Wolves in the Throne Room Diadem of 12 Stars LP white

$

37

Debut full length from Wolves in the Throne Room. This copy of Diadem of 12 Stars is on WHITE VINYL and has never been played. Here is a description of this album...

"Wow. well I'm happy. Southern Lord in their continuing battle to Hoover up the very best in black metal and give it the royal treatment it always deserved are on a roll at the moment. With last week's simply stunning one-two punch of Velvet Cacoon re-issues now we have something totally different but equally as jaw-dislocating, the debut full-length from Olympia three-piece Wolves in the Throne Room. Coming on double vinyl (one track per side, doom fans) and housed in some of the most typically BM sleeve art I've seen for a while (trees, more trees - then open the gatefold to reveal some broadsword smelting and, mercy me, full frontal gothchick nudity! Nice to know I can cancel my suicidegirls.com subscription) you almost know you're in for something special before the needle has hit the wax, then it hits you. The first thing you notice from the music is that the production is a little too glossy. what with the rasp and high end clatter of most black metal (typified by Burzum's recordings and more recently Striborg) you get the sense that these guys can actually mix their tracks. The usual wall of guitar and pots 'n pans hyper drumming is adorned by buried synthesizers and -shock horror- wailing lead guitar lines. This is black metal, without a shadow of a doubt, but there's a sense that Wolves in the Throne Room wouldn't be happy simply letting themselves sit happily into the USBM scene fronted by Xasthur, Leviathan and Nachtmystium and with their tracks clocking in at around twenty minutes each, there's a sense that they're not afraid to prog it up a little. Indeed the band quote folk music as a major influence, and I've managed to find a photo of one member holding an acoustic guitar (!) so when the metallic haze drops into simple, plucked acoustic guitar it's not a total shock - in fact it brings to mind those Eastern European bands who suddenly come out with a folk album to re-discover their roots (hello Skyforger) except this only lasts two minutes before jumping straight back into the ear-pummelling guitar. A good comparison (especially given the North-West proximity) would be SF metallers Weakling, but blasting this in the office today I couldn't help think that Wolves in the Throne Room owe just as much to the NWOBHM bands - Iron Maiden in particular. Those carefully observed harmonic chords, the screaming lead. at times it's only the vocals that serve to link the band back to the black metal scene, then we're launched back into an Emperor-style ('Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk'-era) symphonic BM blast replete with synthesizers and wailing vocals. I'm probably going on a bit (again) but this really is a special record, one for metal fans who aren't just obsessed with buying the latest sliver of hipster limited edition wax to hoard for Ebay, rather this is for metal fans who grew up with their ears open. Another absolute stormer for Southern Lord - you know what to do."