Posted by Soup
Living on a farm outside Olympia, Washington, Wolves in the Throne Room are, in this writers opinion, one of the two best black metal bands on Earth right now (the other being Nachtmystium; more on them later, maybe). Combining progressive leanings with a message of humility before nature, the band, made up of brothers, Aaron and Nathan Weaver and Richard Dahlen is standing out in a genre that's not exactly known for its variation. Their newest album, Two Hunters, was recently released on vinyl, and I have to say, “f*cking majestic” is a description that doesn't even begin to do it justice. I saw these guys live last year, and even that couldn't have prepared me for how good this record is.
Already you know you're in for something special on the opening track, “Dea Actio,” which basically serves as an ambient intro to the album as a whole. This “ambient intro” probably has more feeling and power behind it than a lot of “proper” songs by most bands. “Vastness and Sorrow,” on the other hand, starts out more straight-up black metal, with incredibly fast, busy drumming and Richard Dahlen's rather “old-school,” but effective vocal delivery. As the song goes on, it starts meandering a bit and showing the band's non-black metal influences, but in a very black metal way, before giving way to punk rock rhythms and an almost danceable beat before breaking down again and laying on the grim and the frostbitten in epic form.
“Cleansing” features an extended ambient intro on the vinyl edition, and also guest vocals from Jessica Kinney on either edition. The result is something that is not nearly as corny as that first sentence makes it sound. The vocals are mixed low, under a minimal reverb-drenched keyboard. Eventually it fades out and builds back up. A bass drum beat comes in, and the vocals move up in the mix with slightly distorted guitars to add flair. Then out of nowhere, it's the most jarring and graceful transition to some fast, straightforward black metal madness that subtly breaks down and builds up, ending on a two chord drone.
The best track on the album is “I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots” (also maybe one of the best song titles ever). The clean guitar intro is suddenly overpowered by a black metal based guitar and drum thing, which breaks down into a progressive section before the vocals even come in. The chord progressions on this show evoke a faint glimmer of hope, which is something rare for black metal. This track pretty much sums up what this band is all about. Meandering post-rock and ambient undertones, never explicit, applied to a black metal framework. The section right before the outro is like a summary of the song as a whole, breaking down into another acoustic interlude before going right back to where it was as if nothing had ever broken it up. Jessica Kinney returns on vocals on the outro in a section reminiscent of “Cleansing” and the side ends with the sound of chirping birds. This is the end of the CD release.
The vinyl edition, has an extra track. “To Reveal” opens with a gauzy droning guitar sort of reminiscent of the guitar sound (oh, excuse me, “diesel harp”) on Velvet Cacoon's Genevieve. The drumming is busy and the rhythm is really strange on this one, and the guitars and keyboards work well together to create an atmospheric piece that's as intense as it is “pretty.” It ends on a long drone of just a few chords. The drums are mixed maybe a bit high in some places, and to be honest, I can see why it was left off the original release of the album. It's definitely an excellent track, and if you haven't picked up the CD edition, I'd definitely recommend picking the vinyl up instead for it, but it works better as bonus material than part of the album as a whole.
They've got one listed show coming up, on August 16th at El Corazon in Seattle with Book of Black Earth and Himsa. If you live in that area, you've probably already heard of them. If you haven't seen them, you're missing out. The vinyl is out now on Southern Lord Records. The CD's been out since last year. Check it out! More information can be found at the band's MySpace page.
