Since the beginning of Black Metal, one man bands acted as an option in two distinct cases: the lack of compromised musicians to keep the band on the road, or as a format that could express the musical ideas of only one person. The first one man band of the genre is, without any doubt, BATHORY (in reality, it was just the fame, because there always a drummer playing with him), and it opened possibilities for those that didn't want to play a live show (Quorthon never dealt with such thing for many reasons he explained on thousands of his interviews) and have ideas that many could not understand (and couldn't help the central musician to make them come true). WOODEN THRONE, from Finland, is a one man band, and it brings its first release, the cold and darkened "Under the Moon They Wander Until Fading Away".

The musical work on the album is the old and good Atmospheric Black Metal in the Old School way: cold, morbid and somber, without any technical ambitions of playing fast and with endless accords. The main focus is to create something funereal and that can create the ambiences for a lone walk through the mist of a frozen forest under a winter moon. These words are enough to describe what can be heard on the album for a fan that knows the old ways of the genre. And without creating anything new, the band did a good work. Recorded and mixed by Mikko Lehto himself (the sole member of the band), leaving the mastering for the hands of Henri Sorvali (who did it on Trollhouse Audio), and as was usual on the 90's, the keyboards are higher and creating the right ambiences, but one thing is different: you can understand the guitars, drums and bass guitar as well.

For a fan of Atmospheric Black Metal that was usual during the first half of the 90's, songs as "At the Sorrows Chamber" (the cold and funeral ambiences, based on a slow rhythmic work, creates an introspective and dense song), the harsh introspective approach heard on "Withered at Sunrise" and on "Under the Moon They Wander Until Fading Away" (where a melancholic feeling arises from the guitars), and "Return into Shadows" are the ones to give you an idea of the musical potential of what Lehto's musical ideas. But it could be better, because the potential of the band is huge.

For now, "Under the Moon They Wander Until Fading Away" is a good release for a first coming, and we can expect great things from WOODEN THRONE in the future.