Hey there, Metalheads! Welcome back. I must apologize for my recent hiatus, but it seems like it's getting harder and harder to find good Metal in record stores these days. Being a stubborn dumpling when it comes to new technology, I haven't yet taken to downloading my music off the Internet. Instead, I'm content to wait for the occasional trip to the city where I can peruse the CD racks and chat up my Metal brethren (the people standing next to me who I know are just hiding their enthusiasm).Now I'm sure you all remember (and have been counting the days ever since) that some time ago I laid down a challenge to Wolves in The Throne Room to defend their title as my current Black Metal favorites. Their debut, Diadem of 12 Stars, was an instant hit with me and has been in regular rotation ever since, so you can imagine my excitement as I sit here holding their beautifully packaged new long-player, Two Hunters, in my hands.

For those of you not in the know (losers), Wolves in The Throne Room is a three-piece from Olympia, Washington; peddling a stripped-down, heavily atmospheric and organic form of American Black Metal. Foregoing the genre's traditional themes (Satan, blood, looking constipated in promo photos, briefcases full of guts), Wolves instead choose to spin tales of the natural world and mankind's role in it: that is, our vulnerability and arrogance in dealing with it (apparently we're really, really in for it). Their lyrical stance isn't just a cheap shtick though; the theme is woven beautifully into the music, their shimmering tremolo riffs often evoking beautiful and foreboding landscapes of the misty mountains. According to Metal legend, these daring dudes live out in the wilderness, attempting total self-sufficiency, growing their own food and tending their own livestock. Daintily peppering the songs are samples of chirping insects, dripping dew and crackling campfires, making this ideal listening for those late night walks in the woods.

The album's opening instrumental track, "Dia Artio," actually had me slightly worried. With its drawn out, highly melodic chords and a noticeable improvement in production, I was afraid that the Wolves had taken a wrong turn into that post-rock part of town that's all the rage with young kids these days. As the first real track, "Vastness and Sorrow," kicks in, those fears were pushed into the corner but not forgotten. Shifting to more evil chord structures, the rhythm and pacing still seemed reminiscent of some of the shoe-gazing Neurosis-inspired Metal that adorns everyone's t-shirts recently. Fortunately, by the end of the first minute, we were back at cruising altitude with some mid-paced blasting and shrieks from guitarist Rick Dahlin. Sublime. At this point I am happy as a pig in poop.

The third track, "Cleansing," threw me for a bit of a loop at first, delivering some (still beautifully sung) female vocals with acoustic accompaniment. It reminded me of Enya on a bad acid trip about to be eaten by wolves in a Lord of The Rings movie.

Closing out the album, is the mammoth "I Will Lay Down My Bones Among the Rocks and Roots," an 18-minute monster, whose opening flurry would be right at home with Diadem's slightly more dense and abrasive material, shifting from mellow acoustics emanating from the sopping loam to epic, blackened blasting soundscapes.

But ultimately, therein lies the album's biggest problem. Even with an 18-minute closer, the four tracks clock in at only 45 minutes. Take out the Enya trip and the rather tame opening track, and we're left with only 35 minutes of material, hardly as substantial as the hour-long opus that was Diadem of 12 Stars. The album almost feels like a teaser of sorts, rather than a fully fleshed-out listening experience. Criminal.

Aside from that little gripe, Two Hunters is as good a follow-up as any of us could have wanted. There are some worrying signs of excessive experimentation, but one good hurricane or a bear attack up at their mountain retreat should put them back in a better (grimmer) mood.