Artist......: Watain
Album.......: The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain
Year........: 2022

Genre.......: Black Metal
Label.......: Nuclear Blast
Cat.No......:

Source......: WEB (24bit)
Encoder.....: libFLAC
Quality.....: 1734kbps avg. / 44.1kHz / 2 channels

Playtime....: 00:49:28  (710.0MB)
R.date......: 2023-01-05
S.date......: 2022-04-29

Website.....: http://play.qobuz.com/album/ews8m2v3phchb

Disc 1 / 1

01. Ecstasies in Night Infinite                                      4:00
02. The Howling                                                      4:08
03. Serimosa                                                         5:26
04. Black Cunt                                                       5:25
05. Leper's Grace                                                    4:12
06. Not Sun nor Man nor God                                          1:25
07. Before the Cataclysm                                             7:22
08. We Remain                                                        6:13
09. Funeral Winter                                                   4:30
10. Septentrion                                                      6:47

Perhaps the ultimate test of a band’s greatness can be measured in the
extreme reaction that they can invoke in their audience, either positive or
negative in nature. In the case of Swedish black metal trustees and
theatrical purveyors of the occult Watain, the default response is never
lukewarm, and even those who are repelled by the philosophical message at
the band’s core would be remiss to deny the musical credibility and prowess
that comes with it. To the uninitiated, their brand of extreme sonic
darkness could be likened to a sort of black metal historicism, manifesting
as a balanced amalgam of all the important bands of the 1st and 2nd waves
of the sub-genre in question. It’s a fitting eventuality for a band that
came into being a bit late to participate in the heyday of either era, yet
with their latest studio entry dubbed The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain,
they’ve constructed an opus that belongs as much to the 2020s as it does
the mid-80s and early 90s.

Wearing their influences on their proverbial shirtsleeves, this core trio
of decrepit shadow-priests manages to showcase every trick in the book of
blackness in less than 50 minutes, with the occasional assistance of some
familiar guests. For all intents and purposes, the permanent membership of
this fold represented in bassist/vocalist Erik Danielsson, guitarist Pelle
Forsberg and drummer Hakan Jonsson function as the creative center, as the
latter has ceased performing live since 2015 and abstained from recording
the drums on this record, whereas three longstanding live musicians and a
couple other familiar names from the scene would round out the membership
in a studio capacity this time around. Of particular note is the
melancholic and occasionally neurotic vocal display put on by Farida
Lemouchi as a dramatic foil to Danielsson’s garbled yet intelligible
mutterings on the down tempo, drearily atmospheric and Gothic-tinged “We
Remain”, which also features a brilliant extended lead guitar display out
of one-time live guitarist Gottfrid Ahman.

For those with any familiarity with the classics that typified the black
metal sound of the past, just about everything present here will ring
familiar, yet at no point do things come off as contrived or overtly
derivative. The unrelenting blasts of arctic chills with a lofty backdrop
that one might expect out of the likes of mid-90s Emperor and Saytricon
blend seamlessly with the more primitive and rustic trappings of Darkthrone
and Immortal, as well as the melodic and cosmic character of Dissection and
the chaotic militarism of Marduk. If one were to liken this album to a
treasure hunt for the ideal blend of influences, it would find a
substantial deposit of precious metals beneath each turned stone, buffed to
a gleaming shine that could rival the production quality of the most recent
Dimmu Borgir offerings, though naturally with a less overtly symphonic
bent. Occasions are even made for a few frenzied guitar solos after the
shabby mold of Euronymous and Quorthon, albeit more technical apt in
execution.

Despite this vast and stylistically varied array of influences, these songs
prove a brilliant exercise in coherence and clarity of intent. The storming
fury of the opening blaster “Ecstasies In Night Infinite” and the similarly
cold and chaotic crusher with some technical flourishes “Leper’s Grace”
display a balance of black and death metal inclinations, rivaling the more
impressive moments one might expect out of Necrophobic, yet tied to a more
orthodox mode of blackness in line with a vintage Norwegian sound. By
contrast, “The Howling” leans pretty heavily into vintage Emperor territory
with a dense mixture of harmonized tremolo lead lines and a comparatively
thick atmosphere. “Serimosa” maintains a similarly menacing sound but opts
for a mid-paced and rhythmic feel that places a greater emphasis on a
thudding bass and punchier riffing. “Funeral Winter” recaps the grim and
frostbitten aspects of the album’s opener, but in more of a dissonant and
crackling sense that could almost recall “Under A Funeral Moon” were the
production of a lower fidelity.

Though Watain will undoubtedly go down in history as one of the most
intense adherents to the style in a live setting, the visions of dread that
go along with their performances are vividly carried through each of these
ten studio recordings. The impact factor proves to be at its peak during
the shorter offerings, yet the more epic and developed approach of the 7
minute slough “Before The Cataclysm” and the closing coup de grace
“Septentrion” prove equally forbidding in character and occasionally reach
similar zeniths in speed. It all culminates in what is arguably the most
impressive offering since 2010’s Lawless Darkness, if not since their often
lauded sophomore studio LP Casus Luciferi. It’s an involved listen from
start to finish that eschews the concept of filler and challenges the
listener to take a third and fourth listen before fully grasping
everything, yet it proves highly accessible and should appeal greatly even
to those who found the low-fi trappings of the 2nd wave a bridge too far
into the world of perpetual night.

-Sonic Perspectives