DIADEM OF 12 STARS

Is this album for people with a taste in ambient and post-related music? Absolutely. Is it for people who mainly listen to prog/fusion? If they have an open mind. With their debut, WITTR has established themselves as a very different black metal act then most. Gone is the brutality, satanic themes and corpse paint of previous bands in the genre, replaced with epic song lengths, extended trance inducing melodies and an eco- feminist ideology. Every song on here is significantly longer then most traditional song lengths, 4 songs in just about an hour. Within which, is a sort of catharsis of the mind. The melodies are simple, very distorted and very hypnotic, and the ultra-fast blast beat drumming pounds away in your head to make sure you stay in that hypnosis. This band is known for not staying merely within the black metal realm, in these extended pieces we see elements of not only black metal, but post rock, prog rock, crust punk and ambient, all without losing the atmospheric textures of it all. Beautiful female vocals (by guest Jamie Myers of formally the bassist of Hammers of Misfortune) are brought into the mix as a stark contrast to Nathan Weaver's attention grabbing shrieks and bellows that dig deep into inner emotions and tear through the ambiance as if possessed by a forest spirit. The production is very primitive and seems to be recorded on something analogue, without digital manipulation the sounds seems more real and not tampered with, as if giving you the full entrapping sound-scape that you would get if the band was playing right next to you. Highly emotional, highly experimental and highly recommended. 5/5

By the way, Wolves in the Throne Room is NOT a satanic band. I've seen other reviews that have labeled them as such, and it's far from the truth. They have stated in many interviews there complete disinterest in the subject, and it is not included in any of their lyrical themes. Also, they have been noted for their lack of such themes that's very present in most black metal.Their lyrics tend to generally be about spirituality, forests and despair. I wouldn't want anybody to assume that they were, or be misinformed. Thank you.