Watain - Lawless Darkness (2010)

 Before the release of Lawless Darkness, Erik Danielsson was quoted as saying that metal fans have heard "perhaps fifteen percent" (or was it ten?) of what black metal is capable of.  His stated goal for the album was to unleash the other eighty five (ninety?) percent.  So when listening to Watain's latest, it's hard not to harken back to that earlier statement.  Does Lawless Darkness in fact live up to its potential?

"Death's Cold Dark" begins the answer with some distinctly Watain-branded riffage.  Even though this is familiar territory to fans of the band's earlier efforts, there is also something far more sinister lurking beneath the surface.  By the time "Malfeitor" and "Reaping Death" had finished, I found myself trying to pin down just what Watain had done to make their sound even more wicked than before.  Sworn to the Dark remains one of my favorite black metal albums, but Lawless Darkness takes what I already knew Watain could do well and adds another layer of aggression and chaos.

This diabolical surprise comes from a mix of twists on their old tricks and the inclusion of some throwbacks that one could attribute to the highest forms of Bathory worship.  The production will be instantly familiar to fans of any of Watain or Dissection's previous efforts, and Lawless Darkness isn't going to change any detractor's opinions of the band, but the individual elements are so strong that it's hard to imagine disliking it.  Take, for example, the lyrics:

There is a place beyond the dreamworlds,
Past the womb of night,
Lying in wait beyond the barriers of light,
Shunned by the living, cursed by the dead,
Here is no peace!  Here is no peace!

At times "Reaping Death" is a masterpiece of black poetry and at others a confrontational chant that begs to be experienced live.  As the album descended into "Four Thrones", I almost felt like I knew what to expect from it, but I was still wholly unprepared for just how good it could get.  "Wolves' Curse" is a nine-minute hellscape that bridges into the album's self-titled instrumental break nicely.  "Total Funeral" resumes the assault with a more traditional sensibility that is in no way less horrifying than the other tracks for it's more identifiable roots.  After "Hymn to Qaiyn" and "Kiss of Death" continue the assault, "Waters of Ain" closes the gates and fucks with the listener evermore, throwing in some shockingly good basic metal guitar work over a fourteen and a half minute homage to all things unholy.

Lawless Darkness is a perfect modern black metal album, and it's left me wanting only more and more like it.   This is a game-changer for black metal; all of the elements that make Watain great are not only present on Lawless Darkness, but tested and pushed to their limits.  As pleased as I am to see these Swedes unlesash even more of black metal's potential, I think (and hope) that they can do even more. 

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10]

Watain - Sworn to the Dark (2007)

Back in 1999, Watain released an EP called The Essence of Black Purity. When I decided to review their latest full-length, Sworn to the Dark, the title of that EP stuck out in my head as a perfect descriptor of this album. Sworn to the Dark is essential black metal, as pure and authentic as it gets.

"Legions of the Black Light" opens the gates to the temple of Watain, a warm and terrifying introduction to everything that follows. It's a fury of soul crushing riffs, frantic speed picking and masterful occult lyrics laid to rest with breakdowns born in the pits of hell. The themes here will carry for the whole album; frantic, almost thrash-inspired pacing broken by sudden drops into the depths of blackened depravity.

I could go on at length about every song on this album. "Satan's Hunger" is a harrowed tale of horrific discovery. The title track is one of the most frightfully intense black metal songs I've ever heard. With lyrics like:

"The all-defying pendulum of radiant conviction,
so determined in it's pace,
pounding now through flesh and bone
like a hammer through a child."

Sworn to the Dark walks a razor's edge between deliberately minimal leads and utterly overwhelming percussive riffs that will shove Satan's fist so far up your ass you won't have a choice but to bang your head. "The Serpent's Chalice" embodies this perfectly with an opening that could be a demonic army's war march. E. spits his blasphemy with due reverence and a strong poetic meter rarely seen in black metal.

"Wings of Satan, orb my heart!
It burns with love for you.
And it is ready now, to receive thee.
Claws of darkness, tear my soul!
For I have chosen the night
and branded its seal into my flesh.
Lead me to the catacombs
where light of neither sun nor moon
disturbs the dark in vaults,
possessed by molten evil manifest.
There I shall kiss the goat and piss on god.
Sundering the molecules that bind
this world together with me."

The album closes with "Stellarvore", a slower paced pledge to the nether. Haunting choruses reverberate as Watain calls to a long dormant god to awaken. "Stellarvore" quickly becomes exactly the sort of black fury that the rest of the album channels, and it closes out the album well. Brevity forces me to only pick the stand-out tracks to discuss here, but Sworn to the Dark is insanity from beginning to end, make no mistake.

There is never a shred of doubt as to the fullness of Watain's devotion to occult Satanism or the methods that they have chosen to give it form. If the music lagged behind the message for even a moment on Sworn to the Dark, it would bring some imbalance to the album, but instead they seem perfectly matched. To find a band so fearlessly championing this kind of evil without a trace of irony is rare. For that band to be musically as charged as their message is even more so. Sworn to the Dark is a masterpiece of modern black metal, and should not be missed by anyone.

Verdict: Epic Win [10/10]

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