Black Metal to medieval acoustic passages in the blink of an eye. Here, they draw through from the title track to the beauty of Unspoken Elegy, an instrumental that features cello melodies that have equal amounts of hope and menace.
At over an hour in length, Winterfylleth do not do short. In Ashen Wake gallops through a near nine-minute escapade, slowly building with emotion and atmosphere before exploding into their galloping style and unleashing fury.
Towards Elysium takes forward an old-school riff which is guaranteed to get heads nodding before the enchanting acoustic two-minute piece Where Dreams Once Grew.
And then there is the bonus of a splendid cover of their UK counterparts, Paradise Lost. To take on Enchantment, the opening song on 1995’s seminal album Draconian Times is brave, and Winterfylleth nail it with their own take.
A glorious album then, despite the warning tones. As their press release states, “Where our surroundings grow more challenging every day, Winterfylleth offers a pause for respite and resistance. The world is on fire, and The Unyielding Season is a warning.”
Winterfylleth release The Unyielding Season on 27 March 2026 via Napalm Records. Pre-orders are available from here.
