Watain - The Agony and Ecstasy of Watain

http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Black Metal

A great release as was with 'Lawless Darkness'. I don't own any other of theirs. These guys show the world how well black metal should be played and have originality to it. Intensity is not the word for it, more like a blistering onslaught! Depressing black metal but not entirely. I've found it a little bit difficult to write about this because there's so many changes. But that's what makes it interesting. It isn't THAT fast musically. It's rather dealing with tempo changes pretty drastically. Melodies that are depressing and a unique guitar tone to it. The vocals go great with the music. It's pretty spot-on!

I like the guitars and the vocals the most out of this whole onslaught. I think that they really got super creative on this and took it from there. These guys are well established in the black metal community. What a triumphant release! I liked all the songs and no instances of this are boring or straight humdrum. This is an album that needs more followers listening to it. Blasphemous, evil, eerie and devilish. I think they had a step up from previous albums. They seemed to diversify and make use with sounds that are amazingly constructed. A difficult one to wrap our heads around musically speaking.

The production was a little raw, but not overly so. The atmosphere is what sucks you in! The slow points to the album is where the evil lurks. Not too many lead guitar bits but the rhythms are powerful. And the aura is chilling. This whole album isn't that fast. There's points where they have interludes. Kind of like old Opeth, to make that kind of distinction. All in all, a great release. These guys manipulate sounds and some tracks never seem to get out of their pit. Others that are fast and furious. As I say, they diversify. The execution is top notch. They know exactly what they're doing musically.

I liked this whole album. I thought it did no wrong in any respect. A very likable black metal based release. These guys know how to make songwriting their friend. I bought the CD but streaming it is ok to see if this is your "thing." Some of it sounds like old Marduk, just in certain places. But they're not holding blast beats for a long while. They are changing it up a lot. So yeah, show support for the band and buy the CD. These guys could use a lot more followers especially if black metal is your gig. I like it only in small doses. Being prone to their darkness, I can only take this on occasion. Check it out! (Death8699)

(Nuclear Blast - 2022)
Score: 80

https://watainsom.bandcamp.com/album/the-agony-ecstasy-of-watain

Watain - Lawless Darkness

BACK IN TIME:
http://www.secret-face.com/

#FOR FANS OF: Black Metal

What an original, differently paced tempos, fast/medium/slow black metal, it's all inclusive work! Screaming in pain, songs are lengthy, dark and depressing. You can hear everything in this production/mixing. Some songs are groove laden and catchy. One long album, but interesting nevertheless. Tremolo picking galore, and riff-tastic. The vocals mix well with the music. Atmospheric. Some lead guitar here, but not really that much. Mostly rhythm guitars, which is fine by me. Their lyrical concepts aren't very interesting just the music hits home with me. That and their vocals. It's hard to like certain black metal bands because of crappy vocalists.

The mood the whole way through is very dark, but then again the title of this album is 'Lawless Darkness'. If I had to pick one Watain album out of their entire discography, this one would be it. Not because of anyone else's opinion or scores on here, but because this one really hits home with me. Everything about this album is amazing and it all fits into place. Black metal isn't even close to being my favorite genre because most of it is quite depressing. However, this I do appreciate. The guitars here are really thrashy. That's another reason why I like the album. And the fact that there are no keyboards or synthesizers. Those (to me) damage my ratings.

The vocals sound a bit like Legion (ex-Marduk, ex-Devian). A lot of black metal vocalists are grim sounding to go along with the dark music. Most of the concepts too are Satanism or the Occult. But the focus here is mainly the music. The riffs are original and not entirely fast and furious. They're mostly dark riffs. Dark but amazing. I haven't heard a good black metal album this good lately except the new Mayhem and Darkthrone, Dark Fortress as well. But this has its own unique sound. I beg to say that this is the only Watain album I'll own unless they produce something that's groundbreaking over the next few years.

I would vouch to say that this sat on my CD shelves for quite some time before I decided to re-listen to it as of recently. I was appalled by the music. Of course, not the lyrics but solely the music. Just simply invigorating and awe-inspiring. I'm not sure why it just sat there, this is one black metal album that's worthy of praise. And dynamite in the whole more than an hour of playtime. I would say support the band, but I would caution you this if you're sensitive to black metal in its' entirety, download it on Spotify or listen to it on YouTube because it might not be suitable for everyone that likes metal. It is a MONUMENT to me and I say support the band by buying the CD. Just a warning. Enjoy! (Death8699)

(Season of Mist - 2010)
Score: 85

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