Maximum Metal Rating Legend

Wolves In The Throne Room Black Cascade Company: Southern Lord Release: 2009 Genre: Black Reviewer: Grim Gaijin

Leaves the competition in the dust

Wolves In The Throne Room have never ceased to amaze me. In their short 7 year career, they have put together 3 albums and 2 ep's of some of the most amazing black metal that has ever been recorded. Although they sound like they could be from the mountains of Norway, they are actually from Olympia, Washington. This is an important fact, especially since the US is not necessarily known for being a focal point of black metal. Wolves In The Throne Room continue on their path of destruction with their 3rd album, Black Cascade. As with their previous 2 albums, Black Cascade consists of 4 epic black metal hymns (with the shortest song coming in at a hefty 10 1/2 minutes).

There are several factors that make WITTR so special. First of all, they are great musicians and superb songwriters. They have the gift of creating some of the most melodic guitar harmonies, that don't sound run-down or re-hashed. Secondly, they successfully infuse (in parts) post-metal riffs and ambience to create a sonic, yet stunning & terrifying vision for each of their songs. Lastly, they have the ability to keep their extraordinarily longs song from sounding boring and redundant with the use of beautiful acoustic guitars, percussion instruments, and lead female vocals that are not your typical cheesy run-of-the-mill vocals.

Although all 4 tracks on Black Cascade are exceptional, Ahrimanic Trance is the standout track due to the factors mentioned above. There are even some psychedelic moments toward the end of this 14 minute song that will keep you in a black metal trance well beyond the conclusion of the song.

Wolves In The Throne Room are the best black metal band on the planet today! Although their music is not highly technical and the production efforts are at a minimum, they truly represent the black metal genre and leave the competition in the dust.