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]

According to the band, one of the founding concepts of WITTR is to channel the "energies of the Pacific Northwest's landscape" into musical form.[1]

History

The main members of Wolves in the Throne Room are brothers Aaron and Nathan Weaver.

The band's first release was their 2004 demo, a black CDR wrapped in fur with moss inside the lyric sheet.[2]

Diadem of 12 Stars was their first studio album, released in 2006.[3] It was recorded by Tim Green at Louder Studios in San Francisco.[4][5]

Their next release was Two Hunters (2007). 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]

Black Cascade was released in March 2009.[6] After the release of Black Cascade, the band began a period of touring in the United States and Europe.

Celestial Lineage was released on September 13, 2011[7] and is the third installment in a trilogy that began with Two Hunters. Music critic Brandon Stosuy described Celestial Lineage as "American black metal's idiosyncratic defining record of 2011".[8]

Wolves in the Throne Room were chosen by Godspeed You! Black Emperor for the 2010 All Tomorrow's Parties festival held in Minehead, UK.[9]

In January, 2014, it was announced that a 'companion album' to the opus Celestial Lineage was set to be released in 2014, entitled Celestite.[10] 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.[11]

Ideology and sound

Traits

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.[12][13] 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."[5]

The band's music has been described as "Atmospheric Black Metal" " and "Cascadian Black Metal".[14][15][16][17]

Unlike most modern metal bands, Wolves in the Throne Room always use vintage amplifiers and recording equipment.

Influences

Wolves in the Throne Room's sound is influenced by Scandinavian black metal,[4][12] 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".[12][18] They have also mentioned synthesizer artists like Popol Vuh as an influence.[19]

Live performance

Wolves in the Throne Room prefer their live concerts to be firelit, whether it be performing outdoors or in an indoor venue.[20] The band also do not permit flash photography at their shows.[21]

Members

Current members
Session musicians
Former members

Discography

Studio albums
EPs
Live albums
Demos

References

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

External links

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