Wolves In The Throne Room - Celestial Lineage review
| Band: | Wolves In The Throne Room |
| Album: | Celestial Lineage |
| Style: | Atmospheric black metal |
| Release date: | September 13, 2011 |
| Guest review by: | Boxcar Willy |
01. Thuja Magus Imperium
02. Permanent Changes In Consciousness
03. Subterranean Initiation
04. Rainbow Illness
05. Woodland Cathedral
06. Astral Blood
07. Prayer Of Transformation
Not being one for black metal - the closest I came to understanding the genre was with Woods Of Ypres and Keep Of Kalessin - I decided to give Wolves In The Throne Room's Celestial Lineage a spin as a result of some widespread attention online.
I had my hopes up, and my hopes were met.
This is a very relaxing album, something to listen to in solitude, in your room, with headphones on. After listening to the opening track, you'll find yourself more than intrigued. The chimes and sounds fill your mind, bringing you to a musical wonderland. Then a woman's voice enters the foray, placed perfectly within the song, intriguing you even more. And finally, the entrance of the guitar - that tremolo-picked guitar... and you're gone, taken by the perfect black metal melody.
The album continues in a similar fashion, mid-tempo and simplistic. It's simply breathtaking, backed up by a perfect vocal delivery: harsh, typical black metal shrieks, but not inconceivable or grating. The album gets a major boost from the drums, primarily focused on the utilization of double bass. They pummel the listener, maintaining the tempo seemingly without any effort.
There is a ton of atmosphere to be felt here as well, with a variety of sounds to be heard. The overall feeling keeps you awestruck as every miniscule sound plays its way into your ears. There seems to be something completely new with each listen, something that wasn't there before. It continues to deliver new adventures for the listener to experience.
And that's all a testament to the great production. Far from the bedroom-styled albums you've been listening to over the years, Celestial Lineage is a very professional sounding album. While it's not the best you'll ever hear, it does a fantastic job of highlighting the elements that need highlighting without compromising anything. The most important thing is you can distinctly pick apart each instrument in the mix.
Overall this is a very good album. I would recommend it to anybody who loves black metal, or to anybody who hasn't had much experience in the genre.
Highlight: "Thuja Magus Imperium"
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 8 |
| Production: | 7 |
Written by Boxcar Willy | 12.01.2012
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Rating:
9.0
9.0
|
Rating: 9.0 |
Rainy evenings have a vibe of their own: rainy evenings with entrancing atmosphere are astonishing. The wolves have returned to the throne room and the fourth chapter has been carved in stone. The highly anticipated Celestial Lineage has arrived and along with it the specialists of "Vastness And Sorrow" simply because that's what they always preserved; vastness and depth in terms of sound and an omnipresent escalating bitterness and sonorous rapture. Read more ›› |
Comments
Comments: 10
Visited by: 69 users
| Oaken Hipster Posts: 1322  |
Kudos to this review. Indeed, this is a great album for genre-newbies to listen to.
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155  |
Written by Oaken on 08.06.2012 at 22:10 Thanks, should have put the originality to a 5 or 6 though though :/
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| Oaken Hipster Posts: 1322 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.06.2012 at 22:11 I don't think so. First of all, this is WITTR's sound. If this album was written by another band, then maybe. And also don't forget the orchestral female vocals and the "natural" ambient parts like in Woodland Cathedral. Anyways, Celestial Lineage is one of the most tightly performed and well produced cascadian black metal albums. Just listen to that orgasmic riff at 8:13 in "Astral Blood".
---- In that case, man is only air as well.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.06.2012 at 22:11 I don't find it so unoriginal tbh. Somewhere between 7-8 is good for me. This has actually more things than just black metal btw, it's just quite subtle. I would give far more credit to the production. If there's one thing these guys have besides a great sense of songwriting... is a great sense of how the songs have to sound. Also... Big lol for WOY.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.06.2012 at 22:19 :/ This is an old review, okay!  As for the originality, I suppose you're right, but I hear albums similar a lot. I also agree taht this is more than BM, there are nice ambient, and symphonic elements here 
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.06.2012 at 22:21 Hmmm, I think the originality should be 7 because while it's nothing out of this world, it's THEIR sound. By now it's quite easy to point out a "WITTR-riff" and it's also easy to point out some bands that have been influenced by these guys. Most of the modern albums that has those types of riffs have been influenced by these fellas, which in the return are influenced by the older band Weakling... I also feel the production should be higher, ifthere's one thing these guys are good at besides having a great sense of songwriting, it's a great sense of how it should sund.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.06.2012 at 22:28 True, but remember I wrote this when I was really new to BM, so those little audio bumps we associate with Bm, I thought were bad, therefor I put teh production to a 7. i think it should be an 8 or maybe even a nine. i also think the overall should be up a half a poitn too.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18374 |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.06.2012 at 22:30 This is also true when they play live. I haven't seen them live but I have seen many live videos and they really know how to make it work live (which can be tricky for some BM bands). Fantastic concert right here. Really proffesional sound by these guys (the camera guy also gets some credit). Everything is balanced as it should be. Nothing louder than the rest.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Troy Killjoy perfunctionist Staff Posts: 21306  |
Written by Boxcar Willy on 08.06.2012 at 22:30 This is why people should listen to music more extensively before talking about it as if they have.
---- "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something."
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| Boxcar Willy yr a kook Posts: 9155 |
Written by Troy Killjoy on 09.06.2012 at 01:53 Well, I wanted to review this as a noob, simply because it is a good entry level album.
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