Wolves in the Throne Room – Thrice Woven

Thanks to bands like Deafheaven, Oathbreaker and, indeed, Wolves in the Throne Room, black metal has had something of a renaissance lately. It’s funny, because a lot of that is based on the supposed addition of shoegaze to the mix as if adding reverb, because it was on trend at the time, made this already extremely atmospheric genre more palatable.

The truth is, of all of heavy metal’s subgenres, black metal has always been the one that stood a chance of getting more mainstream recognition, largely because the style is about transporting the listener to a different astral plane rather than beating you over the head with heaviness. Olympia, Washington’s Wolves in the Throne Room have always been masters of this, though they nearly sent genre traditionalists into a tizzy with their practically ambient Celestite in 2014. 

Thankfully for them, Thrice Woven returns the band to their original glory. This is, simply put, a beautifully composed black metal record that stands up with all the greats. Opening track Born from the Serpent’s Eye alone is such an epic feat, listeners will wonder how they could possibly top it until they hear the Steve Von Till of Neurosis-featuring The Old Ones Are With Us that is.

Listen to: Born from the Serpent’s Eye, The Old Ones Are With Us, Fires Roar in the Palace of the Moon