Watain ‎"Trident Wolf Eclipse" CD

Watain is a band that I had been following ever since I heard of their materials way back my college years. It was nine years ago when I first heard of them and I immediately got into their savage and fierce raw black metal sound. With killer studio offerings like "Rabid Death's Curse", "Casus Luciferi", and "Lawless Darkness"; the band just kept on obliterating their fans with abrasive and bellicose black metal music in every release. And though I find "Sworn to the Dark" and "The Wild Hunt" not as memorable as the three studio records mentioned above, still those two records are better than most of the generic and boring BM releases of these times. Just this January 5th of the year 2018, the band had released their sixth studio full-length album "Trident Wolf Eclipse" under the banner of Century Media Records.
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.

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