Review: “Black Cascade” (Wolves in the Throne Room)

Wolves in the Throne Room have already delivered a great black metal release earlier in the year with the EP Malevolent Grain, but they are back a mere two months later with a full LP, Black Cascade. Despite the short amount of time between the releases, they have a very different sound to them. Just seconds into the first track, “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog”, the trademark blast beats and tremolo guitars of black metal are in full force, a sharp contrast to the more experimental sound of Malevolent Grain. Despite the shift in direction, Wolves in the Throne Room have managed to deliver yet another great album.

With no song less than 10 minutes the track lengths may seem daunting, but like all great black metal it becomes hypnotizing and trance-like, causing the songs to speed by. The riffs are great; dark, skull crushing, and memorable. The songs never become monotonous and well placed ambient sections keep the listener hooked.

The second track, “Ahrimaniac Trance”, is perhaps the highlight of the album. The title is quite fitting. A small bit of research led me to discover that Ahriman is the Christian equivalent of Satan in Zoroastrianism. The song starts off heavy and fast, before falling apart into a mesmerizing atmospheric section in the latter half of the song. The momentum continues into “Ex Cathedra”, which contains an amazing transition out of a softer section. Incredible riffing in the final track, “Crystal Ammunition”, ends the album on a high note and leaving the listener wanting more.

Wolves in the Throne Room have been enjoying a fair amount of success and are quickly becoming one of the more prominent bands in the USBM scene. Because of this, they are also enduring a fair amount of backlash. Personally, after hearing both of their 2009 releases I believe they are deserving of all the praise they receive. In Black Cascade they have created perhaps their most straightforward and raw release so far, but in doing so they have created an incredible album and one that sets the bar high for other black metal releases this year.

Rating: 4/5

1. Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog   [10:33]
2. Ahrimaniac Trance   [14:05]
3. Ex Cathedra   [10:58]
4. Crystal Ammunition   [14:20]

New Lifting Shadows Song

Over the past few days or so I’ve put the finishing touches on a new Lifting Shadows song titled “Only As Strong…” a fast and quick thrash like song with a ton of twists and a Tool meets The Mars Volta section. Does that even make sense? If so, that’s how I would best describe it

This weekend I hope to both practice with the whole band as well as find some time to work on Static Light.

Lazy!

In contrast to the fairly productive winter break I’ve been lazy as hell this week! I’m not complaining, I feel recharged and confident enough to survive through another trimester of school, but it does mean that the weeks leading up to the release of my first solo album are going to be very stressful as I try and pull it all together.

I was considering doing a full review of the relatively new Wolves in the Throne Room EP, Malevolent Grain, which was released in February, but I never got around to it. Instead I’ll offer my brief thoughts here. It’s probably the best black metal release I’ve heard yet this year. It was only released on vinyl, and it has one song per side. The first song is fairly experimental for black metal and features some interesting instrumental parts as well as a female vocalist. The second side is some incredible, atmospheric, Burzuzm-like black metal done very well. I highly recommend this release to black metal fans, and needless to say my expectations for their new LP being released in a couple weeks is quite high.

School starts on Monday, a moment which I’m dreading but quite successfully keeping out of my mind as I try and enjoy these last few days of break.

(finally)

Yesterday Patrick and I finally got together with our singer for Lifting Shadows the first time, after considering him for at least a month now. We got a little less accomplished than we probably would’ve hoped, but it was fun and a step in the right direction. Hopefully now that we finally have a full band together, stuff will start to come together soon (meaning shows + recordings).

EDIT: This is my 100th post on this blog When I first made it I had no idea I would keep with it this long, have this many hits (2,777 as of now), and have so many interesting musical projects going on!

Counterproductive

So far this spring break has been a bit of a letdown and I haven’t gotten much done because of being sick last week and being in Boston. I did however start working on the artwork for my solo album today which is only a little over a month away from releases, which is slightly stressing because less than half of the album is completely finished. It’s going to be a busy couple weeks finishing it up, which goes against my lazy nature.

I realized today I haven’t done a review here in a few weeks, so look for one this week, as well as updates on Lifting Shadows, Static Light, and my as of now unnamed black metal project.

Sick

What’s a better way to start spring break then having a temperature of 101 and feeling like utter crap? Unfortunately that’s how I’ve felt the last couple days and why I haven’t been up to posting. I’m going to the doctor’s in a few minutes, hopefully they’ll be able to prescribe some antibiotic to help me get over this quicker.

On Saturday, before the sickness really kicked in, I got together with Patrick and we started writing some songs for the black metal band I’m starting. It went really well, we’re both very satisfied with them and to be honest we think they’re great black metal songs.

I think I’m going to get away from the computer screen now so I don’t get sick to my stomach. If this post doesn’t make much sense, it’s because it’s the first thing I’ve written in days and I’m not proofreading it at all.

Concert Craziness

Crafty bit of alliteration in the title, aye? Anyway, much to my delight, I find that my next few months are starting to fill up with a good amount of concerts. I’ve only been to one (an Opeth concert in September) but by summer that will more than triple. On top of everything currently scheduled, there should be at least a couple more shows that I’ll see but the dates haven’t been announced yet. So here’s my line up as of now…

• April 25th – Amon Amarth – Webster Theater, Hartford CT
• May 2nd – Opeth – House of Blues, Boston MA
• June 6th – Nine Inch Nails – PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel NJ
• August 8th – Mayhem Festival – Dodge Music Center, Hartford CT

I’m most excited for the Nine Inch Nails concert, though I’m sure it will be a bittersweet experience due to Trent’s announcement that NIN will be going on an indefinite hiatus at the end of this tour. I’m not 100% sure I’m going to Mayhem because there’s only two acts I want to see performing, so if the ticket prices are high I’ll skip it.

Give me a shout if you’re going to any of these

Planning

Next weekend is shaping up to be a busy one, as I’ve already planned a couple of Lifting Shadows practices, including one where I’ll finally be able to work with our newfound singer for the first time, as well as probably a few more during the week. Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze some time in for Static Light, as I find myself realizing I have little over a month to finish the album.

I’ve started writing some black metal songs due to Patrick’s suggestion of starting a black metal band. I have to admit, the genre has quickly become one of my favorites so his proposal was quite an attractive one. He would handle the vocals as well as be the second guitarist, and my friend from school has agreed to be the bassist. Patrick thinks that he has found someone to drum, so I’ll find out sometime over March break. Regardless, I’ve made it clear that Lifting Shadows is the priority, especially since we’re close to being able to play some shows.

I was planning on writing a review of the Mars Volta album “Frances the Mute”, but stopped halfway because I felt I wasn’t doing the album justice. I saved what I had and will probably return to it eventually. Essentially my opinion of the album is that it’s amazing, so listen to it if you haven’t already.