Live: DESERTFEST 2017, London 30/04/2017

DESERTFEST 
London, UK
30/04/2017

Your humble correspondent set off to the capital once again for day three of Desertfest 2017, one of the premier doom and stoner festivals in the world, and travelled light for maximum impact. Desertfest has made a real niche for itself over the past few years due to it's fantastic atmosphere, unfussy professionalism and great lineups, with this year being no exception.

Camden strikes a more subdued note these days under the current regime, with several of the regular bars and shops being closed and a rather downbeat atmosphere prevailing. Yes, the Dev remains a grittily dark outpost of alternative culture where the shadows of it's goth heritage still lay dormant. Although it will likely survive the current thrust to gentrification (the barman told me that he'd have to be 'taken out in a coffin') it remains one of the few remaining authentic places in Camden, which is increasingly becoming a dystopian vision of itself.

The Roundhouse, however, is more translucent than ever and is still one of the better largest venues in London. And so it was that Wolves in the Throne Room conjured up a storm, the dimmed lights and stage fires forming the perfect backdrop to a viscerally emotive and atmospheric performance. Wolves are the almost-perfect encapsulation of black metal, the chords hitting you physically on an emotional level even before you hear them, and the dissonance creating it's own pagan poetry, and leaving the crowd as stunned as they were euphoric.

Candlemass, grandmasters of epic doom ham, were up next for what was a note-perfect parade through their greatest hits – 'Well of Souls', 'Bewitched', 'Darl Reflections', 'Crystal Ball', 'At the Gallows End' and ending with a peerless 'Solitude', the band have probably never sounded better and the doomheads at the Roundhouse lapped it up. All it was missing was Messiah's trademark 'doom dancing'...

And last up were Sleep, kicking off with a heavy-as-fuck 'Holy Mountain' and 'Sonic Titan' which set the stage for a rampantly scuzzy hour which ended in a pulverising 'Cultivator/Improved Morris' that sent the capacity crowd at the Roundhouse go home satisfied, and another Desertfest sealed as a complete victory.

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Review: Wolves In The Throne Room – 'Diadem Of 12 Stars' (Reissue)

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
'Diadem Of 12 Stars'
ARTEMISIA RECORDS

Wolves In The Throne Room have always played by their own rules. Black metal may sit at the heart of their sound, but they approach it very differently to other bands. Atmosphere is king and in the ten years since their first recording, they have developed this formula into one of metal's most unique offerings.

Ten years on and the band revisit their début album 'Diadem Of 12 Stars' and album that blended elements of folk, goth and black metal saturating them with vintage warmth and diabolically cinematic atmosphere.

The album has been fully remastered and even the artwork has undergone an in-depth restoration for this re-release, and the results are great. The album still has that low-fi edge of the original recording (even though it was fairly clean by black metal standards) but it sounds brighter and deeper than before to give you a fuller range and experience than on it's original release.

The songs range from blisteringly fast to slow dirges and while many of the typical black metal elements are there (blasting drums, jangling guitars, and anguished vocals) the epic scale of the songs, which range from thirteen to twenty minutes long, gives the album a more progressive slant that you can't help but be drawn in by.

Songs such as 'Queen Of The Borrowed Light', 'Face In A Night Time Mirror (Part 1)', and '(A Shimmering Radiance) A Diadem of 12 Stars' in particular personify just why this was, and still is a great album. Dark and haunting throughout – even at its most intrinsically black metal moments – 'Diadem Of 12 Stars' is a nonetheless beautiful album that captures the imagination with it's progressive songwriting and mix of folk and gothic elements. If you are a fan of black metal beyond the Norwegian wave of the 1990s and haven't heard this album yet then this reissue is a great place to start.  

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