Wolves in the Throne Room

Wolves in the Throne Room
Background information
Origin Olympia, Washington, United States
Genres Black metal, ambient
Years active 2003–present
Labels Southern Lord, Vendlus, Artemisia
Associated acts Asunder, Dystopia, Ludicra, Fauna, Middian
Website wittr.com
Members Nathan Weaver
Aaron Weaver

Wolves in the Throne Room is an American black metal band formed in 2003 in Olympia, Washington.[1] The band is primarily composed of brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver. To date the band have released five full-length albums, two live albums, one EP, and two demos. Their latest album is 2015's Celestite, an ambient album released through their own record label Artemisia Records.[2][3] According to the band, one of the founding concepts of the band is to channel the "energies of the Pacific Northwest's landscape" into musical form.[1]

History

The band's first release was their 2004 demo, a black CDR wrapped in fur with moss inside the lyric sheet.[4] Their debut full-length album Diadem of 12 Stars was released in 2006.[5] It was recorded by Tim Green at Louder Studios in San Francisco.[6][7] The album attracted the attention of Southern Lord Records, who signed the band, reissuing it on vinyl.[8] The album has been described as blending elements of dark folk with black metal to create a piece that is as "dark, haunting piece that's as gorgeous as it is ugly."[9]

They released their second full-length album Two Hunters in 2007, the first part of a trilogy of albums that was concluded with Celestial Lineage. Two Hunters was the first time the band worked with producer Randall Dunn, who has produced all their subsequent releases. During the Two Hunters sessions, the band began to work with analog synthesizers, which has become a crucial feature in the band's sound.[1]

Their third album Black Cascade was released in March 2009, again through Southern Lord.[10] The album featured a much rawer and more stripped-down sound, and the band has said that they "wanted to record an album that focussed on guitar, drums and vocals, rather than studio explorations."[1] After the release of Black Cascade, the band began a period of touring in the United States and Europe.

The band released their fourth full-length album Celestial Lineage on September 13, 2011[11] Music critic Brandon Stosuy described Celestial Lineage as "American black metal's idiosyncratic defining record of 2011".[12] AllMusic's Eduardo Rivadavia argued that the album married the differing sounds of the two previous albums, "resulting in their most refined and confident outing to date."[13]

Wolves in the Throne Room were chosen by Godspeed You! Black Emperor for the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival held in Minehead, UK.[14]

In January, 2014, it was announced that a 'companion album' to the opus Celestial Lineage was set to be released in 2014, entitled Celestite.[15] Celestite was released in North America on 8 July 2014 and was described as an experimental extension on musical themes explored in their previous album Celestial Lineage.[16]

In April 2016, the band announced that they would be remastering and reissuing their first album Diadem of 12 Stars on a variety of formats on June 17, as well as a North American tour through much of September.[17]

Musical style

The band's music has been described as "Atmospheric Black Metal" " and "Cascadian Black Metal".[18][19][20][21]

Wolves in the Throne Room has not incorporated most of the traditional traits of black metal such as corpse paint, the use of pseudonyms and Satanic imagery.[22][23] Member Aaron Weaver has said, "Wolves in the Throne Room is not black metal, or, more accurately, we play black metal on our own terms, for our own reasons."[7] And unlike most modern metal bands, Wolves in the Throne Room always use vintage amplifiers and recording equipment.[1]

Aaron Weaver has also described their music as "striving to operate on the mythic level", commenting that "I think there's this sense that we've lost something and we can't have it back. And maybe it's not something we ever wanted to begin with. That sense of despair and loss and you don't even know what you lost. That's one of the central themes in black metal and that runs through our records as well." He went on to add that one of the central ideals of the band is "the idea of uncovering the occult or the spiritual or the energetic reality of place. Being deeply connected to a place and creating music and art that rises up out of a landscape."[24]

Wolves in the Throne Room's sound is influenced by Scandinavian black metal,[6][22] while doom metal, dark ambient, crust punk, and folk music influences also exist. Wolves in the Throne Room has often cited American band Neurosis as a key inspiration because their music "operates on a deep and intense mythic level".[22][25] They have also mentioned synthesizer artists like Popol Vuh as an influence.[26]

Live performance

Wolves in the Throne Room prefer their live concerts to be firelit, whether it be performing outdoors or in an indoor venue.[27] The band also do not permit flash photography at their shows.[28]

Members

Current members
Session musicians
Former members

Discography

Studio albums
EPs
Live albums
Demos

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Official Biography". Wittr.com. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
  2. ↑ "Wolves In The Throne Room – "Celestite Mirror"". 2014-05-28. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  3. ↑ "WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM Reveal Details On New Recordings – Wolves In The Throne Room". wittr.com. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  4. ↑ "Aquarius Records". Aquarius Records.
  5. ↑ Gnade, Adam (2006) "Forest Doom: Black Wolves Hunt Souls in the Throne Room", Portland Mercury, October 5, 2006, retrieved December 24, 2011
  6. 1 2 Grow, Kory (2005) "Wolves in the Throne Room", CMJ New Music Monthly, Issue 139, p. 15, retrieved December 24, 2011
  7. 1 2 "Black Metal on Their Own Terms". Ultimate Metal.
  8. ↑ "Diadem of 12 Stars, by Wolves in the Throne Room". Wolves in the Throne Room. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  9. ↑ "Wolves in the Throne Room: Diadem of 12 Stars Album Review | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  10. ↑ Ratliff, Ben (2009) "Expansive Pop, Hypnotic Jazz, Surprising Metal", The New York Times, March 8, 2009, retrieved December 24, 2011
  11. ↑ Rivadavia, Eduardo "Celestial Lineage Review", Allmusic, retrieved December 24, 2011
  12. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (November 28, 2011) "The Top 40 Metal Albums of 2011", Pitchfork Media, retrieved December 24, 2011
  13. ↑ "Wolves in the Throne Room | Biography & History | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  14. ↑ "GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR: Hand Pick Wolves in the Throne Room, Neurosis, Weird Al Yankovic for UK Festival". SMN News. Retrieved June 6, 2012.
  15. ↑ Wolves In The Throne Room Reveal Details Of New “Companion” Album metalhammer.co.uk. 28 January 2014. Retrieved on 14 February 2014.
  16. ↑ Celestite release details & West coast tour dates wittr.com. 07 May, 2014. Retrieved on 28 July, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Wolves in the Throne Room Reissue 'Diadem of 12 Stars,' Plot North American Tour". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  18. ↑ Stosuy, Brandon (September 23, 2011). "Pitchfork reviews".
  19. ↑ Hopper, Jessica (2009) "Wolves in the Throne Room. It's organic metal", Chicago Tribune, May 15, 2009, p. 13 ('On the Town' section)
  20. ↑ Masciandaro, Nicola et al. (2010) Hideous Gnosis, Createspace, ISBN 978-1-4505-7216-3, p. 109
  21. ↑ Brenner, Dave (August 19, 2011). "Earsplit Compound".
  22. 1 2 3 Hopper, Jessica (2009) "Back to the land with the Wolves", Chicago Tribune, May 15, 2009, retrieved December 24, 2011
  23. ↑ "Ravishing Grimness". Hails and Horns.
  24. ↑ Murphy, Tom (2011-09-30). "Aaron Weaver of Wolves in the Throne Room about the mythic levels his band operates on". Retrieved 2016-09-01.
  25. ↑ "An Interview with Wolves in the Throne Room's Aaron Weaver". Brooklyn Vegan.
  26. ↑ WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM Album Nears Completion thegauntlet.com. July 11, 2011. Retrieved on July 11, 2011.
  27. ↑ Anson, Matthew Grant (2011) "Year in Review: The best concerts of 2011", The Copenhagen Post, December 22, 2011, retrieved December 24, 2011
  28. ↑ Murphy, Tom (2011-10-01). "Review: Wolves in the Throne Room at Rhinoceropolis, 9/30/11 | Westword". Blogs.westword.com. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-11.
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