It's been more than 20 years since Wolves In The Throne Room first emerged from the United States bringing about a new wave of black metal.
They call it 'Cascadian Black Metal' cinematic and explorative, they have never been a band to rest on their laurels, netiher have they been afraid of composing and performing heretical black metal in a country that often goes overboard with it's religious zeal for the Bible.
I would think this is perhaps why WITTR are more respected and celebrated in Europe. With an incredible live show, that consumes you, their albums are always musical journeys though multiple genres, they are often conceptual, always evocative and unwaiveringly brilliant if you're a fan of extreme metal with intelligence.
Their latest album Estuary, looks to be another exemplary offering from this blackened coven, recorded with analogue equipment, with the full skill of this veteran band, they lend and ear to nature yet again, it's always been at the heart of what they do, the unyielding power of nature.
On Estuary we have a concept that takes place "1,000 years in the future, after the death of civilization" and how by nature reclaiming the Earth, full peace and tranquility can be reached, it's got huge whacks of sci-fi in the story with the balance between the the synthetic and the organic.
A duality that is explored musically on the record. The blasts of frigid black metal, are rawer and carry a savagery that WITTR have increased for Estuary, the title track bringing intensity from its opening moments, dramatic and intense it builds towards the end with a kind of catharsis that takes us into the rest of the record.
On the other side, this tenacity and ferocity shifts through the ambience and atmospheres of forests, rain and sunlight, natural elements that are reflected by the Gothic overtones and industrial dissonance on Knights Of Tiamat, exploring numerous musical styles against the black metal intensity.
The intensity comes from the twin guitar prowess of Nathan Weaver and Kody Keyworth who also share vocals for more dichotomy, as Aaron Weaver provides the devastating percussion barrage, the synths (The Orca Cliffs) and even some spoken word, when the storytelling needs it.
Touring bassist Galen Baudhuin plays bass in the studio for the first time, adding a bottom end rumble to the epic Foretold In Reflections. Estuary comes to and end with two of its finest moments, the massive Ghosts Among The Obelisks shifts numerous times in pace, speed and style while Wretched Spirits, Land Of Light, caps off the magnificent Estuary record with a track that has black meeting classic metal.
Wolves In The Throne Room rarely do anything wrong, and with album number 8 they stay at the summit of the USBM scene. 9/10
Boss Keloid - Float & Aperture (Church Road Records) [Matt Bladen]
Boss Keloid are band steeped in magic, a band that truly defines the idea of the progressive side of prog rock, no two of their albums are ever the same but they are always undeniably Boss Keloid.
It's a neat trick and one that many bands would absolutely fail to replicate, but like I said Boss Keloid are magic, and they are able to move from a intense record such as Family The Smiling Thrush into Float & Aperture which is an album that has garage rock, jazz and even flamenco as inspiration on the expansive, storytelling of Landslide.
Landslide is one of the track out in the run up to this record and it's the perfect showcase of Boss Keloid's experimental sound, moving to the out reaches of what a band like Baroness would do, all clean guitar harmonies and gritty vocals from Alex Hurst who is the interpreter of these tales of resilience, going full Tom Waitts on Aros.
Pedestal, which precedes it, puts odd signatures with psychedelic riffs and guitar sound that makes me think of Mahavishnu Orchestra, but it's all part of the Boss Keloid sound, keeping you guessing, retaining their musical dexterity through each record by never rehashing anything they've done.
On Float & Aperture they cultivated a more collaborative writing culture than before letting the entire bands influences bleed into the songwriting, which means that these tracks can take numerous paths, as they bring their heaviness to Weight, before again taking off into sprawling Middle Eastern inspired melodies and funk riffs.
The guitar interplay between Paul Swarbrick and Hurst is on another level, counter-pointed and collaborative at the same time, it's a panoramic palette of pedalboards and virtuosity but the impact of it would be much less if it wasn't for the interesting and serpentine bass Liam Pendlebury-Green and the intuitive, expressive and progressive drums and percussion from Ste Arands.
Float & Aperture is the more blissful and illusory side of Boss Keloid, foregoing heaviness of their sludge beginnings for wanderings through world music and the sonic experimentation of bands such as King Crimson, magic from start to finish. Let go of musical inhibitions and embrace Boss Keloid. 9/10
Leng Tch’e - Hammered Into Collapse (Season Of Mist) [Mark Young]
Well, I think that Leng Tch’e have released the crowning definition of a short, sharp shock with their two track single Hammered Into Collapse. The songs represent their first new music since 2017’s Razorgrind and it sees the Belgium outfit taking no prisoners.
Hammered Into Collapse is just brutal, there’s not really a lot more I can give you. It says that this is for fans of Napalm Death, Aborted to name two outfits but based on how this drops into view its for anyone who tells you they love extreme metal. I don’t know anything of their previous releases and I’m not going to pretend that I do but based on this one song, I want to know more.
When its running, its fast, throwing pelters at you non-stop. When it slows, its massive, crushing you under foot. In either case it is a stunning piece of work, one that wraps up in two minutes. And then they hit you with Voided. This fires like a chain-gun, its glorious in the fact its prime directive is to smash. Voided avoids repeating the same trick as Hammered, it remembers that it needs to change tack ever so slightly, but only slightly.
There is something about heavy music, especially no fucks given, fire breathing heavy music that just gladdens my soul. There isn’t any airs or graces to this, no pretence just pure blissful noise. And that’s that. Two songs, 5 minutes if that. And its probably 5 of the best minutes you will spend listening to music this year. 8/10
Earthbong - Salutations To the Cultivators (Lasting Dose Records/Evil Noise Recordings) [Mark Young]
Blessed are the Cheesemakers…hang on, wrong place. Earthbong have popped up with what can be described as an album that one may (or may not) imbibe certain things to. 4 songs, 39 minutes, which should tell you all you need to know what is coming your way. This is their 4th album,
Bug is a ten minute, lumbering monster that brings you a sound so thick, so dense it anesthetises you during its unspooling. Its not the quickest, but they somehow manage to slow this down to an anguished crawl before they pick it back up again.
Doom can be hit or miss; with Bug they use every available second to make it as interesting for the listener as they can. Its not short of tempo changes, and that super thick sound is ever present, carrying over onto Third Eye, its bass driving it in a descending move whilst Roy Batty’s words play out over it.
In all honesty, they could have welded these two together and just had it run as one song. This one brings more to the table, the sound expanding with short, ragged lead stabs that quickly come and go. The final two minutes are exemplary in how they gradually ramp up without dramatically altering how the song has ran.
Harvester starts in a more restrained and melancholic manner, a guitar line that is sublime whilst the drums do the heavy lifting in propelling this song along. That is one constant here, the drums have been a masterclass on this as is their sound. The transition at about 2 or so minutes from one approach to that full throated all encompassing sound is spot on as it is effortless on their part to move between them.
Harvester starts in a more restrained and melancholic manner, a guitar line that is sublime whilst the drums do the heavy lifting in propelling this song along. That is one constant here, the drums have been a masterclass on this as is their sound. The transition at about 2 or so minutes from one approach to that full throated all encompassing sound is spot on as it is effortless on their part to move between them.
It’s easy to dismiss doom as being one riff repeated over and over and its just not the case. Harvester is an example of how a morose piece of music can also move you in its own way. Of course, they do give in to the basic form of doom on Herbal Saints, their 15 minute climax.
As the start of Harvester was (in comparison) soft with smooth edges, Herbal Saints dials that black cloak of sound back in and then just run with it. The opening 3 minutes stakes out the fact that they can bring the riffola at will and then put the brakes on for the main body of the song.
Those drums are central again to the success of this (and the 4 songs as a whole), they provide the foundation from which everything else comes from (Step forward Tommy!!). We shouldn’t take anything away from Selly, the vocals on this are abrasive, guttural and the bass, combined with Ogo’s guitar sound make this such a great listen.
Herbal Saints runs out, gradually reducing in potency and moving towards that sorrowful approach again. They don’t use the length as a means of repetition, the latter moments ebb and flow and close out what is a prime slab of doom. 8/10
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