Red & Anarchist Black Metal [and much more!]: Wolves In The Throne Room

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Wolves In The Throne Room - "Celestial Lineage" (2011)

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM "Celestial Lineage"

Year: 2011
Genre: Cascadian Black Metal
Country: USA

Track List:

Thuja Magus Imperium
Permanent Changes in Consciousness
Subterranean Imitation
Rainbow Illness
Woodland Cathedral
Astral Blood
Prayer of Transformation

Here comes the latest release from a band which greatly influenced the whole RABM movement... but now they got a lot of accusations of being too popular and "hip". Personally I don't see it as any big problem (after all, ~~they're not Insect Warfare, who decided to split up after becoming "too popular"~~ well, maybe it was only rumours...). However, I didn't like "Celestial Lineage" as much as their earlier works. Yes, there are really killer songs like "Subterranean Imitation", a lot of female vocals and ambient parts, but the whole album is somewhat weak, especially in comparison with their first two ones.

(But then again, it's nowhere near as disappointing as the latest LP by Amebix, "Sonic Mass"... Yes, I liked "Knights Of The Black Sun" and "Here Comes The Wolf", but the rest of the album turned out to be very uninteresting. I expected much more from such band as Amebix...)

7 comments :

AnonymousNovember 2, 2011 at 4:36 AM
Not only is your jab at Insect Warfare partially untrue (there were reasons beyond being "too popular"--if that was ever even a given reasons--that led to their breakup), but you should probably avoid politicking around WITTR, who recently came out in support of eco-fascism. ("Though painful to contemplate, an eco-fascist state, brought into being through a cruel transformation, might be our only hope to bring humanity into balance with cosmic and ecological realities.")
ReplyDelete
Replies
B.K.November 2, 2011 at 5:29 AM
Well, maybe I was misinformed about Insect Warfare, but that quote from WITTR is clearly taken out of context.
http://www.southernlord.com/press/wolvesinthethroneroom/interview.php - they talk about P.Linkkola (whose philosophy is indeed close to eco-fascism), but they don't completely agree with him, they only share the same feelings of "apocalyptic misanthropy and bitterness that is a natural response to living in this age". For me it's quite clear that they're generally apolitical, but still environmentalist and definitely not nationalists or fascists:

"I have no interest in philosophy and no interest in participating in grand political programs, whether their genitive impulse rises from, what we traditionally label, the right or left. I no longer have any grand notions about social structures or whatnot. I don’t believe that anyone can alter the forces of destiny... Our music is a reflection of this melancholy state of mind; we do not glorify filth and depravity and the base things nor are we filled with hubris for our glorious European heritage...
For us music should function on a level deeper than that of politics. If humanity is to lift itself out of the gutter, deep spiritual transformation will be required – very soon. This or that political program is rather beside the point..."
but:
"I’m sure you have heard about the prosecution of alleged “eco-terrorists” here in Cascadia... I should mention that I have nothing but admiration for those who have taken action in defense of nature’s beauty"
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousFebruary 22, 2012 at 3:18 AM
they are on anarchist side

and always will be
ReplyDelete
Replies
AnonymousSeptember 30, 2012 at 7:05 AM
great post, great band, I love cascadian black metal, green anarchism forever!!!!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

About the blog

After many years of activity, this blog is now put on hold since the majority of contributors have a lot of other important stuff going on in their lives. New music submissions should go to /r/RABM/ (note that the mods of /r/RABM/ don't have anything to do with this blog).

Most of the uploads here are band sanctioned. Anyway, if you for some reason don't want to see your music here, contact us using rabm (AT) gmx (DOT) com, and we'll consider taking it down.

Bottom note: there's probably a lot of broken English on this blog, since English isn't the first language for many of the contributors.

FAQ

Q.: Which kinds of music are featured on this blog?

A.: - (primarily) RABM or Red & Anarchist Black Metal: all kinds of black metal-related music charged with radical leftist (anarchist, libertarian socialist, eco-anarchist, etc.) political views. Some of the bands featured here may be not openly political, but all of them are RABM-friendly;

- blackened crust/hardcore/punk (only if it's openly RABM-friendly, or if it's just very good music; we have no intention to collect here all the blackened punk in existence);

- other kinds of political (anarchist, socialist, etc.) metal - death, thrash, post-metal, etc.;

- dark ambient, neofolk, industrial, dark electro, etc. - but only if it has some RABM-friendly ideology;

- regular punk/hardcore/crust, post-rock, conscious hip-hop, etc. - but only as a rare exception (so if you want to send us a demo in one of these genres, you're probably in the wrong place).

Q.: What are some RABM/blackened crust bands to start listening from?

A.: Here's an old compilation which I (B.K.) made in late 2009. Doesn't include a lot of good RABM bands that I didn't know of back then, but still recommended if you're new to RABM:

Check out this list as well, or this one.

Q.: How can I support a particular RABM band with my money?

A.: Most bands nowadays have a bandcamp page, where you can but their stuff online (usually for an arbitrary price). It's the most convinient way to support the band. If your favourite band don't have a bandcamp or bigcartel page, try to find out in which distro you can find their albums/merch. Of course, go to concerts if you have such opportunity.

Q.: How can I offer my financial support to this blog, or the RABM movement in general?

A.: Unfortunately right we don't have an opportunity to accept donations, but we hope we'll be able to set it up soon.

Q.: What is the connection between black metal and hardcore/punk/crust?

A.: It's a well-established fact that the connection between black metal and punk scenes existed since the early days of BM (think Venom, early Bathory, early Mayhem and early Sodom on one side, and Amebix, Discharge and Axegrinder on another). Recently this mix of BM and hardcore punk got a new life in the form of blackened crust (thanks to Black Kronstadt / Iskra in first place). And don't forget about Cascadian black metal bands with their radical environmentalist ideology, often to the extent of radical eco-anarchism or "pro-nature/anti-humanity" ideas.

Q.: What's your main ideology?

A.: This blog is generally written from a position of anarchism without adjectives; however, the RABM scene is very diverse ideologically. Let us end on this, as this blog isn't quite a right place for purely political debates; if you want to learn or argue about anarchism/other ideologies, there's a lot of specialized FAQs/blogs/forums for you.

Q.: Isn't black metal supposed to be apolitical?

A.: Supposed by whom? I personally don't think so, but if you think that political awareness should have no place in "true" black metal, you can feel free to call the bands featured on here "blackened punk" or whatever you want. It should be noted, though, that a lot of these bands doesn't openly talk about politics in their lyrics, exactly because they think it wouldn't be suitable for black metal. - B.K.

Q.: Isn't RABM just an "answer" to NSBM?

A.: While RABM is definitely against NSBM and any other kind of far-right crap in metal scene, it's most emphatically a self-sufficient movement and not any kind of "answer to NSBM". Similarly, while RABM is 100% pro liberation from any kinds of religious tyranny, it isn't a movement against any particular religion (Christianity, Islam, or any other).

Q.: What's your opinion on Satanism?

A.: The so-called "Hollywood Satanism", which is often found in black metal, is, in our opinion, nothing more than inverted Christianity, so we aren't big on it. Many of us are simply atheists, pagans of all kinds, gnostics, etc. We also don't share the notion that only genuine theistic Satanists / Devil-worshippers can play "real" black metal (this would exclude such bands as Venom, Bathory, Immortal, Summoning, and many many others). Additionally, the very term "Satanism" is quite vague, and can't be narrowed down to LaVeyan Satanism (which is heavily disliked by many black metallers), or whatever else. LaVey had some good points, but in general his philosophy can be described just as "Ayn Rand with some occult tinge".

Q.: What about misanthropy and nihilism?

A.: To put it in short: we don't hate everyone and everything (and we don't think there's anyone who truly does). We just hate these traits of humanity which make true anarchist society most likely infeasible in the foreseeable future.

Q.: Collectivism or individualism?

A.: There actually is no "hard" contradiction between these two terms. Individualism is simply an outlook emphasizes the moral worth of the individual and its right not to be oppressed by the state or some social group. It doesn't contradict at all with standing up for your rights along with a group of like-minded individuals. It also worth noting that the early black metal scene didn't promote individualism that much (see "black metal circles").

Q.: Who coined the term "RABM"?

A.: Hard to say, but there's an apparent similarity to RASH ("Red & Anarchist Skinheads"). Here's the very first mention of "RABM" we could find (August 2005). The term was popularized by our last.fm group (and later - by this blog) since 2009.

Q.: Do you know the ideology of the band X? It isn't obvious if they're NSBM or not...

A.: Sorry, we don't know, do your own research. It's often hard to say anything certain about a band's views, if the members themselves aren't open about it. We also don't advice using various "lists of nazi bands" etc. as a reference, as most of them are full of bullshit. Similarly, forum posts or blog comments (especially anonymous ones) generally aren't a reliable source for anything. In one particular case, we had an anonymous comment claiming that the members of Timebomb are now playing in a fascist band called SPQR. Later it turned out that it were members of a completely other Italian band with a similar name (Timebombs). Hopefully that'd be a good example of how important fact-checking is.

Q.: I've seen some of the albums posted here in the same distro with some albums by right-leaning bands...

A.: Unfortunately it's often the case with distros and labels that distribute stuff regardless of its political affiliation. Even Austin Lunn of Panopticon complained about Pagan Flames (the label which released his "Collapse" and "Social Disservices" LPs) having NSBM in their distro, so things like these are just unavoidable.

Q.: Some bands on this blog have Burzum on their list on influences. Isn't Varg Vikernes a nazi?

A.: See a good comment on this matter here.

Q.: Can I use some materials from this blog on my site?

A.: Of course you're welcome to do so (unless otherwise is specified), as we're against copyrights.

Auto-translate to:

Labels

Counters

Links

Blog Archive

/r/RABM/

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Wolves In The Throne Room - "Celestial Lineage" (2011)

7 comments :

About the blog

FAQ

Auto-translate to:

Subscribe To

Labels

Counters

Links

Blog Archive

/r/RABM/

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Wolves In The Throne Room - "Celestial Lineage" (2011)

7 comments :

About the blog

FAQ