The Key Club, Leeds, September 19 2015
Winterfylleth rocked up on the right (or wrong if you’re in the band) side of the Pennines for the third date of their first ever UK headlining tour.
There was plenty of hype, from the UK at least, surrounding Winterfylleth’s fourth album The Divination Of Antiquity when it was released almost exactly a year ago. So it seemed appropriate that eight years on from their formation they were rewarded with their first trek around the country topping up a bill filled by two other bands from the Candlelight family.
Liverpool’s Ninkharsag spent most of their half hour shrouded in smoke. Presumably aimed to enhance their mystic black metal shtick, it instead just looked like a smoke machine intended for the following club night had gone off early. Otherwise they proved a somewhat standard affair, fast, harsh and somewhat forgettable. Made up of ex-Akercocke members, Voices also released a much lauded album in 2014 with the progressive and psychotic London. Incorporating death metal vocals with a black metal backing and plenty of experimental dashes, it was a more unpredictable spectacle than the other bands of the night. More chaotic sounding that it actually was (due to the compact setting there was little movement from any of the bands) they still provided an interesting jolt to anyone unfamiliar with their work.
Winterfylleth don’t go in for the all-out black metal stage show. Anyone who has seen them before can probably imagine what this gig was like. Rather than go for the controversy, elaborate stage get-ups and incessant headbanging present at some extreme metal gigs, they prefer to take a measured approach, focusing purely on the music. This meant for just over an hour everyone was treated to cuts from each of their previous albums performed at a top level. The small venue aided the sound and though the only real interaction was a bit of fist-pumping and the odd ‘woah’, it still proved a beguiling experience. The perfect platform for getting lost in and truly appreciating their British brand of black metal.
Catch Winterfylleth on the second half of their UK tour with Voices and The King Is Blind:
24 September – The Rainbow, Birmingham
25 September – Thekla, Bristol
26 September – Waterfront, Norwich
27 September – O2 Islington Academy 2, London
