Watain – The Wild Hunt

Watain have committed one of the cardinal sins of black metal in their career.  In that they have dared to covet success.  They have proven themselves much more than just another black metal band and they are showing that they are willing to test the boundaries of what that means, something that is far too rare in a genre that is incredibly inward looking.   The Wild Hunt is their fifth album and is the next step in that path.

Opening with “Night Vision” a string based melodic instrumental, this album begins to build to the introduction of the drums and guitars before it finally drops into “De Profundis” a swirling maelstrom of extreme metal.  There’s a rhythmic ritualistic drum beat running though it but the rest of this is full blown wailing guitars and, if you will excuse the cliché, is an assault on the senses.  This songs sum up what Watain are and it does it damn well.  This is black metal but there is no denying the thrash metal influences, that add a sense of accessibility to those, like myself, who do not see primarily reside in this world.

Not everything on this album is full blown metal however, and this is where the purists will be shaking their heads.  The Wild Hunt stands as Watain’s first album to include clean vocals.  With “They Rode On” standing as their love letter to the likes of Bathory and with it’s slow melodic build and Danielsson’s clean vocals it is likely to shock many.  At times it sounds like Pink Floyd and it is the perfect example of how Watain are happy to break the mould.

However, fans of the heavy shouldn’t worry too much as there is still plenty of full blown metal in this to get you going.  “Outlaw” sounds like you should be marching to it and eventually becomes an ass kicking thrash metal track that makes you want to flip tables.  While “All That May Bleed” proves that even while being extreme you can still writes songs that will grab the attention of your more mainstream rock and metal fan with it’s stomping beat.  “The Child Must Die” is positively bouncy as the beginning of it’s sprawling 6 minute journey into the hell that is the mind of Watain.  

Meanwhile it’s worth mentioning how fantastic the musicianship is on this album.  Drummer Hakan Jonsson puts in one hell of a shift with guitarist Pelle Forsberg’s sprawling intricate riffs incorporating just the right amount of thrash metal among the vastness of the black .  Meanwhile Erik Danielsson must be one of the most evil sounding mother fuckers on the planet.

Listening to a Watain album is more of an experience than anything else.  These albums reach out and grab you, pulling you into their evil sickly world and by the end of it you can’t help but just be a little bit in love with it.  Watain are special, there is no denying that and it will be fascinating to see where this band go in the next few years.  As things stand at the moment however, The Wild Hunt proves that they can do pretty much whatever the hell they want as this is without a doubt one of the albums of the year.