Best of 2009

#10 - Wodensthrone - Loss

There's a lot of boring black metal out there; Black metal bands that focus too much on the message they're trying to convey, and not enough on making interesting passages that keep the listener involved. Wodensthrone accomplish something really special on Loss. They remain loyal to most of the tried and true techniques of black metal: tremelo picking, blast beats, shrieking vocals, but present them in ways that seem fresh by layering them with heavy synth work, growling vocals, momentary Gregorian chant, acoustic passages etc. With these extra techniques one might assume the ultimate composition would seem bloated or cluttered, but not the case with Loss. The composition is tight and underneath all of the musical prowess lies pure emotion. It doesn't take the listener long to sink into the album and forget about comparisons to other black metal. Wodensthrone have created a classic of nature inspired black metal and hopefully they keep churning out music of this caliber in the years to come.