Watain: Outlaw – new video

With whom better to (finally) welcome the winter than with WATAIN? I must say their ‘Outlaw’ made me nauseated, bitter, confused and, since I am (on occasion) of their own ilk, it also made me feel empowered – of course in a Diabolical way. Just as they and Johan Bååth intended. Therefore maybe I am even deserving of one of those 70 VHS tapes containing the ‘Outlaw’ video which are currently being distributed in various ways… Then again, it made me feel real good when I read that WATAIN have conquered their home country, Sweden, charts with their latest uncompromising album ‘The Wild Hunt’ back in August 2013, because I too really like it. ‘The Wild Hunt’ has also debuted at position number 158 on the Billboard Top 200, selling around 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release. WATAIN's eleven “windows into a world rarely seen by men” were produced by Tore Stjerna at his Necromorbus studio in Alvik, Sweden, their accompanying art created by Zbigniew M. Bielak and opened by Century Media Records. Described as “the most important album of WATAIN's career” by Metal Hammer UK, as “exciting, vital music that grabs you by the soul” by Kerrang UK, the album contains some firsts as well, such as clean vocals by Erik Danielsson (otherwise known as E. and apparently also known as the editor of the Hellish Massacre zine and the artist behind Cold Seed Creations) on the song ‘They Rode On’. He kindly explained:

“I piss on those so-called artists who adapt themselves in order to reach bigger audiences. The main reason why we achieved all that we did is that we never betrayed our initial vision, not because we ever pretended to write more “accessible” music. That specific song is just us being brutally personal and honest. It shows another important facet of the WATAIN world.”

Since “the stars have fallen into position and the angles are becoming visible, prepare yourselves for a burning dawn, and a wild, wild hunt”, order the album from here (CM Distro Europe), here (CM Distro North America), here (WATAIN store) or whichever god-forsaken place you usually order your music from - immediately!

“By adding in touches of doom, prog, and symphonic metal, WATAIN is able to push the boundaries of black metal while still keeping things on the extreme end of the spectrum, providing them with a kind of accessibility that doesn't require them to sacrifice any of the more terrifying aspects of their sound in the process,” [contributed Gregory Heaney, AllMusic – more here:]

Formed in 1998 in Uppsala, Sweden when “there weren’t really any bands anymore that seemed to take things that seriously”, WATAIN set upon correcting the distressing state of affairs immediately with a demo called ‘Go Fuck Your Jewish God’. Next came the uncompromising 7” release entitled ‘The Essence Of Black Purity’ in 1999, followed by ‘Rabid Death's Curse’, their first studio album. Described as “inconspicuous, hamstrung by a muddy, less-than-ideal production and a slew of familiar Scandinavian black metal ingredients” by Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic (more here), WATAIN's full-length debut was reissued in 2008 by Season Of Mist:

The infernal trio put forth their second longplayer in 2003 through Drakkar Productions; with ‘Casus Luciferi’ WATAIN “crystallized the sound that would elevate the band - in tandem with reliably devastating concert rituals - to the top of the global black metal bone pile” according to aforementioned critic. He further explained:

“To put it another way, cleanly produced onslaughts such as ‘Black Salvation’, ‘Opus Dei (The Morbid Angel)’ and ‘The Golden Horns Of Darash’ ruthlessly decapitate their victims with the swift efficiency of a guillotine, rather than requiring a few swipes of a rusty scythe; the tools of the trade may be different, cleaner, and more immediate, just like the songs themselves, but the end result is still deadly,” [more here:]

I have no intention to dwell on yet another black metal band's idiotic behavior such as WATAIN's in 2006, but in 2007 WATAIN reportedly successfully challenged Norway's black metal supremacy with their third album, ‘Sworn To The Dark’. Issued through Season Of Mist, the album was praised by metal press and appraised as “enjoyable” by Eduardo Rivadavia, AllMusic (more here):

Depicting a pitch-black whirlpool painstakingly created by Zbigniew M. Bielak on its cover, WATAIN's fourth full-length, 2010's ‘Lawless Darkness’, somehow failed to excite each and every metal music critic; yet it impressed AllMusic's reviewer enough to describe it as a “ significant achievement for the advancement of black metal's cause” (more here):

WATAIN features: Erik Danielsson – vocals and bass, Håkan Jonsson – drums and Pelle Forsberg – guitar and Set Teitan (Davide Totaro) – live guitar and Alvaro Lillo – live bass