Wolves in the Throne Room

Olympia, Washington, would seem to be an unlikely home for one of the world's most inventive black-metal bands. But Wolves in the Throne Room manages to capture the raw and abundant beauty of that land west of the Cascades. Just as Crass turned a sophisticated, leftist critique of modern society...

By Tom Murphy

September 27, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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Olympia, Washington, would seem to be an unlikely home for one of the world's most inventive black-metal bands. But Wolves in the Throne Room manages to capture the raw and abundant beauty of that land west of the Cascades. Just as Crass turned a sophisticated, leftist critique of modern society into unapologetically caustic yet often humorous music, Wolves songs reveal an almost mystical reverence for the earth and natural processes, coupled with a disdain for the technocratic culture. The band's entire aesthetic reflects a yearning for a parallel culture that will subvert the dominant paradigm by uniting sounds both heady and savage with the transcendent and the sublime. This is perfect tribal music for the modern primitive.

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Tom Murphy is a writer, visual artist and musician from Aurora, Colorado. He was a prolific music writer for Westword and a documenter of the Denver music scene.

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