Band – Wolven Daughter/Order of the Wolf
Album – Split
Country of Origin – USA/Scotland
Genre – Black Metal
Release Date – March 21, 2025 (digital) and Coming Soon (cassette)
Label – Fiadh Productions
Author – Hayduke X
Review:
Fiadh Productions is once again the home of some excellent, and of course explicitly antifascist, black metal, this time in the form of a split between two solo “wolf” projects. Though the imagery of the wolf (maybe more especially the werewolf) has often been tied to fascism, these two projects are very clear and upfront about where they stand, and as a huge fan of actual wolves, I’m here for it. Hailing from Kentucky in the USA, Wolven Daughter has several splits, EPs, and demos in addition to this one, as well as a 2024 full length. On the other side, Order of the Wolf, from Scotland, has released three splits, including this one, as well as several singles. Further details about what’s coming next from each project can be found in the interview below.
The first three tracks are from Wolven Daughter and are great examples of her style. For those unfamiliar, she writes some of the rawest black metal you are likely to hear, hearkening back to the blurry era as the first wave began to evolve into second wave black metal. Combative riffs overlay a rhythmic foundation of aggressive drums, while her vocals are howls of righteous rage. Though purposely rugged in terms of mix, these tracks are, as always, very much riff driven, and there’s a ton of good ones here.
The split is then rounded out by three tracks from Order of the Wolf. Featuring a more modern, melodic take on black metal, these tracks have cleaner production (not clean, but cleaner), but also have no shortage of riffs. Layers of guitar, with bass and drums, weave a spell through which the artist’s rasp invokes rage at the state of society and calls for change.
Though in some ways quite different takes on black metal, the two projects contrast each other in ways which call attention to the strength of each. Take some time to listen and ponder.
Interview:
Hayduke X: Congratulations on the release of your split. I’m loving it! How are you each feeling about it now that it’s out there in the world?
Wolven Daughter: I’m proud of what I did, certainly, and people seem to be responding well. And I thought the Order of the Wolf side was fantastic and really brought the whole thing together. Quite pleased with it overall.
Order of the Wolf: Thank you! I’m really happy with it and very proud of how it’s been received so far. It feels great to have released new music at long last and I can’t think of a better way of having done so than with this split. It’s been in the works for a long time, but it was held up due to life getting in the way, so to finally have it out has been a huge relief, too. It’s an honour to have worked alongside Wolven Daughter who I’ve admired for a long time. I think our music compliments each other really well.
HX: How did you end up working together?
OotW: It was quite silly, really. I posted something daft on the app-that-shall-not-be-named like “imagine a Wolven Daughter and Order of the Wolf split” after seeing lots of people post those “inside you are two wolves” memes and it kind of just grew arms and legs from there.
WD: Lol correct. I thought it was a great idea for real and DMed you about it.
OotW: Proof that being silly on the internet sometimes pays off haha.
HX: That’s fantastic really! Did you then write from scratch or did either of you have songs already in the works that went towards the split?
WD: I wrote all mine for the split after we decided to do it.
OotW: I wrote all of my songs specifically for the split as well. Due to some technical issues while recording I lost one of the tracks I’d recorded. I was so disheartened. I couldn’t face re-recording that particular song so I ended up writing and recording a new song a few days before release. I’m never doing that again!
HX: Oh no! That must have been difficult, for sure. Can you tell me anything about the lost song?
OotW: In comparison to “Death of the Elite” and “JSS,” it was much slower and quite atmospheric. It had clean guitar parts, long instrumental sections and a little bit of piano too. I’d like to revisit it at some point. In hindsight, it was maybe a blessing that I had those technical issues because I think Mother Nature… is a far better fit for this particular release.
HX: Ah, well, that’s good then. Maybe it wasn’t time for that one. Did the two of you collaborate on themes or anything like that before writing your tracks? Or during writing?
OotW: Honestly, no. Once we decided to do the split we went off and did our own thing. I think doing it that way felt more natural and it allowed us to write without any restraints.
HX: Can you each tell me your writing process?
WD: To write the riffs, I turn on a click and find a good bpm for the ideas I have. Once they’re written, I track them, also with a click. Then I do drums, bass, and vocals, which are more or less written during the recording process, to the guitars. Drums tend to just be sort of spontaneous, I have bad recording anxiety and just having a vague idea with room to play helps. Bass usually just follows the riff, lol. Lyrics I write after everything else is done, with an eye more towards how the vocal sounds will fit with a song than an eye towards nice or pretty lyrics.
OotW: Everything starts with me just messing around on a guitar. I tend to play most days but rarely pick one up with the intention of actually writing anything. It sounds a bit cheesy, but I like to just play for a while and see what happens. I find ideas come to me far easier when I don’t force it. Once I’ve come up with the initial part I then write the rest of the guitar parts around that. Sometimes by this point I’ll have a vocal pattern in mind, but that isn’t always the case. From there I record all of the guitar and bass parts to a click track or basic drum beat, then I programme the drums. It isn’t until the music is recorded before I write lyrics, although they often stem from an initial idea I’d previously come up with. Again, like with writing music, lyrics come to me far easier when not forced.
HX: What can you each tell me about lyrical themes on your respective tracks?
OotW: “Death of the Elite” is about existing in a capitalist society – accepting that you kind of have to be part of it in order to live whether you like it or not, all the while rallying against it and hoping for its eventual downfall. “Mother Nature Will Have Her Revenge On Us All” is about climate change and the detrimental effects human beings are having on our planet. As a species, we’re destroying Earth and endangering all forms of life and one day, sooner rather than later, humanity will pay for it. “JSS” is somewhat of a sister song and unintentional ‘sequel’ to “Mother Nature”… It’s essentially about the human will to survive, even against all odds. In this case – fighting to stay alive in a world no longer safe for human habitation. The name was taken from an episode of The Walking Dead and the imagery of that show definitely inspired the lyrics. It’s kind of funny, until now I didn’t really think my songs followed a particular theme but now that I think about it, there’s definitely an underlying anti-capitalist message throughout – being trapped in a capitalist system, climate change being supercharged by industry, and the subsequent fallout.
WD: So I mentioned earlier that I tend to write lyrics more based on how the vocals will sound with the song. That being said, as far as jumping off points, I took inspiration from books. “Wrath of the Black God” is loosely based on the P. Djeli Clark novella The Black God’s Drums, for example, while “Tower of Dread” is inspired by the anti-colonialist novel Babel by R. F. Kuang
HX: Tell me about the cover artwork.
OotW: It’s a photograph taken in Paris, France during International Workers Day demonstrations. It’s angry, violent, intense and invokes a visceral reaction which I think suits the music on the split very well.
HX: I’m hearing a lot of political themes from both of you. I would invite you each to share any thoughts you’d like along these lines.
WD: It’s really funny cause when I thought about starting a black metal project, I didn’t think I wanted it to be antifascist at all, because I didn’t want to feel pigeonholed into one topic. But when I started the world was just so appalling that that’s what I felt compelled to write about. Rage suits black metal well, although I personally think that being publicly antifascist is far more important than lyrical content. This is one reason why I do not shut up on social media
OotW: When I started Order of the Wolf I made it abundantly clear from day one that I am an explicitly antifascist person and as such, so is this project. Although it was never planned, writing about political topics happened very organically, very quickly. I’m a politically minded person and as such I think it was inevitable that this project went in the direction it did. Given the current global political climate, I truly believe it’s more important than ever to use our voices to rage against bigotry, fascism and hate – whether that be through music, lyrics, poetry, prose, photography, painting, social media posts or any other medium we may have at our disposal. Going forward, if I actively write about politics or not, this is and always will be a political project. Make no bones about that.
HX: It’s my understanding that a physical release is in the works through Fiadh Productions. Tell me about how this came about. How is the label a good fit for what you’re doing?
WD: I knew (label owner – the editor) Bari from Twitter and she and I had worked together to do 10″ lathes of Gospel of the Claw. Fiadh is one of the few explicitly antifascist labels out there, and I knew they’d pick up what we were putting down. I shot her an email and she said yes.
OotW: I’d just like to add that I’m so glad Wolven Daughter suggested Fiadh. I’m extremely happy they agreed to put out the split. I think it’s a perfect fit. Fiadh does amazing work and it feels good to work with a label whose ideals align perfectly with our own.
HX:What’s next for each of you?
WD: I have been trying to decide for a bit, actually. Part of me wants to work on the next Wolven Daughter record because I have some really great ideas for it, but I also want to work on my side project, Dread Maw, for a bit, because I haven’t done anything with that for a bit.
OotW: I’ve been part of 3 splits now, all of which with artists I greatly admire. I’ve put out a couple of “singles” and made some compilation appearances. I think the next logical step is to put out something on my own – ideally a full length. I have a few songs ready to go and the bare bones of others, so it’s just a case of workshopping the unfinished ones then commencing with recording. If I don’t get around to doing an album this year, there will definitely still be new music at some point soon. I’d also like to dedicate some time to other projects I’ve been neglecting.
HX: To wrap things up, I’d like to give you each the opportunity to share about anything you’d like. Is there anything important I forgot to ask about? Or just something else you wish to share?
WD: Fuck Elon Musk!
OotW: Thank you for taking the time to interview us. Thank you to Wolven Daughter for doing the split. Thank you to Fiadh Productions for putting it out physically. Thank you to everyone who has bought it thus far. Thank you to those who continue to listen to and support my music. A cosmos sized fuck you to every bigot who has ever walked this Earth. Solidarity to everyone out there fighting the good fight. Trans rights are human rights. Free Palestine. “Be radical, spread joy.”
Biography: Hayduke X has been writing for MoshPitNation since June of 2016. He is also a contributor to The Metal Wanderlust. Prior to joining the MoshPitNation team, Hayduke published reviews on his own blog Rage and Frustration. In addition, he has DJ’ed an online metal radio show of the same name as his blog, written for TOmetal.com, done interviews for Metal Rules, and collaborated with The Art of B Productions to create video interviews with a wide variety of bands.
