WATAIN The Wild Hunt (2013) CD

Watain spent years building their reputation on orthodox black metal so corrosive it left marks. Then they made The Wild Hunt, and half their fanbase lost their minds about it. The other half understood that a band genuinely committed to their path doesn't stand still.

Released in 2013 and produced by Tore Stjerna at Necromorbus Studio, The Wild Hunt is the sound of a band who had nothing left to prove and decided to prove something else entirely. There are moments here, particularly the devastating acoustic centrepiece 'They Rode On', that hit harder than any blast beat. Erik Danielsson's vocals carry genuine conviction, and the album moves between filth-caked black metal and something approaching dark rock with an authority most bands couldn't fake. Love it or hate it, it's one of the most interesting things to come out of the Swedish black metal scene in the 2000s.

Full length album. Jewel case CD. Sweden, 2013 pressing.

Fans of: Dissection, Secrets of the Moon, The Devil's Blood