Black Metal.

no country for old wainds said:
main thing that annoys me about WitTR is how they've convinced all the hipster mags that they're the first to do/say half the shit they do or say, but they cribbed literally all of it from predecessors. and ofc the music's pretty boring anyway
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I've never heard them say anything of the sort. I've read them say they don't really like explaining their music via comparison, but they've always acknowledged the influence of Burzum, Emperor, etc. This seems more like a straw-man attack on the band or a misreading of their statements.
 
maybe it's harsh to blame them for it, but either way i always got the impression they were hyped for reasons other than the music. i'll paste an old review of mine for their 2011 album, by way of clarification:

i think these guys are the real deal inasmuch as they genuinely love the genre, have thought about where it stands philosophically, and are trying their hand at pushing it further toward the goal it implicitly sought from the start. the thrust of their outlook is that mankind has, in its quest to conquer nature, become severed from it, and is now experiencing the fear, apathy and self-loathing that comes with being an alien species only able to connect with the world through a prism of 'mediating forces' such as technology and religion. black metal is a reaction to these emotions, be it an escapist flight from modernity/civilisation or a raging war against it. this is all very clear and it's nothing new; i remember people expressing these same thoughts on internet forums ten years ago and even then they were largely recycling most of it from a mixture of band interviews and the DLA.

where WITTR become pretentious is in stating their belief that they have 'moved beyond' true black metal by trying to reestablish a spiritual connection with the natural world as opposed to wallowing in angst like the rest. sorry guys, you're late by nearly twenty years if you want to stand as trailblazers; there's been a naturalist, primitivist, heathen slant to a shit-ton of 'true black metal' forever, and the only people you're convincing otherwise are genre-dabblers who don't know any better. actually, their interviews really are off-puttingly arrogant in general; you'd think that their belief in de-emphasising the individual and transcending alienation and reactionary hatred would result in some, i don't know, humility.

one listen to this album cements the sense that they are treading rather well-worn paths; there's nothing especially distinctive about this piece's approximation of the fury, tranquillity, majesty, mystery, above all 'oceanic wholeness' (their own words) of the wilds. i don't *necessarily* doubt that this album is the authentic product of a deeply felt 'spiritual journey', but there have been many similar and more intense such journeys put on record in the past, and i'm led to suspect that the intellectual awareness these guys possess must inevitably have watered down their capacity to access the intense primal feelings they pursue, especially compared to the 'unknowing conduits for dark, mysterious energies' (again, their words) who were around at the genre's conception. there is a case to be made that a lot of great art, especially great metal, is made not by those who understand the implications of what they and others are doing, but instinctively by semi-retarded people. either way, it takes something not just primal but singularly so to take a dissociated urban douche like myself to these kinds of natural frontiers, and this ain't it.
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I don't disagree that there were other bands prior to WITTR who moved beyond the nihilism of black metal into a transcendent naturalism (Filosofem being an obvious early example) and they may have overstated what they were doing. However, I think it was a fairly clear inference that when they said they were "beyond black metal" they meant the nihilistic brand of black metal found on records like Transylvanian Hunger, DMDS, Pure Holocaust, Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk, etc.

True Norwegian black metal is completely unbalanced – that is why it is so compelling and powerful. It is the sound of utter torment, believing to one’s core that winter is eternal. BM is about destruction, destroying humanity; destroying ones own self in an orgy of self loathing and hopelessness. I believe one must focus on this image of eternal winter in order to understand Black Metal, for it is a crucial metaphor that reveals our sadness and woe as a race. In our hubris, we have rejected the earth and the wisdom of countless generations for the baubles of modernity. In return, we have been left stranded and bereft in this spiritually freezing hell... Our music, then, is not “true” Black Metal for we have moved beyond this fantasy of a nihilistic apocalypse; beyond our own misery and failure. Our music is balanced in that we temper the blind rage of Black Metal with the transcendent truths of the universe that reveal themselves with age and experience. Our relationship with the natural world is a healing force in our lives.
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I don't see their statement that they are "beyond" as suggesting they are better. It's simply "beyond" in the sense that it developed past orthodox sound and ideology that typifies the second wave. Again, I agree that they weren't the first to do this, but if you look at this quote in context, it seems way less outrageous or unreasonable.
 
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It's not about WITTR but more what they spawned with the Cascadian sound/aesthetic. I'm sure I've said it before, but Atmoblack is both my favorite genre and one of the shittest in metal. SO MUCH TRASH in this genre. Unless the music actually stays "metal" in a meaningful way they can truly do a better service to the aesthetic they're chasing by dropping the metal part completely and making ritual ambient/dungeonsynth/neofolk project vs. creating another halfassed metal band inspired by forests/tolkien/heritage whatever. Some bands really pull it off (WITTR, Summoning, Moonsorrow, etc.) but unless you're a creative genius just go back to making "real" metal or venture out and create a Cascadian version of Wardruna because we actually need more acts in that soundspace.
 
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Phylactery said:
I've only heard the first Wolves in the Throne Room and thought it was pretty meh. Has their sound changed much since then?

Apparently I'm also not sure what atmospheric black metal is anymore since arg described the Sorcier des Glaces song in the mixtape game as "atmoblack".
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Their debut isn't my favorite. There are some great moments, but some of the passages really drag or are just innocuous. Two Hunters is the stronger of the two albums in the early style. The songs are long, but more dynamic. My favorite is Celestial Lineage, which is far more focused in its songwriting and has an excellent arc from start to finish.

And as far as the "atmospheric black metal" discussion, I don't consider a sub-genre. Since most black metal is atmospheric to one degree or another, it's a rather empty descriptor.
 
Actually just bought a few BM cds for the fall. I was looking through the record label and came across some cool stuff.

This is really interesting unorthodox bm




This is really cool atmospheric bm from Mexico. The guy behind this really knows how to compose songs
 
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