Customer Reviews

Two Hunters [Vinyl]

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Two Hunters" is an interesting title. According to Nathan Weaver(guitarist/vocalist for Wolves, "the concept is about man and bear in pre-historic times, and their struggle for better or worse. Man won-out with his cunning and intelligience." The concept alone requires strong writing, and the music contains wonderful "depth." Each subsequent listen will reveal another nuance. The riffs are not just thrown together, they are placed for their musical reason and with great care. In other words, this contains some awesome songwriting. The male vocals are nothing short of maniacal screams and tortured resonance. Offset these male vocals with imo, the best female vocals I've heard in 2007, and Wolves have created a beautiful juxtoposition. Everything in this music is perfectly placed. Basically, this is one piece of music in 4 sections. The flow is never interrupted and the sound does'nt stagnate. Quite possibly, the best work of Black Metal I've heard since Negura Bunget's "OM" in 2006. Get this and Get lost in an engulfing sound. Best Black Metal album of 2007. Period.

This is a really eclectic album, blending black metal, ambient, prog, and drone into a powerful and heavily atmospheric recording. Unfortunately, Wolves in the Throne Room get more press about their primitivist lifestyle than their music, but their work speaks for itself. Highly recommended for fans of anything from Mayhem to Sunn O)))--if you like dark, loud & moody, this album is for you.

This band hails from Olympia WA and creates some of the most mystical and beautiful metal Ive heard in a couple of years. As stated, the term Black Metal is thrown around entirely to easy in this day and age, and I wish this could be under control. Wolves in the Throne Room definitely possesses a Black Metal feel but they just go so much deeper and farther than the traditional cult bands, incorporating atmospheric, and a flowing almost trance-like feeling for their listeners. I would encourage fans of all genres of metal to add this to their collection, and read up on this band. Every time I spin either of their discs I am amazed and truly satisfied. Buy Diadem of the 12 Stars as well, you will thank yourself!

I've been trying to get into this area of Metal for a decade. Each time I step forward, willing and eager, only to walk away, disappointed all round that the balance is off again; a little too much here, not quite enough there. Unlike other musical territories, however, I always kept coming back, convinced that I just hadn't tasted the right recipe, that dismissing it as another overly formulaic metal hip was just too easy.

And then it became too difficult to enjoy any type of music without a heavy dash of nostalgia, so I figured I needed something to cleanse my pallet.

So I got into Sunn O)))
And I learned about Wolves in the Throne Room.

Now I'm licking my lips for more.

Thus my biggest critique is an unfair, near-contradiction, as I want this album to be twice as long as it is. The vocals are no less abrasive, the drums are no less jarring, but they manage to soar with the guitars rather than distract from them. Transitions between soothing Goddesses and avenging Demons are abrupt, but far from awkward. In fact, at last, I feel I'm listening to the actions of artists rather than the reactions of malcontents.

It's not very metal of me to say this, but I hope I'm not alone, and I hope they're not either.

I'm not really into the whole "black metal" scene and from what I heard I think MOST of it is just too silly. However I read an on-line article regarding Wolves in The Throne Room which intrigued me. I went to iTunes downloaded what I could (which was Cleansing from Two Hunters) and I immediately fell in love with them. I proceeded to purchase the rest of the album as well as Diadem of 12 Stars. On both albums I was not disappointed at all, although I would say Two Hunters seems to be more well crafted. I constantly play them when I can because I can't seem to get them out of my head. So for those who aren't into "black metal" but are looking for something heavy I'd say gives these guys a chance you won't regret it. For those who are die-hard "black metal" fans, get it you won't be disappointed. Best tracks? If I had to pick... anything on Two Hunters (there are only 4 tracks so there isn't much room for picking and choosing but you really can't go wrong with any of them). Be prepared though tracks can last anywhere from 6 to 20 minutes so an album with only 4 songs can actually equal out to a 12 track LP. This is some of the best new music out there that I've heard in at least 3-4 yrs.

if anything, when I listen to "Two Hunters", thee latest contribution from yet another one of Washington's, more specifically Olympia's genre transcending gems, "wolves in the throne room", I hear "In the Court of the Crimson King" more so than "Transylvania Hunger" or "Bergtatt" or any of the more notable Black Metal classics. To me, "Two Hunters" is a natural and expected expansion if not revitilization of prog rocks long festered corpse. Its good to hear a band play traditional black metal at the surface, while being an entirely different genre at its core. Perhaps the most intriguing detail of the album is that through its long almost repetitive movements, their are some astounding rapid changes of frequency that really lend some pacing to the work, and even validate the album as a work.listen closely and you can here a near indecipherable medley of low breathy vocals, and an almost west african like additional arpeggiated dootle in the back ground. This album if anything is just an incredibly thoughtful, subtle electronic prog album, and it really is great, probably the greatest new band to arrive since animal collective.

CELESTIAL LINEAGE was the first WITTR album I heard, and TWO HUNTERS is roughly similar. It shares the same basic sound and structure, featuring Jessika Kenney's "goddess" vocals interspersed with black metal vocals. If you heard this first, I can see why you might think the later recording isn't as good because it's not as original, but I think CELESTIAL LINEAGE takes the idea further, and is more impressive. BLACK CASCADE from 2009 stands apart from the other two albums in that it has no female vocals. It is also harder-edged, and I find it to be excellent.

[My copy has a different cover than the one I see here as well as on the label's website. Mine is black with a small golden bear skull in the center. The back of the insert in the jewel case (the same piece of paper, folded) has another small golden skull, but the other one is human, or perhaps Neanderthal. The two hunters are bears and humans, this is the theme of the album, so it's appropriate, but the artwork shown on this page looks better, a bear in its cave looking out with the band's intricate logo above. Does anyone know anything about this alternative cover?]

Nathan and Aaron Weaver are Wolves In The Throne Room (WITTR), an excellent black metal band from Washington State. Musically, theirs is a very psychedelic metal. There is no lyric sheet with TWO HUNTERS, and the metal vocals are indecipherable, but the band's message is one of reverence for the Earth. I discovered this band following my discovery of Agalloch, and they convey a similar pantheist/neopagan vision. The Weaver brothers and families practice organic farming on land on the Olympic peninsula and are ready for the collapse of industrial society.

Like Agalloch, I find WITTR to be an inspiration to do all we can to prevent the further destruction of the Earth and all the sentient beings with whom we share it. Unlike Agalloch, WITTR actually *was* created partly out of Earth First! activism, specifically Nathan's experience at an EF! rendezvous in 2002.

Some reviewers have already said it better than I could, but this is an amazingly solid record. "Two Hunters" is dark, cold, bleak, atmospheric, progressive black-metal of its own kind. It has elements reminiscent of other acts, but they still stand on their own. This is a very nice dose of progressive, black-metal to cleanse the mouth of the bad taste left from many modern pseudo "black-metal" bands. They have my attention.

First of all, if you believe that a few keyboard notes is all the ambiance needed in a song, that they should be kept short, and buried deep in the mix... or even better, should be used in individual intros or outros that can be skipped altogether, Wolves In The Throne Room are not for you. Songs are usually long (upward of ten minutes, many much longer - with purely ambient tracks being a bit shorter...) If this sounds like torture, and to many Extreme Metal fans it will, better move on to something else.
The Two Hunters album is a well-executed piece of art shifting between ambient music and harsh black metal. The bleak screams appear distant; much like one has come accustomed to from "True" Black Metal bands using a Lo-Fi approach in their music. This does not mean that Wolves In The Throne Room are showcasing a "primitive" Lo-Fi style of Black Metal. Far from it... The ambient sequences are striking but have the feel of impending peril. Peril in this case comes in the form of fairly traditional Black Metal with very non-traditional lyrics (read non-satanic).
The first track, "Dea Artio" is an artful, ambient piece, starting this album off very slow... "Vastness and Sorrow" is a harsh, atmospheric song where Black Metal takes the forefront. "Cleansing" melds the harsh and beautiful and showcases clean, female vocals (Jessica Kenney). The last song, "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots" is another song that mixes the calm yet gloomy with the unrelenting harshness of Black Metal. The female vocals return and help close the album on a more peaceful note.
The Japanese version comes with the 2005 Demo including two songs later re-recorded and released on "Diadem of 12 Stars" ("Queen of the Borrowed Light" and "(A Shimmering Radiance) Diadem of Twelve Stars") and an unreleased track entitled "Daggers of Amethyst Crystal". All three tracks sound great but a bit rawer than the band's later releases. "Daggers of Amethyst Crystal" appears to be angrier (for a lack of better words) than most of the other songs from the band. This alone makes it a song worthy of checking out.
Note: The vinyl version has an extended version of "Cleansing" on it that is well worth checking out... if you still own a turntable. This version also includes "To Reveal", a great song only found on this LP.

Man...this album floored me from the first instant that I had purchased it upon it's release and I bought their other album (at the time) "diadem of 12 stars" (another favorite), and it still does it for me about two years later. The ethereal female vocals also really add to the sense of cold, dark, desperation that this albums inspires. This album puts me in a dark misty forest sometime just before twilight and the forest is coming alive with spirits (damned souls, demons, witches,etc.). Great for a foggy evening/early morning. I can't really say why this is so good, but it just is. It's atmospheric (black) metal at some of its finest moments. I can't wait to experience them live tomorrow night and already have their soon to be released album on reserve. Worth checking out for anyone into dark fuzz and the supernatural. It fits in well with any collection that contains the following: Hellveto, Summoning, Veneficum, and Xasthur ( to name a few). Listen to this one and watch an old silent goth/horror film such as Nosferatu and you'll know what I mean.