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Black Cascade is the third release from America's own Wolves in the Throne Room. Their debut, Diadem of Twelve Stars, was announced as a Folk/Black Metal album, and I was naturally expecting that, only to be disappointed. The "folk" parts were scarce and far between. Their sophomore effort, Two Hunters, was not bad at all. The ambient parts, along with the female vocals marked a nice progression. With this brand new work, I see the guys stepping forward once again. Still, they remain an average Black Metal act with a little plus.

Four lengthy tracks, ranging from 10 to 14 minutes, made mostly of fast-paced Black Metal. One would instantly recognize the usual blast beat with constant double basses and cymbals accompanying the discrete/ echoing rasps and distorted guitar work. The atmospheric touch of keyboards procures a nice ambience whenever they are being used. Sometimes, they take a more dramatic or symphonic edge, which greatly benefits the compositions. Distorted and clean arpeggios are also present, unfortunately sometimes buried into the song structure. Very few acoustic parts are offered, and they can only be heard on the last track "Crystal Ammunitions". Those parts remain amongst the best moments on this disc, as well as the more ambient passages found on "Ahrimanic Trance" (nice distorted arpeggios), and "Ex Cathedra" (calmer with symphonic keyboards).