Review by Sonny for Winterfylleth - The Reckoning Dawn (2020)

England's best black metal band return after a four year break since their last black metal release, their folk music itch having been thoroughly scratched with 2018's The Hallowing of Heirdom and their Wolcensmen project.

The Reckoning Dawn begins quite aggressively with a fairly muscular track, Misdeeds of Faith before launching into a fourth part of The Wayfarer which was originally a three-part epic on 2010's Mercian Sphere LP. This referencing back to the earlier release seems to intentionally signpost that the album is a return to the sound of the band's earliest albums and the sweeping, thunderous atmo-black that they built their reputation on. Indeed, it is a great example of the style and is a worthy successor to those early albums... and yet, I can't help but feel a slight tinge of disappointment. Much as I love Winterfylleth's particular style, I was really excited by the direction they went in with side two of 2016's The Dark Hereafter, the almost doom metal pacing of Green Cathedral and the chanted vocals of Led Astray in the Forest Dark so, great though it undoubtedly is, The Reckoning Dawn's return to atmo-black orthodoxy is an ever-so-slight backward step in my opinion. Still, the glass is half full and this is a tremendous album nonetheless.