Wolves In The Throne Room

Architects of Cascadian Black Metal

When Wolves In The Throne Room formed in 2002 in Olympia, Washington, founded by siblings Nathan and Aaron Weaver, few could have predicted that this project would fundamentally redraw the coordinates of American black metal. Raised on a remote farmstead in Washington State, the Weaver brothers rejected the Satanic clichés of the second wave from the outset, instead cultivating a profoundly ecological-spiritual aesthetic that transformed the Pacific Northwest – its ancient forests, its isolation, its primal ferocity – into a sonic foundation. The term Cascadian Black Metal, named after the Cascade bioregion, became the genre designation for an entire movement encompassing bands like Skagos, Fauna, and Alda.

Their debut Diadem of 12 Stars emerged in 2006 as a self-release on the band's own Artemisia Records imprint before South Korean underground label Vendlus Records provided wider distribution. The album already displayed the project's unmistakable signature: sprawling, 20-minute compositions interweaving black metal fury with extended ambient passages. International breakthrough arrived in 2007 with Two Hunters via Southern Lord Records – an album that, featuring guest vocalist Jessika Kenney and producer Randall Dunn (Sunn O))), Earth), achieved unprecedented sonic depth at Seattle's legendary Aleph Studios. The record stands today as a milestone of atmospheric black metal.

With Black Cascade (2009) and Celestial Lineage (2011), both remaining on Southern Lord, Wolves In The Throne Room progressively intensified their sound. Celestial Lineage, again produced by Dunn and tracked at London Bridge Studios, incorporated pronounced doom influences and female choral vocals for the first time. Following an extended touring hiatus, the band returned in 2014 with Celestite – a purely instrumental dark ambient album conceived as an experimental companion piece to Celestial Lineage, released on their own Artemisia Records.

2017's Thrice Woven marked the return to distorted black metal, now with guitarist Kody Keyworth (ex-Lycus) as a permanent member. Recorded at Owl Lodge Studios in the Washington backcountry, the album features guest vocalist Anna von Hausswolff and Neurosis' Steve von Till. With Primordial Arcana (2021) via Relapse Records – their first album for the esteemed extreme metal label – the band achieved a new equilibrium between hymnic grandeur and raw natural force. Vinyl first pressings have consistently appeared as strictly limited editions and are now sought-after collector's items.

Discography

2006 - Diadem of 12 Stars (Vendlus Records)
2007 - Two Hunters (Southern Lord Records)
2009 - Black Cascade (Southern Lord Records)
2011 - Celestial Lineage (Southern Lord Records)
2014 - Celestite (Artemisia Records)
2017 - Thrice Woven (Artemisia Records)
2021 - Primordial Arcana (Relapse Records/Century Media)

Important EPs
2005 - Wolves in the Throne Room (Demo, self-released)
2008 - Malevolent Grain (Southern Lord Records)
2013 - BBC Session 2011 Anno Domini (Southern Lord Records)
2016 - Diadem of 12 Stars (Vinyl Reissue) (Artemisia Records)
2023 - Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge (Relapse Records)