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Interviews : “We’ll put together a setlist the same way we put together an album” – An interview with Aaron Weaver (Wolves in the Throne Room)

By on October 22, 2019

Aaron and Nathan Weaver formed a potent musical partnership back in 2003 which spawned the critically revered Wolves in the Throne Room, trailblazing a Cascadian themed North American black metal movement. The brothers Weaver receive support from outlets who traditionally actively ignored extreme music, proof that these fellas are onto something unique.

Ahead of the band’s Australian tour, Aaron shares his thoughts on putting together a setlist for the shows, the reverence the group receives from non-metal outlets and why they won’t revisit dark ambient music under the Wolves in the Throne Room banner. 

“We’ll put together a setlist the same way we put together an album; we’re big fans of mythology from all over the world and ancient stories, and that is one of our primary sources of inspiration,” said Weaver.

“A record is a journey and the way we see it, and a live performance is a journey too, we choose songs that weave together the magic for the evening between us and the audience.

“It’s also essential for us to play material from the span of the band’s career, we love playing material from Thrice Woven (’17), and earlier releases Diadem of 12 Stars (’06), and Two Hunters (’07).

“The challenge is to strike a balance between the new stuff and the songs that show where the band has come from, and where our roots are.”

In 2014 the band released the dark ambient album Celestite, the brooding synth-driven companion piece to the career-defining Celestial Lineage (’11). 

Celestite confounded some observers who were used to the band’s talent for writing deeply spiritual hymns for mother earth using the vortex of Aaron’s drumming and percussion, and Nathan’s soaring banshee of a vocal. 

“We will do it again, but it’s unlikely we’ll do it as Wolves in the Throne Room,” said Weaver.

“I think we’ll do it under a different name, Celestite was a beautiful experiment and a very important part of the bands’ development, it was actually the sound of us making our recording studio where we recorded Thrice Woven and the album we are working on right now.

“Celestite was us connecting more and more deeply with this forest we live in, that’s where the inspiration and the magic and the spirit comes from.”

Alongside the excellent Deafheaven, Wolves in the Throne Room receive coverage in publications that have ignored extreme metal. It’s a point that Weaver is keen to acknowledge, especially so given the bands humble roots. 

“The interesting thing about when we first came out was very immediately there was a lot of media attention and not just from the underground but from, you know, the New York Times and the New Yorker, sort of like the east coast intellectual establishment.” said Weaver. 

“That was a trip for us. We’re these crusty trippers coming out of the deep forest doing a very personal thing, so it was interesting!”.

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM performing at:

Nov 28 – Perth, Badlands – TICKETS
Nov 29 – Brisbane, Crowbar – TICKETS
Nov 30 – Melbourne, The Corner – TICKETS
Dec 1 – Sydney, Crowbar – TICKETS
Dec 2 – Canberra, The Basement – TICKETS

Tickets on sale now via Soundworks Direct.


About

Andrew is a musician who has spent many years performing on the stages of the pubs and clubs of Queensland. A devotee of the broad church that is rock, punk, funk, jazz and of course all genres of metal... he now shares his enthusiasm via a burgeoning pursuit of music journalism. Follow him on twitter @andymckaysmith