#2 Album of the Year
- Story by Anthony Bartkewicz
Watain - Sworn to the Dark (AJNA Offensive)
One of Anton LaVey’s Nine Satanic Sins is “Lack of Aesthetics.” The High Priest of the Church of Satan believed that a true Satanist cultivates a refined, individual taste in the arts. “It’s not what’s supposed to be pleasing—it’s what is,” he wrote. “Aesthetics is a personal thing, reflective of one’s own nature.” LaVey made it no secret that he was never a metal fan, despite the self-styled Satanic allegiances of so many of its practitioners, but even he’d have to admire Watain’s dedication to the idea of black metal as art—musically, visually and in their literally bloody live performances. “Watain should be an experience! It should be something that challenges the mind of the receiver, that presents an alternate state of reality,” says bassist and vocalist Erik “Curse” Danielsson. “Just look back at the days of Venom, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden; they all put great emphasis on the visual side of things, and I believe that is partly to what they owe their success and greatness. This combination of art forms is something that has been forgotten in these sad days of visionless inconsequence—or ‘modern day black metal,’ as some call it.”
Sworn to the Dark is an experience on its own, and good enough that Danielsson can talk shit with confidence. (On the subject of Watain’s U.S. tour earlier in the year: “We could clearly see that [audiences] were far more grateful than in Europe, where everyone suffers from the misconception that they could do the same thing themselves. Strange that no one seems to be doing it though, right?”) It’s the work of black metal connoisseurs smart enough to take inspiration from the very best parts of the genre—Dissection’s melody, the Norwegian black circle’s evil atmospheres, the primitive ferocity of the earliest black metal and thrash. When Danielsson recalls his initial attraction to black metal, it works just as well as a summary of Sworn to the Dark: “The crushing power of heavy metal, the grandiose pomp of classical music, the sacral and spiritual call of religious chanting, the dark obscurity of the ’70s, and the fuck-off attitude of punk and old rock ‘n’ roll.” And while he doesn’t go into details, he offers this explanation of how Watain’s Satanic philosophy makes its way into their songwriting:
“A regular musician—say Zakk Wylde, for example—his idea when writing a song might be based upon things such as women, alcohol and motorcycles. What makes him a powerful musician is that he has learned how to crystallize these thoughts, to come as close to their essence as possible, and then simply let them enter him and let them sound through his fingers. That way of composing can be applied perfectly to Watain as well, although we come from an entirely different artistic concept and vision. In order to make the music of darkness, you have to become one with the horrors of the night; you have to live them and explore them thoroughly. I mean, if one attempts to write a love song without being in love, the result is most likely to be miserable at best.”
