### Wolves In the Throne Room: Diadem of twelve stars

#### 25/11/10 || The Duff

Some slandering reviews hit the nail on the head so astutely that it’s hard to disagree even if you appreciate what’s being torn apart. Ex-staff member Seker very accurately described Wolves in the Throne Room’s sound whilst sharing his distaste for it; maybe I’d be less likely to smile at the choice of words used if I hadn’t read it while trying to settle into the band’s debut and taking my time at it – goddamn I miss that lil’ fucker.

My relationship with once overly-productive currently ex-staffer Euthanatos is a little more straightforward; we roughly enjoy the same music, I think him too lax on albums whereas he may think me overly critical, and in the long, hot Summer of 2003, I let him suck my cock – it is between Seker’s views and Euth’s opinion on the band’s 2008 effort that I find myself falling when approaching “Diadem of 12 Stars”.

Since the advent of Agalloch, the rise of grey-metal (black metal, I’m assuming, with more of a limp, hopeless feel) has become more prevalent; within this recent surge Wolves in the Throne Room seem to have become incredibly popular overnight, since their sophomore so remorselessly torn apart by GD-lovechild Seker (a product of Daemo’s seed and Inquisitor Generalis’ incubator or “fuck-hole” or “rosebud mouth”, depending on how “hard to get” she’s playing) if I was to put a timeline to it, but really, these guys from Olympia, Washington aren’t doing anything new.

The raspy vocals are probably the most endearing aspect of the outfit’s sound as well as most genuinely tied to black metal (Nathan Weaver’s lows reminiscent of legendary Grutle Kjellson); musically, it’s earthy tone mixed with a barren sound, although they seem to profess quite a connected philosophy (environmentalism, of all things) when asked of their message, going by Wikipedia that of “purifying black metal”; rest assured then that with the depression comes thoughts of running streams, trees, night-time bonfires, caves and stuff.

The chief appeal comes in the duration of the tracks, where long-winded, repetitive sections are tagged onto each other to form what to some may appear needlessly lengthy meanderings to make mall-kids moist. I joke, I don’t know anything about American culture, but there is a sense of this band’s having tapped into the right market because past bands have played this style of black metal for years now and much better at it, only to find themselves breaking sweat commercially the past four or five years if at all.

In their defense, they convey their “green” message well, and it’s good music for what it is; two tracks (one split down the middle) spanning over twenty minutes each and an opener of thirteen, you can bet it’s going to be a winding, atmospheric, sometimes haunting ride (the tinny, full-bodied production works wonders), but this band is irrelevant on many fronts – good composers, average musicians, a decent band mixing Darkthrone/Burzum, Enslaved, Agalloch, folk and doom that will be the cream of the crop to those who’ve tackled black metal but once a year.

- Information
- Released: 2006
- Label: Vendlus Records
- Website: Wolves In the Throne Room MySpace
- Band
- Rick: guitars, vocals
- Nathan: guitars, vocals
- Aaron: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Queen of the Borrowed Light
- 02. Face in a Night Time Mirror (Part 1)
- 03. Face in a Night Time Mirror (Part 2)
- 04. (A Shimmering Radiance) Diadem of 12 Stars