Dark and dreamy
Wolves In The Throne Room's sound is a split personality of dreamy atmospherics with dark metal riffs, fuzzy distortion and death metal style demonic screams. Understandably they cite Neurosis as an influence and have an obvious European black metal sound, however they also draw on myth, spirituality and nature for inspiration so that the huge sound of the tracks correlates directly to a need to connect to the natural landscapes around them.
Musically their sound is huge with epic builds and it soars beautifully. The opening track starts with a lovely soothing sung vocal line and finishes with rushing water and bird sounds but in between it moves through intense drumming and those black metal female vocal screams. At nearly twelve minutes it has plenty of time to build and change before segueing into the sound of metal being sharpened on stone with a vocal backing of tribal sounding 'ooh's' and the sound of wind. The short but sweet second track is just an interlude of sorts but is soothing and moodily atmospheric, flowing like the landscapes the band is trying to conjure up.
'Woodland Cathedral' is one of the highlights of the record with hints of psych and folk with synth woven throughout and the twinkling of bells and effects on the dreamy vocals. It may not have the apocalyptic blasts of guitar noise and the Euro-style death vocals but it is extremely effective in creating mood.
It's easy to see from this record why WITTR are so respected; their sound is impressive and so rich that it draws you in instantly. The atmosphere of the places they love is embedded in the tracks and they bring this to you so effectively that you feel that presence behind the music all the way through. My only concern was those black metal vocal screams, but luckily the levels are perfect and they never take over or distract you.