Watain "Sworn To The Dark"

Sworn to the Dark is the third studio album by Watain and was released on 19 February 2007 on Season of Mist. The album received very positive reviews from music critics and has been described as the band's "breakthrough" album. The song 'Legions of the Black Light' is dedicated to Dissection's vocalist Jon Nödtveidt who committed suicide in 2006.

The album received positive reviews from music critics. Chad Bowar of About.com called it "a sinister and forbidding dose of black metal". He went on to say, "You'll hear the droning guitars and frantic blast beats of black metal, but Watain adds a lot of really catchy and melodic riffs and some cool guitar countermelodies." He concluded his review saying, "This is a really well crafted album that's menacing, yet melodic." Eduardo Rivadavia of Allmusic gave the album 4.5 of 5 stars, saying that the band "achieve a perfect balance between Venom or Darkthrone's outright savagery and straightforward execution, and Emperor's spiraling arrangements and progressive orientation". He went on to say that "you'll definitely find more extreme, misanthropic, or adventurous black metal albums than Sworn to the Dark out there, but you'll be hard-pressed to find one more balanced or — and this may sound contradictory for nasty old black metal — enjoyable". Scott Alisoglu of Blabbermouth.net wrote that "Watain is a band concerned not with experimentation or genre-bending, just the creation of ripping black metal songs that burn a hole in the soul and leave a lasting impact on the psyche. It doesn't get much better." The album also made many end-of-year lists, as well. In Terrorizer's Secret History of Black Metal (issued in September 2009), it made the number 13 position on their list of "Black Metal's Top 40 Albums". The AllMusic stuff named it one of their favourite metal albums of 2007.

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Erik Danielsson, except where noted; all music is composed by Watain.

1. "Legions of the Black Light" (Lyrics by Set Teitan) 8:04
2. "Satan's Hunger" 6:46
3. "Withershins" (instrumental) 1:02
4. "Storm of the Antichrist" 4:15
5. "The Light That Burns the Sun" 7:04
6. "Sworn to the Dark" 5:03
7. "Underneath the Cenotaph" 4:12
8. "The Serpent's Chalice" 6:42
9. "Darkness and Death" (Lyrics by Michayah Belfagor) 4:13
10. "Dead But Dreaming" (instrumental) 2:05
11. "Stellarvore" 8:17

Total length: 57:45

The lyrics here are taken from the booklet.

"Legions of the Black Light" is dedicated to Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection.

CD

- EU CD version released by Season of Mist on digipak and standard jewel case.

- US CD version released by The Ajna Offensive.

- Digipak version by Pulverised Records in Asia.

Tape

- Pro-Tape released by InCoffin Productions, limited to 250 copies.

- Tape re-released by Satanic Propaganda Records in October 2008, limited to 500 copies.

- Another tape edition of Sworn to the Dark is released by Malaysian label Evil Dead Production in a limited edition of 111 copies.

Vinyl

- 2xLP released by Norma Evangelium Diaboli in 2007. Comes with A1 poster and lyric booklet.

- PIC-LP re-released by Norma Evangelium Diaboli in 2008, 3 versions with 3 different B-sides of Disk 1, each limited to 333.

- Double LP re-released on November 16 2012 by Season of Mist.

Recording information:

Recorded in the fall of 2006 at Necromorbus Studio.

Watain also participated in the producing and the photography.