WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM have unveiled “Estuary,” the title track and opening song from their forthcoming new album Estuary. The record arrives October 23 via Relapse Records in North America.
The Olympia, Washington black metal band describe Estuary as their most ferocious and genre-bending record to date, expanding their atmospheric foundations with noisy industrial elements, massive percussion and gothic guitar textures while maintaining their dedication to analog production techniques.
Nathan Weaver, who handles lead vocals and guitars, explains that the album takes place within a post-apocalyptic world set a millennium after the collapse of civilization.
“Our new LP Estuary is set 1000 years in the future after the end of civilization,” Weaver says. “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.”
That concept extends throughout the record, which explores contrasts between stillness and noise, nature and machinery, elemental forces and electricity. Estuaries themselves occupy a central role within the world the band has constructed.
“If wilderness overcame the cities in the future, the estuaries would be realms of power and magic,” Weaver explains. “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.”
The title track serves as the first entry into that world, combining the band’s expansive approach to black metal with the heavier industrial and gothic elements found throughout the album. “Estuary” arrives alongside a cinematic official music video.
Estuary was produced by WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM. Touring bassist Galen Baudhuin, also known for his work with ARIDUS and STREET TOMBS, contributed bass to the record.
Most of the album was recorded at the band’s Owl Lodge studio in Olympia, Washington. Drums were tracked by Nicholas Wilbur at The Unknown, a converted former church located in Anacortes, Washington.
Estuary tracklist
- Estuary
- Knights of Tiamat
- Foretold in Reflections
- The Orca Cliffs
- Ghosts Among the Obelisks
- Wretched Spirits, Land of Light
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM will also appear at Fire In The Mountains at The Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, taking place January 15–17, 2027.
Estuary arrives October 23 via Relapse Records in North America.