Cries from the Quiet World: Watain

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domingo, 20 de diciembre de 2020

Watain "The Wild Hunt"

The Wild Hunt is the fifth studio album by Swedish black metal band Watain. It was released through Century Media on 19 August 2013 in Europe and 20 August 2013 in USA. The cover art was painted "in oil and mixed materials" by Zbigniew M. Bielak, who was also responsible for the artwork of Lawless Darkness. The album sold around 2,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release, and was the best-selling album in their home country of Sweden on the week of its release, making it the band's highest sales and chart debut to date. Stylistically the album represents a development of Watain's established black metal sound, incorporating influences from heavy metal, doom metal, and progressive metal. It is also the first Watain album to feature vocalist Erik Danielsson performing clean vocals.

Watain's previous album Lawless Darkness was a significant critical and commercial success for the band. It earned the band their first Swedish Grammi for 'Best Hard Rock' album in 2011, and the album's single 'Reaping Death' was certified gold in Sweden by the IFPI for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. Following the success of Lawless Darkness, as well as notable live performances at Wacken and Bloodstock in 2012, the band signed with Century Media Records in November 2012, confirming that their fifth full-length album would be released through the label in 2013. The Wild Hunt is Watain's first album released on Century Media, and their first release on a major record label.

Music critics have noted that represents some significant stylistic changes compared to the band's previous albums. AllMusic's Gregory Heaney wrote that the band "continues to bend and expand the form, tempering the icy chill of classic black metal with atmospheric touches, creating an experience that feels epic and sprawling compared to the suffocating sounds one typically associates with the genre. 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."[6] Stereogum's Michael Nelson compared the band's progression on this album to Metallica, and this album to Metallica's 'Black Album', writing that "the similarities are striking: The Wild Hunt is Watain’s most straightforward collection, their most traditional rock-based collection; it’s also a tremendous leap, from the lofty, daunting — and perhaps inaccessible — peaks previously scaled by the band into a wide, deep, very big pond."

The album was written over a period of about three years, beginning after the release of their previous album. Much of the lyrics were "written on the road, in Australia, Japan, USA and Transylvania." Discussing the meaning behind the album, Erik Danielsson said:

"The Wild Hunt has a very retrospective concept actually. It’s very much about us looking back on this journey that we have been on for these last 15 years and the songs all relate, in one way or another, to very defined experiences and ideas; struggles, trials and tribulations that we have been through during this time. I don’t mean to make it seem like it’s an autobiographical concept, because it isn’t really, it is in a certain sense, but it is still a very lofty and spiritual concept at the same time. It’s a divine idea, The Wild Hunt really. And I found it a really inspiring concept to work with, although the individual songs in themselves we never really paid attention to the concept when we wrote them, it was more something that we realised afterwards."

The band began recording the album on January 3, 2013, almost exactly three years after they began recording their previous album Lawless Darkness, and took about four months to complete. The exact order of the songs was left open during the recording of the album. The band also decided to record in multiple studios rather than just one as they had done for previous albums because "being in the studio for that long, working in various places, and traveling around like a bunch of fucking gypsies with equipment (laughs), it left its mark on the album." Danielsson added that the recording process was "emotionally very demanding and challenging", crediting this for "that extra dimension of diversity and you never know what you expect from it really. I think the whole recording process actually colored the album a lot."

The final song to be written for the album was the closing track 'Holocaust Dawn', a song which Danielsson has explained means a lot to him personally. "It was a song, that in the end, kind of summed up the whole process of recording the album and everything we wanted to say with it. It is a song which is full of equal amounts of sorrow and tragedy as it is on the victory and triumph; about a very divine influence. The song just became very special. It was also the last song we wrote for the album and it was just one of those songs where after we did it, it was like - ok, we are done, that was that - you know."

On the collector's edition of the album is an exclusive 7" which features a song titled 'XI'. Much of the music was written by Jon Nödtveidt, and the lyrics were provided by Set Teitan who was the guitarist in Nödtveidt's band Dissection at the time of his death. Erik Danielsson has said in an interview that

"I played bass with Dissection on their last three shows and Set Teitan, our guitar player, he played guitar in Dissection since after Jon came out of prison, so we have always had a very strong connection with Dissection. This song you’re referring to is called ‘XI’, and we recorded it during ‘The Wild Hunt’ sessions. To say it’s a special thing doesn’t really say it. It’s more, much more than that. It basically was a song that was still un-recorded by Dissection, that was written around the time of Reinkaos. It was never played live and never really properly finished like an actual song. We had the riffs and Set wrote the lyrics, and the people that now take care of the Dissection legacy approved of everything, of course. These things are you have to understand this isn’t just like doing a cover of a band. It’s about life and death and it’s about [...] preserving a legacy. [...] Through the 17 years that Watain have existed now, I think that’s one of the most special things we have ever done in a recording.

The artwork for The Wild Hunt was created by Zbigniew M. Bielak using oils and other materials. Bielak was also responsible for the artwork of the band's previous album, Lawless Darkness. According to the band, the piece "depicts one of the inmost shrines of Watain's temple. As on every classic still life, each object has a significant meaning, while each song of the album is also connected to an object."

The album was released on a variety of formats. Besides the standard CD version in a jewelcase, a limited edition mediabook CD version was also released. This was housed in a black slipcase with exclusive gold cover artwork (depicted to the right) with the mediabook inside. This featured a 24-page booklet. A collector's edition limited to 2,000 copies was released exclusively through the band's Wolf Wear webstore. This featured the album on deluxe gatefold on two red 180 gram vinyl records; the limited edition mediabook CD version with 24-page booklet; an exclusive 7" record with the song 'XI' (an unreleased Dissection song written by Jon Nödtveidt, lyrics by Set Teitan, recorded by Watain during The Wild Hunt studio sessions); an exclusive 7" record with the bonus song 'When Stars No More Shine' in two versions (the original and a re-recorded 2013 version); a woven altar cloth; a poster; 5 postcards; a metal pin; and a signed and hand-numbered autograph card. This was packaged in a red box with exclusive artwork pressed in gold.

Watain announced the album title and release date for The Wild Hunt on May 1, 2013, confirming that the album was mixed at Necromorbus Studio in Sweden by Tore Stjerna. On June 12 the band announced further details about the album title, artwork, and track listing. On June 24, the band premiered the single 'All That May Bleed' to promote the album, and was released the following day as a 7" single and as a digital download with a b-side cover of the song 'Play With the Devil' by Taiwaz. On July 9, the band provided further details about the various formats and editions it would be available in. The band released a promotional flexi disc for Decibel subscribers featuring a cover of GG Allin's 'Fuck Off, We Murder' in the magazine's September issue. The band were featured on the issue's cover, and the issue included an interview with Danielsson about the album. The band were also featured on the covers of Terrorizer, Rock Tribune, Scream Magazine, and Sweden Rock. The album's second single 'The Child Must Die' was premiered on Stereogum on July 17, described by the band as "a song of sorrow and liberation, of the sacrifices that the path of adversity requires."

A week before the album's release, Century Media released a special "bootleg" version of the album in the United States in certain independent record stores. This edition features a simple white sleeve and stamp, hand-numbered and limited to 500 copies. The album was officially released on August 19, 2013 in Europe, and on August 20 in the United States. The band also recorded their first music video for the song 'Outlaw', which was published on December 5, 2013. The video was directed by Watain and Johan Bååth, who also directed the band's 2012 DVD 'Opus Diaboli'. Erik Danielsson described it as "a knife stab in the face of today's clean and witty metal scene and yet another step for us to bring back something real and extreme into this limping music movement."

Track listing

All tracks are written by Watain.

"Night Vision" (instrumental) 3:38
"De Profundis" 4:33
"Black Flames March" 6:20
"All That May Bleed" 4:41
"The Child Must Die" 6:04
"They Rode On" 8:43
"Sleepless Evil" 5:37
"The Wild Hunt" 6:20
"Outlaw" 5:07
"Ignem Veni Mittere" (instrumental) 4:39
"Holocaust Dawn" 7:07

Total length: 61:29

This album is available in several editions:

- Standard jewel case CD

- Limited edition 'mediabook' CD: bonus track: 12. When Stars No More Shine (2013 version) [3:29]

- 180gr black vinyl (2LP gatefold)

- 180gr black vinyl (limited edition, special pre-release 2LP version, limited to 500 hand numbered copies, North American independent record shops, different cover: black and white only)

- Digital download

- Limited edition box set

- Wolf Wear edition box set

Both limited edition box sets are limited to 5,000 copies in total: 1,000 have the standard black vinyl, 2,000 have gold vinyl; plus the Wolf Wear edition box set is strictly limited to 2,000 copies and this has red vinyl.

Apart from the contents of the regular limited edition box set, the exclusive Wolf Wear edition box set will also contain the "Wild Hunt" 2LP in red vinyl, a signed postcard and last but not least the "XI" 7”.

Contains:

- "The Wild Hunt" 2LP, 180gr red vinyl in special gatefold cover ***

- "The Wild Hunt" limited edition 'mediabook' CD with 24 page booklet *

- "XI" 7inch *** (music and lyrics by Jon Nödtveidt and Set Teitan, performed by Watain)

- "When Stars No More Shine" 7inch * (The 1st Watain song ever written, in 2 versions: from 1998 -side A [3:03]-, and 2013 -side B [3:29]-)

- Altar cloth (100cm x 100cm) *

- Poster (120cm x 60cm) *

- 5 photographs *

- Metal pin *

- Signed and hand numbered autograph postcard ***

* exclusively available in the limited edition box set

*** exclusively available in the Wolf Wear edition box set

Size: 330 x 330 x 59 mm

[Watain - WAT081]

"Sleepless Evil" contains a sample from the movie "Conan The Barbarian" (1982).

Watain "Lawless Darkness"

Lawless Darkness is the fourth studio album by Swedish black metal band Watain, released through Season of Mist, on 7 June 2010. The cover art was made by Zbigniew M. Bielak, who also painted The Wild Hunt cover art. The album sold around 1,000 copies in the United States in the first week of its release, reaching no. 42 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart. The single "Reaping Death" was distributed in their home country of Sweden in the Sweden Rock magazine, and was certified gold in the band's home country on April 21 by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 10,000 copies. The album received very positive reviews from music critics, and in 2011 the band were awarded the Swedish Grammi for 'Best Hard Rock' album for Lawless Darkness.

In regards to the album's title, Erik Danielsson said that "It’s an expression about liberating all bonds. To question everything around you, to break down all barriers that are around you. Some call it salvation and others liberation. Lawlessness can mean liberation." Danielsson has also explained that he sees the band's previous album as the "foundation stone" of Lawless Darkness, "because with Sworn we had finally reached the artistic self-knowledge required for such a giant of an album. With that in our backs, we knew we could venture far into the dark… And we did." He described the album as a "thorough musical exploration of the darkside", and explained that the album's lyrics are based on the "exploration, glorification and adoration of the Devil; the eternal adversary and enemy of the world as we know it." Expanding on the meaning behind the album, he said:

The idea of Lawless Darkness is based upon the thought that light is a impulse of restriction and definition. Darkness, in turn, is the absence of light, and therefore the absence of the same restrictions. Note that Darkness in this context is also used as a spiritual and archetypal concept, not only the physical absence of light during, for example, night-time. The darkness that we refer to is the primordial wellspring of Chaos that is the abode of our gods, and unto which their children, the bloodline of fire, shall return.

According to Danielsson, the album was recorded over a period of about two months (January-February 2010), and has described it as " a rather intense and chaotic two months, working every day and every night for sixty days in a row with the exception of one, I think." The album was again produced by Tore Stjerna, with whom the band has worked on all of their previous and subsequent albums. Danielsson has described working with Tore Sjterna as a "tradition" for Watain that has made the band what it is. "Why change a beneficial concept? There are numerous advantages with recording there, but the number one is probably that Tore is almost like member when we record, we know each other very well for many, many years, which is of course beneficial when doing something as intimate as an album recording. Watain is a special band, complicated in many ways, and Tore is one of the few persons that we have no problems working with."

The artwork for the album was handled by Zbigniew M. Bielak. Danielsson explained that working with him made things much easier as it helped them realise their ideas. He said that "We sent him long letters and talked a lot on the phone describing in detail the symbolism and idea behind every song. Meticulous descriptions of symbols, myth, ancient lore, magical work, everything that we needed to have woven into the artwork. He was surprisingly understanding of our cause and goals." Within the booklet, each song has original artwork by Bielak.

1,000 copies of a collector's edition of the album were available on the album's release. This boxset contained the digipak version of ‘Lawless Darkness’, which includes the 'Chains of Death' Death SS cover. The box also contains a Watain symbol pendant with chain, a black candle in wrapping, a full colour flag and 10 tarot cards in a pocket, which have been specially designed (one for each song) by Erik Danielsson. This was packed in a solid beech box with real leather and a Watain logo imprint on the lid. Invisible Oranges named it as one of the best metal album covers of 2010. Watain wanted listeners to have a "special" and "ritualistic" listening experience.

In support of the album, Watain toured North America through November to December 2010 with the support of Black Anvil and Withered. Though it was originally intended to be a co-headline tour with Behemoth, Behemoth dropped out due to vocalist/guitarist Nergal needing to be urgently admitted to hospital for treatment of his leukaemia. The tour went ahead with Watain as the headlining act and included dates in Quebec, Washington, California, Texas, and New York. The tour was titled 'The Lawless States of Heretika Tour'. In February and March 2011, the band toured across Europe with Shining and Aosoth on the 'Death Holy Death Tour 2011'. This tour included shows in Denmark, Poland, France, Spain, as well as a five UK dates.

Track listing

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

"Death's Cold Dark" 5:29
"Malfeitor" 6:58
"Reaping Death" 5:07
"Four Thrones" 6:16
"Wolves Curse" 9:12
"Lawless Darkness" (instrumental) 6:08
"Total Funeral" (Lyrics by Pete Helmkamp) 6:04
"Hymn to Qayin" (Lyrics by Set Teitan) 5:57
"Kiss of Death" 7:46
"Waters of Ain" 14:31

Total length: 73:28

Limited edition digipak

"Chains of Death" (Death SS cover) 6:14

Comes with a 24-page booklet.

Also released as collector's edition CD in the shape of a fully leather bound book, including the digipak version of "Lawless Darkness". The box contains exclusive items: a Watain symbol pendant with chain, a black candle in wrapping, a full colour flag 123 cm x 75 cm with 2 metal rings and 10 specially designed illustrated cards in a pocket. Limited to 1000 copies worldwide.

Recording information:

Recorded at Necromorbus Studio, Alvik, Sweden, during the first two moons of 2010.

Mastered at The Panic Room.

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.

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

- 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.

Watain "Casus Luciferi"

Casus Luciferi is the second studio album by the black metal band Watain. It was released in 2003 on Drakkar Productions. It was also released on limited edition vinyl by Norma Evangelium Diaboli and, in 2004, on tape by the Romanian label Mirgilus Siculorum. The album was remastered and reissued in October 2008 with a bonus track, a live cover of the song "Watain" by Von that the band is named after.

According to Eduardo Rivadavia, writing for Allmusic, "[t]he career of Sweden's Watain took a major step forward with the release of 2003's sophomore album, Casus Luciferi, which 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." He stated that, with this album, Watain "exchang[ed] the Norwegian influences of prior efforts with a no less devilish blueprint delineated years earlier by seminal Swedish forefathers like Dissection, Marduk, and Dark Funeral." Rivadavia concluded his review saying, "one would be foolish to overlook any track on Casus Luciferi, such is the consistent quality maintained throughout this grand musical grimoire, brimming with power, majesty, and glorious ruin in the name of black metal, and paying testament to Watain's well-deserved ascension following its unveiling."

Track listing

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