Wolves in the Throne Room – Celestial Lineage (2011) CD Review

01. Thuja Magus Imperium 11:48
02. Permanent Changes in Consciousness 1:55
03. Subterranean Imitation 7:10
04. Rainbow Illness 1:28
05. Woodland Cathedral 5:26
06. Astral Blood 10:17
07. Prayer of Transformation 10:58

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Reviewed by a shadow of his former self.

Do you ever consider what forests sound like? Birdsong, wind through the trees? Dried leaves being crushed under foot? What sort of music would a forest make: Organic tranquillity or an unforgiving assault of Darwinian ruthlessness?

The chances are good that such thoughts have never crossed your mind, for this is surely the domain of true poets or lunatics. However, you could quite convincingly argue that the entirety of Wolves in the Throne Room’s musical journey has been spent contemplating this very question, and their successive outputs on the subject have been a result of their ongoing musings in the ways of the forest and nature.

Having been introduced to this band by a nameless American fellow I conversed with at a (Marduk?) gig inLondonmaybe five or so years ago, I’ve always been interested in their melancholic pantheistic take on Black Metal. That’s to say that they deviate too far from the basic musical template, for you can be under no illusions that what they create is in essence anything other than Black Metal in both sound AND ideology.

What has continued to define them, if not necessarily set them apart from both orthodox and ‘mainstream’ (i.e. more well known and successful while still being ‘true’) Black Metal bands?

Their sound has become quite honed over the years, but it has never been too far removed from how it began, and is best described as doomy/droney, proggy melancholic Black Metal. The vocals are always consistently harsh with no clean or spoken word passages while the music although well produced maintains a sincere rawness, in keeping with the very organic aesthetic that the band wishes to both convey and evoke.

So with all this in mind, what does ‘Celestial Lineage’ have to offer? Well, the first thing any long time fan will notice is the fact that there are in fact SEVEN tracks on this release! That’s three more than usual! Ok, so two of them are below 2 minutes in length, but you’re still getting more than you’ve come to expect, even if the album length isn’t any longer than usual, it’s nice to have things broken down a little, as 15-20 minute songs although epic and evocative, can be a bit of a drag when you merely want to listen to some decent music while doing the washing-up, as opposed to immersing yourself in the hypnotic glory of nature’s splendour.

As with prior releases, there are some tactfully placed female vocals (no, not in a poncey way, should you be unfamiliar with their works) which are well accentuated by the music and further achieve the objective of transporting the listener to another realm, beyond the crude modernity to which we so easily submit.

On the whole, this is a good release from a band that has yet to disappoint, however, this does not entirely live up to the standard set by prior works, for it seems to lack any distinctly defining moments. Admittedly, this may simply be a release which needs to  be devoured slowly over time in order for the full flavour to be appreciated, for do not think for one moment that there aren’t some truly stellar tracks on offer here, but this is not some quick fix release. Neither were any of the preceding albums, but this in particular seems like something that requires a lot more time and attention than before, which can either be seen as a strength or a weakness.

This is still an intense, mesmerising musical experience, reminiscent of how many describe Weakling (I found the music to be less than what the hype would have me believe) or Drudkh (in terms of atmosphere) and comes highly recommended if you’ve never heard them before, however I would say that previous releases ‘Diadem of 12 Stars’ and ‘Two Hunters’ remain this band’s highest artistic achievements which they’ve yet to surpass.

Hopefully the rumours that this is their last release and that they’ll be splitting up after the present tour are proved to be false, as they still have a lot to offer the world of metal and the Wolves would be sorely missed.

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