Wolves in the Throne Room have announced a new album titled Estuary, out October 23rd via Relapse Records, and have unveiled its lead single, “Ghosts Among the Obelisks.”
“Ghosts Among the Obelisks” is an intensely melancholic black metal track, skewing from the more progressive and elaborate wing of their sound to deliver something more concentrated. The drum mixing in particular keeps this one from being slotted among the more atmospheric end of the genre, with a presence to the pummeling double bass work that makes it feel more active tense albeit in a mid-tempo and solemn sort of way. An atmosphere of doom hangs over the track, something gray and windy, leaning heavily on evocation over obvious hooks.
Singer-guitarist Nathan Weaver described the album, saying, “Our new LP Estuary is set 1000 years in the future after the end of civilization. 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.”
He elaborated on this conceptual underpinning, adding, “If wilderness overcame the cities in the future, the estuaries would be realms of power and magic. 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.”
Watch the music video for “Ghosts Among the Obelisks” and see the artwork and tracklist for Estuary below.
Estuary Artwork:
Estuary Tracklist:
01. Estuary
02. Knights of Tiamat
03. Foretold in Reflections
04. The Orca Cliffs
05. Ghosts Among the Obelisks
06. Wretched Spirits, Land of Light
