btw if it sounds like the cure bimble & ned will be excited about that. Already tried to get Bimble to check them out.
― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Friday, 14 November 2008 20:19 (fifteen years ago) link
― Soukesian, Friday, 14 November 2008 20:20 (fifteen years ago) link
memo to bimble. Check them out.
― Pfunkboy Formerly Known As... (Herman G. Neuname), Saturday, 15 November 2008 00:57 (fifteen years ago) link
They're OK . . sort of. A little overproduced and conventional for my taste. I'm puzzled as to what so many see in them. A million flavours of BM to choose from, why settle for a decent vanilla?
THIS. i wish they were as exciting as i thought they were gonna be. i even liked their demo. but their albums have gotten progressively less interesting as they don't do metal especially well and don't really do the other things they attempt especially well, either.
i love that carpathian forest cure cover, though.
― open the BLOOD gates! (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Saturday, 15 November 2008 10:13 (fifteen years ago) link
Well, if you're not seeing them live, you're only charting their progress by what they choose to release. I've watched this band grow and change for years and they are really something these days.
― Nate Carson, Saturday, 15 November 2008 16:25 (fifteen years ago) link
they should choose to release better music. then i might go see them live. (j/k, i'd never see them live.)
― open the BLOOD gates! (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Sunday, 16 November 2008 09:12 (fifteen years ago) link
i just got two hunters and malevolent grain and i'm kind of blown away by them. i understand why serious metal dudes might not dig it, because the fact that a metal dilettante like me loves it almost certainly means it's too hybridized and prettified and whatever. but to me it sounds like someone's nailed the 4AD-metal that a lot of people have been edging toward for years. really wanna see them live.
― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 2 April 2009 05:16 (fourteen years ago) link
I saw them last week! They were great as usual, creating that distinctive musical illusion of a furiously paced beat going at a glacial pace. And yeah, I think part of their appeal to me might be that they are crossover material. Haven't heard the new EP yet, new album is now on sale I think.
― sleeve, Thursday, 2 April 2009 05:34 (fourteen years ago) link
i have two hunters. i rarely listen to it, but when i do it's always rewarding. i really like the premise of the rawness of black metal being an expression for nature and its physical energy.
― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 2 April 2009 05:48 (fourteen years ago) link
new album is now on sale I think.
yeah i downloaded that too, haven't listened yet.
― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 2 April 2009 06:17 (fourteen years ago) link
Black Cascade has grown on me to the point where I now think it's better than Two Hunters and as good as Diadem.
― A. Begrand, Thursday, 2 April 2009 08:02 (fourteen years ago) link
im still not sure about black cascade. i was expecting there to be more of the droney freak out stuff from malevolant grain but its played much straighter, even more so than two hunters.
― straightola, Thursday, 2 April 2009 08:27 (fourteen years ago) link
They have a good, evocative name.
Yes indeed, always makes me think of Steve Bull getting his MBE from the Queen.
Anyhow, looking forward to hearing the new one.
― Dom Cry For Me, Passantino (NickB), Thursday, 2 April 2009 08:41 (fourteen years ago) link
their name finally makes good on all those years of lesser "wolf" bands.
its played much straighter
that's my initial impression of black cascade too. on first go-round i like two hunters better, but i'm new to all of it so i need to give it more time to sink in (or wash over me, as the case may be). good band, though.
― paper plans (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 2 April 2009 13:17 (fourteen years ago) link
i saw them last year, opening for Nachtmystium. They were great, better set than Nachtystium's (and indeed, quite a few of the metal horde left after Wolves stopped playing.) One of the best shows I saw last year. I knew about the EP, but had no idea a new full-length was coming out ... nice!
― Plunge Protection Team, Thursday, 2 April 2009 13:33 (fourteen years ago) link
the full length is far more brutal than the ep.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Thursday, 2 April 2009 14:46 (fourteen years ago) link
so after some more times through i really like the toughness of black cascade. if you take it as a package with malevolent grain, it's like the raging id to the EP's superego. or something.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 11 April 2009 16:59 (fourteen years ago) link
Brutal is good...
― leavethecapital, Saturday, 11 April 2009 17:16 (fourteen years ago) link
they're playing with krallice next month, i'm gonna try to go.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 11 April 2009 19:48 (fourteen years ago) link
they are playing here on sunday
kind of digging the long droney stretches on black cascade
― 鬼の手 (Edward III), Tuesday, 19 May 2009 06:11 (fourteen years ago) link
saw them tonight, they were HUGE and good. so much sound. (krallice opened, they were awright.)
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 05:36 (fourteen years ago) link
maybe i was too close??? idk
totally wanted to love them and just didnt
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 05:58 (fourteen years ago) link
i wanted to love them and did. completely enveloping. i would've stayed for a second set.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 06:21 (fourteen years ago) link
they're playing austin in a couple weeks maybe i'll give them another try
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 14:12 (fourteen years ago) link
completely enveloping is otm. how close were you??
― Is because I think a lot of the music you like is flowery? (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 14:15 (fourteen years ago) link
i was toward back of the room, but it's a very small room (the studio at webster hall). then for the last song or so i moved up into the middle.
i also had several margaritas and beers before the show. probably helped with the immersion.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 14:16 (fourteen years ago) link
see i feel like i was 10 feet away
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 15:46 (fourteen years ago) link
I should probably give them a go if they tour the UK. I've been a bit underwhelmed by the records, but there don't seem to be many bands doing this kind of BM live, and I can believe it's a whole different experience. Particularly if they play in the woods.
― Soukesian, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 15:47 (fourteen years ago) link
i was probably 15 feet away and i thought it was perfect.
― Is because I think a lot of the music you like is flowery? (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 15:48 (fourteen years ago) link
Bummed that I missed them on the UK tour at the start of the year. They were due to play down here the day all the snow hit the country. Don't know if the gig went ahead or not, but I'd like to think that they ended up stranded out on the moors somewhere, playing a gig in a snow cave to an audience of black metal badgers.
― Enemy Insects (NickB), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 15:55 (fourteen years ago) link
Didn't even know they were coming - I hope I'm not about to find out about Darkspace touching down in the UK after the event!
― Soukesian, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 16:29 (fourteen years ago) link
the contrast between wolves and krallice was interesting, because it's not like krallice was quiet or anything, and they worked up some good hammering grooves, but wolves' sound was just so much vaster.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 17:21 (fourteen years ago) link
(and i know the headliner always gets to play louder. but it wasn't just a matter of volume in the decibel sense, it was volume in the dimensional filling-the-room sense.)
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 17:23 (fourteen years ago) link
i loved both of them - Krallice was def noodlier tho?
maybe i am just experiencing anti 6 string bass player bias
― unattainable panini (jjjusten), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 17:26 (fourteen years ago) link
krallice def noodlier, yeah. although somewhat less than on the album (partly because a lot of the noodling got buried in fuzz). the noodliness gets a bit much for me on record, even though dude is no doubt a guitar hero.
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 17:29 (fourteen years ago) link
krallice when i saw them played three songs, one of which was probably about 20 minutes long. so yeah, there was noodling.
― Is because I think a lot of the music you like is flowery? (call all destroyer), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 17:36 (fourteen years ago) link
BIG HOOS I will go to this with you.
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 18:00 (fourteen years ago) link
― would you ask tom petty that? (tipsy mothra), Wednesday, May 27, 2009 5:23 PM (3 hours ago)
definitely true that they were the loudest thing i saw all night
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 21:26 (fourteen years ago) link
and yeah dude lemme check the finances but i'm pretty sure i'm down for that
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 21:41 (fourteen years ago) link
xp
I mean I guess my issue was that I kept waiting on the blast beats or howls or something resembling a guitar riff but instead it was just this wash of earcrushing sad static. Not that I have a problem with that as a matter of course, but it just wasn't really what I expected or wanted. As it stood I kept going "is that the drums? are there beats somewhere behind the squall?"
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 21:47 (fourteen years ago) link
maybe the mix wasnt great? the seperation was great when i saw them (admittedly, the club they were at is by far the best venue in town as far as sound goes)
― anal jaguar dudes (jjjusten), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 21:49 (fourteen years ago) link
Hmm I bet every one of these shows sounded better than the time I saw them in a bowling alley in 2004.
― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 22:33 (fourteen years ago) link
Wow that sounded pompous and wasn't meant to.
― Nate Carson, Wednesday, 27 May 2009 22:34 (fourteen years ago) link
hahahahahaha
― anal jaguar dudes (jjjusten), Wednesday, 27 May 2009 22:40 (fourteen years ago) link
ok its official i'm goin next sunday
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 28 May 2009 03:04 (fourteen years ago) link
u down ilxor moniker man or
I always hear this band name to the tune of Adolescents' "Kids of the Black Hole"Also, I love these guys
― bear, bear, bear, Thursday, 28 May 2009 03:08 (fourteen years ago) link
hoos i feel strong positive about your next exposure to these guys
― AMYL NATHRAKH (jjjusten), Thursday, 28 May 2009 04:31 (fourteen years ago) link
seeing them saturday night. two-hour drive to the middle of nowhere, which seems appropriate.
― mte, Thursday, 28 May 2009 14:11 (fourteen years ago) link
Going way back, but I am ready to hear some new stuff from Indian.
― Size-zero-brigade-embrace-token-chubby-chops (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Tuesday, 22 September 2009 22:15 (fourteen years ago) link
me too. Indian are terrific.
― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname), Tuesday, 22 September 2009 22:16 (fourteen years ago) link
Better than ever as a 5 piece. The guy who builds Emperor cabinets is running their visuals and ultra-modded analog synth from the sound board.
― Nate Carson, Tuesday, 22 September 2009 22:26 (fourteen years ago) link
I think I like Diadem the best, followed by Black Cascade and, last, Two Hunters. Why? As I wrote on a different thread, one of my favorite things about traditional metal is how the end of a song is just a killer hook repeated over and over again (examples: Thin Lizzy's Roisin Dubh and Iron Maiden's Hallowed Be Thy Name). Norwegian black metal seemed to skip the song to immediately start at the outro (prime example: the Transilvanian Hunger album). This brings me in a trance lake state, which I love. If it was up to me, it would last forever. Unfortunately the average black metal song doesn't last long. Enter Diadem by WITTR. Derived from Weakling for sure, but as Weakling didn't care to exploit their sound into a vast collection of music, more power to WITTR (someone has to do it!). Bonus points for making their songs very varied within the given genre boundaries and for making the drums almost the most important voice within the music. Two Hunters was a whole different beast. Way more shoegaze than metal, way more more drone than buzz. I liked it, in the name of progress. But it could never top what Diadem did for me. The Malevolent Grain EP was an interesting release, as it showed a band at crossroads. The title song progressed from the Two Hunters sound and added the dreamy esoteric female voice from the shoegaze genre; it didn't do much to me. The second song was a ferocious return to the Diadem form. A style the band opted to continue on Black Cascade, mixing it to a certain extent with the ambient drone of Hunters; so that it isn't a carbon copy of Diadem and, therefore, a disappointment. I'm willing to admit that the songs and hooks on Black Cascade are a tad less memorable than what came before. But it is still one hell of a ride.
― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Tuesday, 22 September 2009 22:53 (fourteen years ago) link
for me it's the opposite. On Two Hunters seemed like the band was focused on telling an epic story. Instead of losing myself to the repetition (which I also love to do), I got lost in the dreamlike ebb and flow of Two Hunters. I didn't really think of it like 'goth/shoegaze there', 'depressive black metal there', until after I had heard the album a million times and read a bunch of articles about it. The last song on Two Hunters is what holds the whole thing together for me. The final battle. That stomping beat as two enemies meet, is some transcendent shit. The second song on Malevolent Grain and the last song on Black Cascade are also huge favorites of mine. These guys finish albums very well.
― A polar bear you can see in a snowstorm (rockapads), Tuesday, 22 September 2009 23:34 (fourteen years ago) link
agree 100% with everyone who said the drummer is the star of Wolves in the Throne Room, but also love the extended passages when the drummer takes a break and it's just flanged fast double-picking.
― A polar bear you can see in a snowstorm (rockapads), Tuesday, 22 September 2009 23:36 (fourteen years ago) link
I've never made it all the way to the end of Black Cascade!
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 23 September 2009 00:10 (fourteen years ago) link
I must say the intensity of the drumming is one of the things I noticed on Black Cascade (in comparison with Diadem). Seems higher in the mix, much more of a driving force.Could you say why you didn't care for Diadem, Alan?
Could you say why you didn't care for Diadem, Alan?
actually, I agree. I listened to two hunters again the other night, and yeah, the drums do sound better on black cascade. mixed higher, more powerful. on two hunters, they seem to get overwhelmed by the rest of the mix at times.
as for diadem, it's been a few years since I listened, so I may just be talking out of my ass... but I just felt like the songwriting wasn't there yet. like they felt like they wanted to make a whole album of epics but weren't quite sure how to go about it. so, instead of length serving to sustain/prolong a tense and driving atmosphere, building intensity all the while, what we get is a bunch of riffs pasted together.
I'm not even entirely against that approach. just didn't work for me on diadem. but again, it's been a while. I might be off.
and I listened to black cascade again. I really have no problem with a band repeating riffs. I love when maiden and thin lizzy do that that as well. love bands like circle and loop too. but imo, many of the riffs on black cascade don't bear repeating endlessly. many just sound like bog standard black metal mush to my ears. so overall, I like bits here-and-there but lose interest over the course of four looooong tracks.
― original bgm, Thursday, 24 September 2009 14:03 (fourteen years ago) link
Just played Black Cascade (which I initially quite enjoyed) back to back with Arckanum "ÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞÞ", both drums-driven records where the black-metal-trance groove is the main but not sole foundation, both shamanic/nature themed bands, etc - and the comparison does not do WITTR any favours at all. It's not just the songwriting, I kept flicking back and forth between tracks from both albums and everything, the vocals, drums, guitars - just sound weaker and flatter.
― Siegbran, Sunday, 27 September 2009 21:45 (fourteen years ago) link
Personally, I'd like to see the band really take a long time to craft the next album. It feels to me (and I have a lot of personal insight here--been close friends with WITTR for many years), that they are always rushed to finish their compositions in the studio. They would do themselves a big favor if they composed something and demoed it a few times before going in to record a final product.
I think they've more than proved themselves on stage by now.
― Nate Carson, Sunday, 27 September 2009 23:26 (fourteen years ago) link
wow, really liking the arckanum so far. have only heard the split w/svartsyn. will have to dig deeper.
― original bgm, Monday, 28 September 2009 03:47 (fourteen years ago) link
that arckanum album is really, really great.
― original bgm, Monday, 28 September 2009 13:53 (fourteen years ago) link
agreed on wanting to hear a more polished WITTR record too. I'll concede that the guitars on black cascade may have been more memorable if they didn't sound so murky.
still haven't seen them live! want to but it just doesn't work out.
― original bgm, Monday, 28 September 2009 13:56 (fourteen years ago) link
ok its official i'm goin next sunday― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 10:04 PM (1 year ago)u down ilxor moniker man or― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 10:04 PM (1 year ago)
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 10:04 PM (1 year ago)
Figures I would just now see this, huh?
― I just wish he hadn't adopted the "ilxor" moniker (ilxor), Wednesday, 2 June 2010 14:36 (thirteen years ago) link
dudes were killing it last night
― bear, bear, bear, Wednesday, 5 January 2011 18:27 (thirteen years ago) link
excited to see them tonight. the new stuff is killer
― gman59, Monday, 12 September 2011 20:49 (twelve years ago) link
this is my favorite BM band name. In fact it's up there for band names overall for me.
― owenf, Monday, 12 September 2011 21:35 (twelve years ago) link
saw them at a show at a punk house in an abandoned church a few days ago, didnt know it was just 2 guys playin guitars. they were good obv
― hank azari & iii (flopson), Tuesday, 13 September 2011 02:09 (twelve years ago) link
huh you must have seen an ad hoc lineup, usually there is a seriously raging drummer. I think him and the other founding guitarist are brothers?
― sleeve, Tuesday, 13 September 2011 02:23 (twelve years ago) link
oh, there was a drummer
― hank azari & iii (flopson), Tuesday, 13 September 2011 02:40 (twelve years ago) link
haha. yeah I saw them the other night in new york with Thou and Krallice. all bands were good. THOU really surprised me. but Wolves were by far the best. such a great live show. they played the bell house and it sounded fucking amazing imo. I definitely recommend seeing them live. Yeah its 2 brothers and a raging drummer. And it was great.
― gman59, Wednesday, 14 September 2011 17:47 (twelve years ago) link
saw them last night. liked em but it was super, super hot and packed with sweaty people and found it a little hard to get in the right frame of mind.
new material sounded... a lot like the old material? I found it tough to distinguish since I'm not overly familiar with their back-catalog but it all seemed of a piece. but this was a live show and I'm looking forward to digesting the new material with a closer listen once the new album drops.
feel like these guys do the atmospheric BM thing very well, the drummer is def excellent and gives everything a nice sense of momentum, etc, etc. but if they could just throw in an honest to goodness RIFF once in a while, it would make a world of difference.
― original bgm, Thursday, 15 September 2011 13:35 (twelve years ago) link
they throw in a lot of new/different shit on the new one, although I suspect it's not terribly conducive to being played live and so maybe isn't emphasised much
― the wrong terry to fuckwit (DJ Mencap), Thursday, 15 September 2011 13:51 (twelve years ago) link
oh, nice. early buzz definitely has excited for it!
― original bgm, Thursday, 15 September 2011 14:01 (twelve years ago) link
hm so
i've been reading up on & watching docus about the cascadia free state blockade and the eco-defense movement in the cascadian mtns more generally, the ELF and Earth First and all that, and then i remembered that these guys are purportedly "cascadian black metal" so i thought i'd try Celestial Lineage since I hadn't really given them a listen since Two Hunters.
i ~get it~ now. like, i was into them before, but now that i've got a better sense of what the region is like, i can totally hear it in the music. i can put on "thuja magus imperium" and close my eyes and see those 400 year old trees with some dude sitting up on a branch watching the sun rise over the mountain amid the snowfall.
really an interesting window into the new record. almost makes me think of agalloch.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 2 March 2012 08:34 (twelve years ago) link
*cascade mountains
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 2 March 2012 08:35 (twelve years ago) link
you nailed it, part of why I like this band so much is because I am down with their philosophy and sense of place.
― fully formed adult banaka unit (sleeve), Friday, 2 March 2012 21:35 (twelve years ago) link
also hoos if you have any questions abt Cascadia stuff or need free copies of Pickaxe or whatever you should message me on ILX.
― fully formed adult banaka unit (sleeve), Friday, 2 March 2012 21:36 (twelve years ago) link
Thoughts on their new ambient-synth album? It doesn't seem that big a leap to me. Same chord progressions, different settings.
I like the drone and drag of it. But obviously not for everyone.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 10 July 2014 04:53 (nine years ago) link
(I guess "Sleeping Golden Storm" is a Leonard Cohen nod? Not musically that I can tell, but he'd probably sound good croaking over it.)
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 10 July 2014 05:08 (nine years ago) link
Really like the new one, but it's my first exposure to them, so i'm not very representative. great band name, though
― ornamental cabbage (James Morrison), Thursday, 10 July 2014 05:17 (nine years ago) link
Listening to it for the first time now. I'm curious how it sounds to someone who's never listened to Tangerine Dream's Zeit, or any of a bunch of other early 70s synth-prog albums that are the root of this sound. I feel like having steeped myself in that stuff for so many years now, I'm kind of incapable of judging this record on its own merits.
― Humorist (horse) (誤訳侮辱), Thursday, 10 July 2014 13:00 (nine years ago) link
I've heard Tangerine Dream and I know that stuff is the explicit reference point for this album, but I am certainly not steeped in it. So I hear this album more in the context of WITTR, and it makes sense in that context too. Compositionally, it's not that much of a departure -- you could arrange the songs with walls of guitar and blast-beats, and it would sound a lot like other Wolves albums.
Anyway, I like it. I'd be interested to see how they incorporate it into live sets.
― something of an astrological coup (tipsy mothra), Thursday, 10 July 2014 14:39 (nine years ago) link
Celestite has taken me by surprise, there's some really magical parts in there.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 11 August 2015 10:57 (eight years ago) link
I'm feeling emo tonight and "Cleansing" from Two Hunters is really soothing.......
― Hi diddley dee, hen fapper's life for me (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 03:49 (six years ago) link
I still feel like the most recent two are my favs tho. was a bit surprised at some of the lukewarm reaction to Thrice Woven as I feel like melodically speaking they really expanded their sound (at least on the opening track).
"Dia Artio" is such a great ambient track too.
I guess I really enjoy black metal centered around the Pacific Northwest wilderness as an omnipresent spirit. Like I think when American black metal sucked is when it tried too much to be Norwegian black metal instead of drawing on what made that work (the regional cultural infusion into the music).
feel like this shoulda been the soundtrack to The Revenant
― Hi diddley dee, hen fapper's life for me (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 13 February 2018 03:54 (six years ago) link
no doubt, i've felt like I had ropes around my chest due to stress all day, and Celestial Lineage completely sucked it out.
I forgot how dense this album is.
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Thursday, 23 July 2020 03:41 (three years ago) link
Ah, now Wolverhampton Wanderers makes sense.
― Sonny Shamrock (Tom D.), Thursday, 23 July 2020 07:59 (three years ago) link
Lol
― Lady Antibody (Neanderthal), Thursday, 23 July 2020 11:13 (three years ago) link
every time this thread hits SNA it takes me a moment
― À la recherche du scamps perdu (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 23 July 2020 11:14 (three years ago) link