Land-tilling, mushroom-munching U.S. black-metal veterans Wolves in the Throne Room have revealed plans to put out their first album since 2021. The record is called Estuary, and they’re teasing the release today (August 20th) with a towering, post-apocalyptic epic dubbed “Ghosts Among the Obelisks.”
A press release notes that the Pacific Northwest-based outfit’s next album roils with the sound of their black-metal heritage, but also notes that they bring “noisy industrial elements” and “gothic guitar wipes” to the 6-song release.
The record is apparently set 1,000 years in the future, “after the end of civilization.” Vocalist-guitarist Nathan Weaver adds of the narrative scopee: “Survivors of a cataclysm wander the haunted ruins. It is a world of mutant creatures and open portals. Post-apocalyptic religion takes form in a wild landscape.”
A video for “Estuary” finds a sword-hoisting warrior traversing said post-apocalyptic plains, passing through the ruins while scored by Wolves’ heavy sound.
“If wilderness overcame the cities in the future, the estuaries would be realms of power and magic,” Weaver continues. “Within the album’s world-building, the estuaries are key nexus points where magic has taken on physical form. Spirits good and evil walk the earth.”
While Estuary follows 2023 EP Crypt of Ancestral Knowledge, it’s likewise the group’s first full-length release since 2021’s Primordial Arcana. The album was primarily recorded at the band’s own Owl Lodge studio in Olympia, Washington, though the drums were tracked by Nicholas Wilbur at The Unknown, a former church space-cum-recording studio further north in Anacortes, Washington. Touring bassist Galen Baudhuin (Aridus, Street Tombs) performed on the LP.
Estuary arrives October 23rd via Relapse Records. Various pre-orders are up over here.
Estuary tracklisting:
Estuary
Knights of Tiamat
Foretold in Reflections
The Orca Cliffs
Ghosts Among the Obelisks
Wretched Spirits, Land of Light
Wolves in the Throne Room tour dates 2027:
1/15-17, 2027 Estes Park, CO — Fire In The Mountains @ The Stanley Hotel