Wolves in the Throne Room: Celestite

When I first heard about this album I was excited. Now, having listened to it a few times, I can still say that. What I don't know is how other people will feel about it. It's one thing to assume that an album of heavy music will probably be appreciated by people who like heavy music. And then there's this: ambient music developed by an American black metal band. I can just picture people scratching their heads over this one, wondering if their beloved genre has died or, worse, if this band has somehow lost it.

I'm obviously being too dramatic. I think most people who care about Wolves in the Throne Room already understood that this one would be different—the band announced months ago that there would be no drums and no vocals on this one. I think it was also pretty clear that the music would be something more akin to Brian Eno's ambient soundscapes than a traditional black metal album.

Some explanation is in order, especially for those who don't know who Brian Eno is or why he matters. I'll keep the explanation brief—information about the man is widely available online. Simply put, Eno developed ambient music. Sure, there were probably others who experimented with it before him, but he was the one who put it on the map. I have one of the early ambient albums; it's called Music for Airports. The music is made up of few sounds, little melody, and less bombast. The point, according to Eno himself, is that the music flits in and out of one's attention, as if it were the sound of waves crashing against the shore or the wind in the forest. You get the idea. It's music that is both there and not there. It calls attention to the way we experience much of the world. There's more to say about Eno, like how he produced some of the best U2 albums, and that he currently works with Coldplay. He's a big deal, a mover and a shaker. And his influence is all over this album.

So what do curious people get when they pick up this album? According to the band, it's a parallel-universe version of the last album Celestial Lineage. That may work for some people. To me, it's something more. As I see it, this album is an experiment with the vocabulary of black metal, an attempt to strip things back as far as possible, to change the instrumentation, and to discover what lies at the heart of music. Is that too grand a perspective? Perhaps; but I don't know what else to call this. It can't be simple curiosity or one of those "the muse tells me what to do" moments. No, I think this is a deliberate attempt to tug at the vocabulary and the syntax of black metal, to re-imagine it under a new guise, and to discover new possibilities. While this is a good release, I'm really more curious about where the band will go next, what the music will sound like after taking this new direction.

As for the most burning question—is it any good? Yes, but listeners should know that it is ambient music through and through. Please don't think of it as New Age music. This is slightly different, an attempt to understand how music connects with our minds as well as our ears. New Age music, most popular a couple of decades ago, had a different purpose. There are a few heavy parts here, but they aren't of the head banging variety. I think lots of people will like it, but some will be disappointed. It wouldn't make sense to say that this isn't your mother's Wolves of the Throne Room. This isn't your Wolves of the Throne Room. But it can be.

My advice: push play and go for a walk or clean the house or read a book, all the while allowing the ambience to flow in and out or your attention. Even better than that—close your eyes and let the music do it's magic. If you'd like a recommendation, I think that "Turning Ever Towards the Sun" and "Sleeping Golden Storm" are the best tracks.

Track Listing:
1. Turning Ever Towards the Sun
2. Initiation at Neudeg Alm
3. Bridge of Leaves
4. Celestite Mirror
5. Sleeping Golden Storm

Added: July 12th 2014
Reviewer: Carl Sederholm
Score:
Related Link: Band Website
Hits: 2272
Language: english

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