Artist......: Watain
     Album.......: Trident Wolf Eclipse
     Year........: 2018

     Genre.......: Black Metal
     Label.......: Century Media Records
     Cat.No......:

     Source......: WEB (24bit)
     Encoder.....: libFLAC
     Quality.....: 1678kbps avg. / 44.1kHz / 2 channels

     Playtime....: 00:41:51  (532.8MB)
     R.date......: 2023-01-05
     S.date......: 2018-01-05

     Website.....: http://play.qobuz.com/album/0886446685076


     Disc 1 / 1
     --------

     01. Nuclear Alchemy                                                  3:08
     02. Sacred Damnation                                                 4:41
     03. Teufelsreich                                                     4:26
     04. Furor Diabolicus                                                 4:43
     05. A Throne Below                                                   4:09
     06. Ultra (Pandemoniac)                                              4:01
     07. Towards the Sanctuary                                            4:54
     08. The Fire of Power                                                4:38
     09. Antikrists Mirakel                                               7:11


     This new album shows us that Watain is still true to their roots,
     especially in crafting warmongering black metal tracks that has evident
     influences of Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Mayhem, Bathory, and Dissection. I
     know a lot of the fans had been disappointed with the outcome of 2013's
     "The Wild Hunt", but with "Trident Wolf Eclipse" the band are back to their
     primal and ruthless approach to music. The album holds truly vicious and
     unsympathetic classic black metal guitar riffs that are mongrelized with
     exuberant and frisky 80s era thrash metal breakdowns. Pelle Forsberg's
     riffs are extremely dark and ferocious in this release, just as similar to
     the riffs found in "Rabid Death's Curse", but at the same time it also
     contains a subtle helping of melody which can be heard in the track 'The
     Fire of Power'.

     Songs like 'Nuclear Alchemy', 'Sacred Damnation', 'A Throne Below', and
     'Towards the Sanctuary' showcases the remorseless thrashy guitar assault
     displayed by P. on this offering. It will fucking wipe out anything that
     will stand in its path with its incredibly evil-sounding resonance. The
     drumming section of the offering also is very solid. Håkan Jonsson pummels
     the listeners with a barrage of high-speed whips and double-bass
     bombardments that comes with some merciless and implacable blast-beats.
     H.'s drumming on the album is incredible, as he once again delivers another
     crushing performance where he masterfully exhibits his speed and precision.
     'Teufelsreich', 'Furor Diabolicus', and 'Ultra (Pandemoniac)' are the
     tracks that put Håkan's drumming skill to show as it highlights how the guy
     can shift directions from rapid battering blasts to slower groovy beats
     that perfectly matches the gruesome atmosphere that fills the said songs.

     Erik Danielsson had once again daze the audiences with his fantastic vocal
     delivery in this record. His malignant vocal work is still evil sounding as
     ever! Hear E. spit belligerent loathsome lyrics with his strapping and
     harsh screams and growls throughout the materials in this offering. But
     despite the brassy and guttural nature of Erik's vocal presentation, we can
     still notice that the words from the songs' lyrics are audible which makes
     this material more absolutely stunning than it already is. Production is
     also another highlight here. I like how the sophistication of the haunting
     and feisty guitar riffs along with the menacing vocal work and savage
     drumming isn't lost in the production.

     The songwriting of Watain, and the brutal character of the elements in the
     songs that are perfectly blended with the melodies and the grim atmosphere
     in here also add as highlights in the overall product of "Trident Wolf
     Eclipse". Such accomplishment shows us that these wicked Swedes are still
     up to the task of keeping that old black metal flame burning. For years I
     had been waiting for Watain to release an opus that would feature them
     going back to their primitive roots. "Trident Wolf Eclipse" is the kind of
     opus that I had been longing to hear after the disappointing "The Wild
     Hunt". This release is just quite impressive to me. The atmosphere is
     thrilling, the music has a serious kick, and the tunes are mostly excellent
     as well as their lyrics.

     Overall, Watain had produced a memorable offering in the form of "Trident
     Wolf Eclipse" as it offers its listeners an overall aura of morbidity and
     dread. The band will leave you no room to breathe as you listen to the
     gritty, air-tight riffs, fiendish vocals, and incredible drumming in this
     magnum opus. This offering is pretty much essential for connoisseurs of the
     black metal genre, and I also highly recommend this to all enthusiasts of
     extreme music.