WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM – Primordial Arcana

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM veröffentlichen am 20. August 2021 ihr neues Album „Primordial Arcana“, das erste in sich geschlossene Werk der Band.

“Our music invokes the Spirits that reside in the mountains and rivers—the Sun and Moon, the plants and animals. These deities have been with us since ancient times, but their voices have been drowned out in the modern world,” so beschreibt die Band ihre Musik.

Aaron Weaver ist die treibende Kraft hinter WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, die Band, die er 2002 mit seinem Bruder Nathan gegründet hat. Und jetzt, fast zwei Jahrzehnte nach ihrer Reise als schamanische Beschwörer, sind WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM mit ihrem bisher majestätischsten Album aus dem Wald zurückgekehrt. Primordial Arcana ist das erste komplett in sich geschlossene Werk der Band. Neben Komposition und Performance übernahmen die Weaver-Brüder und Gitarrist Kody Keyworth alle Aufnahmen, Produktion und Mix in ihren eigenen Owl Lodge Studios in den Wäldern des Staates Washington.

Der Titel des Albums weist auf archetypische Energien hin: “As children we encountered the work of Joseph Campbell and the study of ancient mythologies inside every human culture,” Aaron says. “These archetypal truths and psychological structures inspire us and give us strength.”

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM erweitern mit Primordial Arcana den Black Metal um ihren eigenen musikalische Stil: “After we discovered Metallica and Slayer in our early teens, the first extreme metal bands we were into were Deicide and Morbid Angel,” Aaron explains. “So death metal was there from the very beginning, and I think it especially comes to the fore on this record.”

Symphonic Black Metal war auch die Schlüsselinspiration. “We wanted to emphasize the role of the synthesizers to create an epic and grand atmosphere,” Aaron explains. “The Owl Lodge has a towering monolith of rack synths from the ’90s. They contain sounds that cannot be created any other way.”

Der Titeltrack heißt “Mountain Magick” und lebt von alpinen Gitarren Melodien. “Thrice Woven was very earthy,” sagt Aaron. “But this album is a little colder and sharper—like crisp air high up in the mountains, closer to the spirit world and more removed from the realms of human beings. ‘Mountain Magick’ is an invocation of that energy. It’s an entry point into the world of magic and dreams.” “Spirit of Lightning” kehrt kurz auf die irdische Ebene zurück, als Hommage an die in der Musik geschmiedeten menschlichen Verbindungen “Metal is a community that’s bonded together through music and spirituality,” erklärt Aaron. “This song is an homage to that community, that brotherhood and the virtues that can be espoused through it—going all the way back to the progenitors of the genre.”

“Primal Chasm (Gift of Fire)” ist eine Explosion von kosmischer Größe, eine symphonische Wiedergabe der hermetischen Maxime.

“This song is Kody’s baby, but I think the lyrics are a dreamtime retelling of creation,” so Aaron. “The act of the universe creating itself comes from the same impulse—it all springs from the same source, the same union of fire and ice. It’s the interplay between polarized opposites, and it’s from their contradiction and chaos that life happens and music and the planets are created.”

Diese Methodik hat mit Primordial Arcana einen neuen Höhepunkt erreicht. “We’ve gotten even deeper into the DIY aspect by building our own recording studio from the ground up, and producing and mixing the record ourselves,”  erklärt Aaron. “And now we’re making our own videos within the local wilderness. So we’ve been able to keep all of the creative control between the three of us while raising the bar creatively. As we become more insular and rely on ourselves more, the art gets better and sharper—a more perfect representation of what the band is all about.”

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM sind:

Nathan Weaver – vocals, guitars

Aaron Weaver – drums, synths

Kody Keyworth – vocals, guitar

with:

Galen Baudhuin – bass guitar and melodic vocals on “Through Eternal Fields”

Yianna Bekris – acoustic guitar on “Masters of Rain and Storm“

Track List

1. Mountain Magick (05:56)

2. Spirit of Lightning (06:24)

3. Through Eternal Fields (05:54)

4. Primal Chasm (Gift of Fire) (05:02)

5. Underworld Aurora (07:30)

6. Masters of Rain and Storm (10:43)

7. Eostre (03:05)

Note: Playing times slightly differ on LP versions.

The 2LP version comes with the additional track, “Skyclad Passage”.