Review by Saxy S for Wolves in the Throne Room - Primordial Arcana (2021)

I’m a little surprised I haven’t talked about Wolves In The Throne Room proper yet. Many of my black metal preferences (Agalloch, Saor, Blut Aus Nord, etc.) have similar fan bases with this band. They are a long running atmo-black band out of Washington and are mostly known for their 2007 record Two Hunters, which is mostly known for its focus on nature through the soaring riffage and melodies, to go along with some long song structures and forms.

The newest album, Primordial Arcana, has more tracks than previous WITTR albums, but compliments it by having typically shorter runtimes. Already I can tell that this album is an easier sell as shorter runtimes mean less opportunity for the band to fall into meandering interludes, and that is certainly the case here. Songs like “Mountain Magick” and “Through Eternal Fields” sound massive and do not feel like they are getting stuck behind a proverbial wall as they wait for the next section to commence.

And while Wolves In The Throne Room continue their run of adding more ambience and perhaps dungeon synth into their work, the sections that can fully described as “black metal” are trimmed down further than ever before. I feel like “Primal Chasm (Gift of Fire)” does most of this records “heavy” lifting, but the rest of it feels ethereal in a way and the blast beats that conclude “Through Eternal Fields” are more complimentary to the main guitar riffs that bring that song to its conclusion.

Beyond that, I don’t think that Primordial Arcana is a bad album; it has everything that you could ever want from a shorter, more concise WITTR album. The problem? I have heard this same formula echoed by many other atmo-black bands in recent years with shorter runtimes, while still explosive black metal passages. Whether that be the old guard with Blut Aus Nord, or newer bands like The Great Old Ones. This sound should not be unfamiliar with those who are well diverse in the atmospheric black metal scene in 2021.