Winterfylleth recently released their new studio album "The Hallowing of Heirdom" and to celebrate we asked Nick Wallwork (acoustic guitar / bass) to tell us about the title track. Here is the story:
The title track for our latest album was one of the last pieces of music that we composed for the record and in many ways sums the whole thing up as well as being one of the most collaborative tracks on there.
I remember coming up with the main verse riff as a starting point and then tagging the opening, intro segment on to that afterwards. I wanted the intro to deliberately sound quite sparse and morose to set the tone of the track in the correct manner. There is a lot of major key stuff throughout the album so I wanted this one to have more of reflective vibe to it.
Originally, the ambition for this one musically was to be a more progressive piece, with each section leading on to a new one with no repetitions. However, once we had passed the initial demos over to Mark (Deeks), he began rearranging it into more of a traditional song structure which in the end, is to his credit, as the songs flows beautifully as an end result.
Lyrically, the track can be viewed as almost a concluding summary of the album that comes before it and for the first time on the record, actually offers some food for thought as opposed to the numerous tales or "case studies" of the other tracks. I think the most iconic lines on the whole album are in this song:
"So, who are we now,
A horde of their ghosts?
Or oaks that were acorns,
From the trees of their hopes?"
I would say these are some of the most thought provoking lyrics Chris (Naughton, guitar / vocals) has come up with over the years and bear relevance not only to this record but also to the main thrust behind one of our previous albums "The Divination of Antiquity" where we address what lessons, if any, have we picked up from history and in the context of this song in particular - are we learning from these lessons and fulfilling our own potential?
I think the track makes for the perfect climax of the album and for me it couldn't be anywhere but at the end. Mark's idea of having the guitars and vocals fade away to allow the strings to bring it to such a somber conclusion is immensely effective I think and should, hopefully leave a lasting impression upon the listener.
Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album right here!
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