By Trudi-Rose Edwards
Some (most?) of us can scratch our musical itches with a little mainstream pop music. The kind of stuff that dominates the charts – easy, consumable, simplistic – we’re talking romance, breakups, we can’t be friends, Cruel Summers, the weekend, The Weeknd and Please Please Please no more backflips Benson Boone (honestly, ick).
If you don’t like pop you’re probably a fan of rock, or RnB, maybe some hip hip or rap, classical or jazz for the snobs amongst us, and then there’s folk, country, punk, metal.
The list goes on.
But what about those of us after their ‘post-folk metal’ fix?
Enter Adfeilion.
Meaning ‘ruins’ in Welsh, Adfeilion is a five-piece atmospheric band from South Wales that are offering up the finest folk-metal experience on the market.
Don’t just take my word for it. They have the credentials to back them up. They released their first album ‘Hela’ (hunting in Welsh) in 2023, exploring Paganism and Christianity in Wales during the dark ages through their unique instrumental storytelling. Following this, the band won the South Wales Battle of the Bands in 2024 and were also victorious at the Metal to the Masses competition earlier this year. These successes earned them a spot at the Bloodstock Open Air Festival 2025 where they debuted their second album, ‘Rhyfelwyr’ (warriors). Since then, they’ve been on a quest to capture new fans across the country.
This reads all very well on paper, but what does it all really mean? What exactly is ‘post-folk metal’? What is instrumental storytelling? When your niche is so niche it can be all too easy to be the best of the best. I went along to the band’s debut London gig to see what all the fuss is about.
Let’s be clear here. I was going in blind. I’m not going to be winning Pointless with my knowledge of folk, metal, or folk-metal music (Metallica? 98 points, thank you Alexander). But in a way, this is exactly what Adfeilion needs. Fans of their chosen sub-genre won’t need convincing – the fact that the band has made it as far as they have is proof that they’re doing something right – getting the uninitiated to embrace the world of enchanted forests and ruined castles is the real challenge.
Low-key and less bohemian than your average Hoxton pub, The Stag’s Head might not exude mystique and may not have the 2,500 capacity of Bloodstock but it was the unassuming host for Adfeilion’s debut London performance. I ran into some of the band at the bar about an hour before the curtain went up. It’s a lot smaller than some of the stages they’ve been playing recently, keyboardist and ‘storyteller’ Matt Cooke tells me, assuring me that we’ll be in for a very intimate performance – a daunting prospect given he and the band are dressed head to toe in black, complete with capes and war paint.
But a small stage promises a big sound.
Crammed into a tiny backroom which was filled to capacity, the crowd watched Cooke, drummer Kevin Arbuckle, bassist Thom Lyons, electric guitarist Ben Baljak and nylon guitarist Scott New take the tiny stage and begin their set.
Suddenly, you’re no longer in Hoxton. As the music begins and Cooke introduces the band, you’re transported to another world and another time. A time of magic, myth and mystique – a forgotten time, a fantasy. Soaring Celtic melodies are intertwined with crunchy, dark rhythms, taking you back to a dark medieval time. There are no vocals in the traditional sense, only frontman Cooke’s hypnotic, Welsh-lilted storytelling that evokes imagery of kings, witches, elixirs. It’s arguably a little cheesy – do we really need the narration or can we let the music speak for itself? – but somehow, it works, blending in seamlessly with the melodies.
When they go heavy, they go heavy. Even the tamest of spectator (me) can feed off the energy they bring to the room and partake in the obligatory headbanging. Drummer Arbuckle in particular, shines in these heavier moments, switching effortlessly between half-time and marching fills to smashing, clashing symbol-led moments.
As intense as the heavy moments are, Adfeilion shine most in the quieter, more ambient moments. A highlight of the set is Hallowed Glade. Scott New’s nylon guitar led moments have a beautiful, haunting quality to them and really showcase the band’s musicianship.
And then, before you know it, it’s over. And suddenly, you’re back in the backroom of a pub in Hoxton, ears still ringing from the sheer volume of the music you’ve just experienced. There’s only one word to describe the performance: legendary.
London has been checked off the list but there’s more to come: they’re taking part in an evening of folk metal in Liverpool in October, then they’re headlining at Swansea’s Elysium to celebrate the Gaelic festival of Samhain (Nos Galan Gaeaf for Welshies and…I guess Halloween for everyone else) on the 31st.
I caught up with the band after the set, still in their war paint (albeit now so smeared it actually looks like they’ve been to war). They’re on a high, their London debut was a resounding success. I chat with New who tells me how blown away they’ve been by their recent achievements, you’d think it was PR-speak if not for his sheer earnestness. Excitingly, they’re planning a live album to be released early next year – something I think will capture them at their best. Having listened to both their debut Hela and Rhyfelwyr (the stronger offering of the two), a live offering is definitely the next step for them – watch this space.
“Where’s the afterparty?” I ask- this is Hoxton after all – but to my surprise there isn’t one. The band has to go home to west Wales, New – a doctor – is working in the week and they have a long drive back. They have to – it seems – get back to reality.
Adfeilion play EGBGs in Liverpool on 18 October and Elysium in Swansea on 31 October. More information at adfeilion.com