Ash Borer - Ash Borer (2011)

One of the best bands in the Cascadian scene release their first full-length, and needless to say, it's mindbogglingly good.

*note - They only released this on cassette with a 150 copy run (i hear that another label will print another run of cassettes and a vinyl edition at some point), and I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a copy before they sold out. I also took the liberty of making MP3s from the cassette myself, and while they are 320 kbps and are as high quality as I could figure out how to make. Just recognize that this is a cassette rip: it ain't perfect.

1. In the Midst of Life, We Are In Death - 12:09
2. Rest, You Are the Lightning - 7:57
3. My Curse Was Raised In the Darkness Against a Doomsday Silence - 19:39

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The Sun Came Up Upon the Left - And the Dreams So Rich In Color

A weird little atmospheric bm band with heavy drone influences and touches of Blut Aus Nord-style riffage here and there. Good stuff.

Tracklist
1. Baptized In Fog (viii) - 1:07
2. A Dimming Light (xiii) - 8:25
3. Innu (xvi) - 0:42
4. We Chew Our Tongues (xiv) - 7:39
5. Into Memory And Forgotten (vii) - 4:20
6. Ottru (xix) - 0:46
7. Turn Away The Spoken Word (x) - 8:57
8. Germination Of All Things (xii) - 8:19

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Threnos - By Blood and By Earth (2004)

Threnos are a folk-ish atmospheric black metal band that no one really knows anything concrete about except that they went on to form Fauna and a few other bands and that this little demo served as something of a prototype for many later releases from the Cascadian-style scene. But really, all you need to know is that this is some damn good shit.


Tracklist: 
1. The Call - 4:12
2. Sparks Borne On the Wind - 5:35
3. The Return - 13:01
4. Adrift - 8:01
5. By Blood and By Earth - 15:54

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Wolves In the Throne Room - Two Hunters (+ bonus tracks)

For this blog's first post I thought we'd start off with something more well known and that will appeal to a wider spectrum of listeners. Two Hunters, Washington atmospheric black metal act Wolves In the Throne Room's sophomore effort, is considered by many to be a classic of the genre. The songs range from 6 to 18 minutes in length, but don't worry: that 18 minute track, entitled I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and the Roots never drags. In fact, I would consider it one of my favorite black metal tracks of all time. Two Hunters is both the perfect starting point for the uninitiated and a must-have for metalheads who for some reason don't yet own this masterpiece.



Tracklist: 
1. Dia Artio - 5:59
2. Behold the Vastness and Sorrow - 12:12
3. Cleansing - 9:55
4. I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and the Roots - 18:16
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From the bonus double LP edition:
5. Cleansing (Extended Version) - 15:56
6. To Reveal - 16:43
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