I've been a fan of Wolves In The Throne Room for a few years, after I heard Black Cascade. I was hooked and checked out the band's back catalogue and paid attention to upcoming releases. I've found their take on black metal to be a bit grandiose at times, but ultimately always an enjoyable experience. After their last album Celestial Lineage I was anticipating where the band would go next. When Celestite was announced I was curious to say the least. This is the band's new full length album in about 3 years, and they announced it as an atmospheric/instrumental/synth album with no vocals, guitars, drums, etc. I always felt the band's appeal was the entirety of what they brought to the table, so I was a little worried about how this would sound but I kept positive. Boy, oh boy, was I wrong to be positive.

Knowing what to expect going in to the album, I can't say I am surprised by what is presented, but I am surprised, and completely disappointed at how utterly boring and bad this album is. Each song meanders along slowly over the course of its run time. There are some keyboard/synth flourishes, which I suppose are meant to make the album feel more majestic, but do not. The songs go no where, there's no build to any track on here and the whole experience is just slow and painful. The opening track, Turning Ever Toward The Sun and track 4, Celestite Mirror are 11.5 and 14.5 minutes respectively. These two tracks are the biggest offenders on the album because of tier length. At least the shorter songs are over and done with fairly quickly, but these songs are a marathon to get through. Celestite Mirror even fades out to silence around the 9-9.5 minute mark before starting again. It's almost as if the band themselves know the song should have ended much sooner than it did.

To not be entirely negative, there are a couple positives to the album. The production is very clear, and everything can be heard. There isn't much to hear, but it comes through the speakers very clearly. Also, the songs do flow from one to another without interruption, making the album feel like an entire movement and not individual songs. The final track, Sleeping Golden Storm does have a nice little electronic beat around the 3.5 minute mark that goes for a minute that I enjoyed. That's really all I can say about the positives, and really, production and flow of the songs doesn't matter if the music being presented is as lifeless and boring as this album.

Simply put, I cannot recommend this to anyone. I didn't think this album would be so dull as this, and it's very upsetting. I could have seen this released as a bonus disc on a reissue, or with a new "full band" album but to release as a stand alone album, after a three year wait between albums feels like a slap in the face to the fans. I like all genres of music, and I do enjoy instrumental music and ambient/atmospheric/synth music, but this is just a joke, but sadly, I'm not laughing.