A new Wolves In The Throne Room album has been announced for a September 22nd release! Here’s the official word:
Wolves in the Throne Room re-imagine black metal as an ode to rain storms, wood smoke and the wild energies of the Pacific Northwest. They are considered as one of the most potent and highly regarded bands in heavy metal today. Now, a portal into their mythic ethereal heathen landscape opens once again. On September 22nd the band will release Thrice Woven on their own label Artemisia Records. It is a glorious return to the blazing and furious Black Metal that they alone can create.
The album begins with “Born From the Serpent’s Eye” a true thrashing black metal epic that is bisected with a haunting northern lament sung by Swedish star Anna von Hausswolff. The band worked with metal documentarians Peter Beste and Nico Poalillo to create a video for this track which captures a bonfire-lit performance in the forest near their Olympia compound. More on this very soon; to tide us over, check out a trailer that hints at what’s to come.
“The Old Ones Are With Us” opens with the crackling of a fire and the voice of Steve Von Till (Neurosis) invoking the springtime thaw. It then storms into a dirge inspired by 90’s Finnish doom with lyrics that celebrate Imbolc, the holy day which marks the end of winter and the first stirrings of spring. Figures from Norse mythology intertwine with personal heartbreak and rebirth in the bleak “Angrboda”. The song is named after a frost giantess who birthed Fenrir Wolf, a beast who was destined to destroy the world and murder the gods.
Fenrir Wolf also appears on the cover of Thrice Woven in a painting by Russian occult artist Denis Forkas. Forkas’ obscure medieval painting techniques perfectly compliment the music of Wolves in the Throne Room.
A raven’s wings stir the air in the interlude “Mother Owl, Father Ocean.” Anna von Hausswolff returns in a duet with Turkish harpist Zeynep Oyku, forlorn industrial atmospheres haunt the mix, Hausswolff’s lyrics, sung in Swedish, echo over a barren grey seascape. “Fires Roar in the Palace of the Moon” is the classic Cascadian Black Metal epic, the third eye opens to see holy rivers being born from the ice on the tallest peaks, the lyrics offer blessings to the waters of the earth as they flow from the high places to the source of darkness, the ocean.
When the band returned to the road in summer 2016 long-time touring guitar player Kody Keyworth was welcomed as a full member of Wolves in the Throne Room. On Thrice Woven, Kody contributes raven’s screams and some of the most brutal and dark riffs. The live line-up also features Peregrine Somerville (Sadhaka) playing 3rd guitar and Brittany McConnell (Wolvserpent) on keyboards and percussion. The effect of three guitars on stage is mesmerizing and reflects the dark psychedelia of the band’s albums.
Look for Thrice Woven to be available on September 22nd and stay tuned for more news from Wolves in the Throne Room to surface soon.
Thrice Woven track list:
1. Born from the Serpent’s Eye
2. The Old Ones Are With Us
3. Angrboda
4. Mother Owl, Father Ocean
5. Fires Roar in the Palace of the Moon
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