Aaron: Our music is inspired by classic Scandinavian Black Metal. Trance and drone are important to us, as is doom and brutal, grim blasting. That being said, one must know that our sound is secondary to our philosophies and motivation. There are a lot of people playing BM inspired music - I think that the "why" is more important than the actual music.

Aaron: About three or four years ago I had a real emotional and psychological crisis. I was sick of the world, disgusted by humanity. Two of us moved onto this crumbling farmstead on the outskirts of town. Here we can farm, keep animals, build our own homes - escape the miserable filthy modern tide and create a world of our own. Around the same time we started writing music for what became Wolves in the Throne Room. For me, the two life-events are intimately intertwined. This band is about spiritual transformation and healing through _expression of our deep sadness and rage.

Aaron: Of course there is meaning in our name. The wolves are the wildness in the world and inside ourselves; lurking beneath the surface; held captive by the facades of modern life. Our band is profoundly unconcerned with Satanism or gore or "evil" posturing - our band's aggression and fury is about wildness being loosed upon the world; primal, elemental wildness. Furious and vengeful animals running wild in the hall of the King is an image that fills us with joy and hope.

Aaron: We have listed influences elsewhere. I suppose that I can say that I have been interested in Black Metal since the mid 90's, and have always been moved by the virulent anti-modernism that drives the music.

Aaron: Well, the album is an _expression of our personal manifestation of Black Metal. To us, the driving impulse of BM can best be understood through the application of eco-psychology. We must look into ourselves: why are we so profoundly sad, why do we feel alone and alienated? Because our modern culture has failed - we are all failures. The world around us has failed to sustain our humanity, our spirituality.

Black Metal is about self loathing, for modernity has transformed us, our minds, bodies and spirit, into pitiable shells of beings, completely divorced from the magic and the energy that flows around us. The deep woe inside black metal is also about fear - that we can never return to the mythic, pastoral world that we crave on a deep subconscious level. True Black Metal expresses disgust with humanity and revels in the misery that one finds when the falseness of our life is revealed.

Diadem of 12 Stars is about the struggle to move out of the mire of self-hatred and blind rage at those who perpetrate the rape of the earth and the destruction of our cultures. True Black Metal is an apocalyptic fantasy: the raging fire that cleanses the earth of humanity. But this is impossible; the frustrated and impotent tantrum of a child. As we play this music and work to build a life away from modernity, our bitterness and hatred are tempered and mediated by communion with natural forces and magic. We have said that Diadem is about balance: balancing our sadness and deep feelings of hopelessness with the transcendent truth that the small dramas of mankind are quite insignificant when cast against the grandeur of the cosmos. On our farm, we see this truth every day. When one lives closely with natures rhythms, one cannot deny the reality and power of the universe's unquenchable life-force. In this way, the hatred and grim energy of true Black Metal is a first step towards enlightenment. It is the destruction of one's self in order to be reborn.

Aaron: Opeth is one of those bands I have never listened to, certainly they are not an influence.

Aaron: We played shows with Hammers and Asunder, became friends, asked them to perform on the album. We recorded in San Francisco, so it all came together easily. I think that Jamie and Dino's vocals add a lot to Diadem in terms of energy and mood - we are really grateful to both of them. They are both really talented and professional performers.

Aaron: Yes, we plan to tour the country in the fall. Hopefully we will play a number of shows in the Midwest. We come out of an underground scene where playing live is de rigueur. We definitely consider Wolves in the Throne Room to be a live band - we take pride in the energy and emotion that we put into our live performance. We have nothing but disdain for the drum triggers and limp posturing that is all too often the case with live metal. Our performances are rituals of Catharsis.

Honestly, we have deep feelings of ambiguity about the whole "rock band" situation that we have placed our selves in. The banality of touring - interstate highway travel in a fucking gas-guzzling van, spending time in smoky bars - really upsets and depresses me. We made the choice to do it, after balancing the pros and cons, but part of my soul believes that we should only play this music in the winter, by torchlight, in the great hall on our farm. It is impossible to put the desired level of intensity and emotion into performance night after night. Before long, the sprit is gone and we are just another metal band on tour.

Aaron: Thank you for the questions and the space to express our ideas.