The Divination of Antiquity is the fourth studio album by the English black metal band Winterfylleth, released on 6 October 2014 through Candlelight Records.
| The Divination of Antiquity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 6 October 2014 | |||
| Genre | Black metal | |||
| Length | 56:36 | |||
| Language | English | |||
| Label | Candlelight Records | |||
| Winterfylleth chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music and lyrics
editThe Divination of Antiquity is the fourth studio album by the English black metal band Winterfylleth. According to the band's singer Chris Naughton, the band members invested more time in writing the songs than they had for the previous albums, creating many versions of the songs and rearranging them multiple times. The album's title is meant as an encouragement to study history and learn from experience in order to not repeat previous mistakes. It ties in with an overall message about cyclical history and an understanding of contemporary times as characterised by monetary rule and exploitation.[1]
Release
editCandlelight Records released The Divination of Antiquity on 6 October 2014. The cover art continues Winterfylleth's habit of displaying English landscapes, in this case a photograph by Winterfylleth's drummer Simon Lucas of West Water in the Lake District. According to Naughton, the purpose is to represent "the immense vastness and beauty of England".[1] "Whisper of the Elements" was released as a single with a lyric video on 15 August 2014.[2]
Reception
editHerr Møller of Metal.de wrote that The Divination of Antiquity continues Winterfylleth's combination of Nordic black metal with folk elements and a focus on melody, but reaches a higher quality level than previous albums. He called it one of the best melodic black metal albums of the year, wrote that every track is good and that "Whisper of the Elements" stands out as one of the most musically dynamic songs in its genre.[3] Metal Hammer's Dayal Patterson wrote that The Divination of Antiquity largely sounds like Winterfylleth's three previous albums, which are characterised by "hypnotic and atmosphere-rich sound-scapes" adopted from second wave black metal, but stands out through its nods to post-black metal, with an occasionally introspective tone reminiscent of Alcest.[4]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The Divination of Antiquity" | 6:27 |
| 2. | "Whisper of the Elements" | 7:16 |
| 3. | "Warrior Herd" | 7:35 |
| 4. | "A Careworn Heart" | 9:38 |
| 5. | "Foundations of Ash" | 6:21 |
| 6. | "The World Ahead" | 3:25 |
| 7. | "Over Borderlands" | 7:26 |
| 8. | "Forsaken in Stone" | 8:24 |
| Total length: | 56:36 | |
References
edit- ^ a b Herr Møller (16 October 2014). "Winterfylleth. Interview mit Sänger und Gitarrist Chris Naughton zum neuen Album 'The Divination Of Antiquity'". Metal.de (in German). Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Selzer, Jonathan (15 August 2014). "Exclusive: winterfylleth unleash glorious new lyric video". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Herr Møller (30 September 2014). "Winterfylleth - The Divination Of Antiquity". Metal.de (in German). Retrieved 24 June 2024.
- ^ Patterson, Dayal (16 September 2014). "Winterfylleth: The Divination Of Antiquity". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 24 June 2024.