For there only being six songs on this record, we knew we were in for an epic time when news of a new Wolves in the Throne Room album dropped. We remember when these guys first came on the scene, when the name alone sounded like something you’d find carved into the walls of a gothic castle and the logo was damn near impossible to read. Of course, being the resident black and death metal advocate here at Truly Disturbing, I had to give them a listen. What I found was bleak, atmospheric metal that immediately demanded attention, and now we’re back around to see what the band has cooked up this time.
Wolves in the Throne Room will release Estuary on Oct. 23 through Relapse Records, marking the band’s return with a new full length built around a world 1,000 years after civilization has collapsed. The new album is up for pre-order HERE.
Nathan Weaver, who handles vocals and guitar, describes the world behind the album:
“Our new LP ‘Estuary’ is set 1000 years in the future after the end of civilization. Survivors of a cataclysm wander the haunted ruins. It is a world of mutant creatures and open portals. Post-apocalyptic religion takes form in a wild landscape.”
The band has also released the first single, “Ghosts Among the Obelisks,” along with a video directed by Weaver. The track follows a warrior traveling through the ruins of the old world toward a mountain sanctuary as nature slowly reclaims what civilization left behind.
WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR “GHOSTS AMONG THE OBELISKS” BELOW
Weaver also gives us a little more insight into the strange world Estuary is creating:
“If wilderness overcame the cities in the future, the estuaries would be realms of power and magic. Within the album’s world-building, the estuaries are key nexus points where magic has taken on physical form. Spirits good and evil walk the earth.”
The album was produced by Wolves in the Throne Room, with touring bassist Galen Baudhuin contributing bass. Most of the record was tracked at the band’s Owl Lodge studio in Olympia, Washington, while drums were recorded by Nicholas Wilbur at The Unknown, a converted former church in Anacortes, Washington.
The six tracks on Estuary are:
“Estuary”
“Knights of Tiamat”
“Foretold in Reflections”
“The Orca Cliffs”
“Ghosts Among the Obelisks”
“Wretched Spirits, Land of Light”
The record arrives Oct. 23, and if “Ghosts Among the Obelisks” is any indication of where Wolves in the Throne Room are taking us, we’re more than ready to wander into those haunted ruins.