A mere two years removed from the fifty-minute colossus that is Primordial Arcana, Wolves In The Throne Room have undertaken a full 180 with Crypt Of Ancestral Knowledge (Relapse Records). The four-track extended play is spearheaded by “Beholden To Clan”, and is supplemented by three instrumental-dominant tracks.
Common wisdom would have you believe that most bands approaching their third decade, and / or seventh album, will have found either a comfortable groove, or a furrow that they like to plough, and that the desire to challenge themselves and their supporters, to expand or revitalise their sound, has probably been dissipated to some degree. The cycle begats the (album) cycle and the artist, conscious of the desired output, sates the audience even if they do make token refinements to keep their own creative beasts content. For while there may be tweaks and tinkerings, there are, deep-down, a forest path of a woodland much explored, not often adventures anew.
Synth-driven Funeral Doom and Wolves In The Throne Room protegees Vouna are streaming their entire new album before you can buy it. Releasing this Friday through Artemisia Records, the label forged by Aaron and Nathan Weaver of WITTR. Jam out to the awesomeness below. Vouna is on the road this week on a tour of the Pacific Northwest. Continue reading