Wolves In The Throne Room – Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge (EP)
Reviewed By: Jason Deaville
Review Score: 9.5
Cascadian black metallers Wolves In The Throne Room are one of only a handful of bands that are immediately recognizable when spinning their material. No one sounds like them, and that is not an easy feat. To completely distinguish themselves within a sub-genre filled with literally thousands of bands that are nearly impossible to discern from one another says something about the band’s compositional prowess.
With seven full-length albums (and three EPs) in just over twenty years, WITTR is not a band to rest on their laurels. To remain fresh and interesting after that many releases is a sign that the artistic endeavor is first and foremost. These guys do what they want, when they want. There is no crowd pleasing, there is only the strive for personal fulfillment. This keeps the band and their music honest. There are no smoke and mirrors. With each release they lay themselves naked at the altar of virtuosity.
The latest entry into their formidable catalogue, Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge, is comprised of two songs in the realm of cinematic black metal and dark acoustic folk, as well as two atmospheric industrial tracks that take the band into darker sonic territories. Not unlike their previous three EPs, the band seem more apt to experiment within this format compared to that of their full-lengths.
The EP opens with ‘Beholden To Clan’, an old-school sounding homage to Symphonic Black Metal, which recalls the sounds of Dimmu Borgir‘s epically celestial Enthrone Darkness Triumphant. While it shares a similar spirit as the aforementioned album – an ethos that conjures images of walking through a forest on a moonlit night in the middle of winter – it differs just enough. Where Dimmu‘s approach is a bit more straight-forward, both musically and perceptibly, WITTR‘s approach to the realm of Symphonic Black Metal is much more hallucinogenic (that tranquil stroll in the wintery forest is now a mind-bending sonic voyage that leaves one contemplating their very existence in this vast universe as they stare up into that moonlit sky). It’s a wild trip.
Where the first track is a supersonic journey through the vast cosmos, the second track, ‘Twin Mouthed Spring’ pulls the listener back down to earthly realms with its deep-rooted Celtic vibe. The track features vocals and acoustic guitar performed by founding Wolves In The Throne Room drummer Cedar Serpent who has recently returned to the live stage after a long hiatus from live performance. The song is a wellspring of passion and creativity, with the ebb and flow of its second-wave of black metal aesthetic being ripped apart and remade over and over with a folkloric sensibility. Absolutely breathtaking.
The final two tracks, ‘Initiates Of The White Hart’ and ‘Crown Of Stone’ are the logical follow-ups to the previous two tracks, taking both the hallucinatory epic-ness of the first song and the folkiness of the second song into purely ambient and industrial-like realms. In fact, if I were to be perfectly honest, the last two tracks are quite reminiscent of contemporary/post-prison Burzum. Both of these songs could fit snugly alongside any of the tracks found on Varg’s Thulêan Mysteries and Ways Of Yore albums.
As mentioned at the top of this review, Wolves In The Throne Room are unlike any of their peers in the realm of contemporary black metal. That being said, they are unafraid to wear their influences on their sleeve. It’s one thing to emulate, it’s a whole other thing when that emulation strips away assimilation and gives birth to a sound wholly unique yet still familiar. Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge is a shining example of this, and one that will most certainly make the year-end lists of many.
Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge is available now via Relapse Records (North America) and Century Media (Europe).