Diadem of 12 Stars - Vampire Magazine
http://www.vampire-magazine.com/article.php?aid=41387
5/5
Without further ado: this is an astounding release. A black metal band from Olympia, Washington of all places, WITTR have unleashed a debut that’ll resonate in the underground for quite some time. This utterly harrowing album, co-produced by instrumentalist Tim Green of The Fucking Champs, is a thing of abstract beauty and festering ugliness. These fiends operate under what I can only assume to be their birth names – Nathan (guitars/voice), Rick (guitars/voice) and Aaron (drums), enlisting the assistance of some close friends. One of these is a lady called Jamie from Hammer of Misfortune, whose haunting tones add a distinct and plaintiff dimension to the oftentimes folkish proceedings, while Dino from Asunder also contributes backing growls.
The hellish, strangulated vocal contributions of core members Nathan and Rick steal the show, though. Rarely, if ever, have my eardrums been subjected to timbres as frightening as those that emanate from these guys’ larynxes. Clearly, we’re dealing with tortured souls.
They shriek, they scream, they screech. They growl, they rasp. They fucking kill. What an extraordinary double attack! Every excruciating holler from classic grim Nordic BM to early ‘90s British doom is covered with aplomb and the listener can’t but revel in the brilliance of it all. How on earth do they manage to sound like that? Note to myself: try to arrange an interview with Wolves in the Throne Room.
The buzzing, droning, layered, discordant, dense, textured and wholesome brand of black metal on this slab commands your attention. From the opening strains of the 13-minute track ‘Queen of the Borrowed Light’ (which mutates into an oceanic slab of sonic power before the split demonic/angelic voices intervene), we are taken on an hour-long rollercoaster ride of extreme emotions. The first significant tempo change arrives after only five minutes as proceedings grind to a funereal doom crawl with apposite vocals. Twin guitars crash off one another amid the maelstrom, creating an atmosphere that’s primal and, frankly, inexplicable.
My personal favourite is ‘Face in a Night Time Mirror Part Two’, an epic heartfelt cut with more mood changes and cadences than you’ll find in most BM bands’ entire discography. WITTR capture the beautiful, sumptuous atmosphere of prime My Dying Bride with traces of Immortal but they are an infinitely more aggressive, complicated and crushing entity than any of their influences. With folk overtones and an underpinning distant primordial drone, it’s all at one with nature.
Though the four songs breathe and grow for 60 minutes, they never become tedious. The listening experience as crushing layers of harmony and melody battle for prominence is so extraordinary that it’s all over in a flourish, like a severed artery. Album closer ‘(A Shimmering Radiance) Diadem of 12 Stars’ frostbites for a full 20 minutes, belying more barbaric savagery and vulnerable humanity than most mortals could tolerate. ‘True’ Black metallers might take exception to the amount of female vocals on here but I don’t think WITTR give a flying fuck either way.
The abundant aggression is tempered by more ethereal passages, with multiple changes in pace and tempo. Velvet Cacoon is a possible reference point but so are just about any of the early ‘90s European scene progenitors. At the same time, Wolves in the Throne Room don’t sound quite like anything else. They are a unique riddle that'll take countless listens to unlock.
The band name conjures images of a ravenous flock of wild animals feasting upon the newborn heir to a corrupt crown. Shrouded in enigma and imbued with the elusive x-factor that renders much of the competition obsolete, Wolves in the Throne Room have arrived with a brand of otherworldly black metal that deserves attention. The choice is now yours – run with the wolves or be a sheep for the rest of your miserable life.