‘Death Folk Country’ is the follow-up to her self-titled debut from 2015. As far as titles go, you can’t get more self-explanatory. Compared to the riff heavy mother band, Cotthrell’s writing leans heavily towards folk and country. In that genre most somber moods that is, which takes us then to the first word in the title which runs as a red thread throughout the record.

Setting the tone for maybe not being the Valentine record of the year, ‘Death is the Punishment for Love’ is a haunting instrumental intro that takes us to the first fully fledged song, ‘The Harvester’.  Anyone familiar with Windhand’s material will be well aware of the particularities of her voice. Her manner of singing lends itself exquisitely here to a storytelling genre like folk or country. She doesn’t need vocal acrobatics to keep the listener interested, it is the way she tells her stories, that will keep you spellbound for the span of the record.

As a consequence, the song seamlessly flow into one another, like a chapter in a book will logically follow into the next one. As our trek through the death folk country continues, it leads us into the ‘Black Canyon’ with a vocal performance that could span the width of a whole canyon. ‘Family Annnihilator’ inhales deeply the folky atmosphere with some enticing vocal harmonies. ‘Effigy at the Gates of Ur’ is led by piano keys as she chants ’Don’t say that you love me’ over and over again.

‘Midnight Boy’ reminds me a bit of Chelsea Wolf’s with the rare tang of an electric guitar, while ‘Hell is my Water’ is probably the most openly country inspired track. ‘Take Up Serpents’  refers to the weird practice of handling snakes during mass in the rural South Cottrell hails from, while ‘For Alicia’ is the of gentle acoustic kind of song that will bring Emma Ruth Rundle fans to tears. Sounding like a lullaby, ‘Eat What I Kill’ is, however, not of the soothing kind with razor sharp lyrics that cut straight through the bone, right to your very soul.

Closing the cycle of this record, comes the omega to the opening song with ‘Death is the Reward of Love’. A song that seems to end on a for more positive note or at least a peaceful reconciliation with or understanding of the fate that awaits us all.

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