Watain is a Swedish black metal band formed in 1998.Eduardo Rivadavia: [ Watain Biography], Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation. The band's name comes from an early recording by American black metal group Von.Ronald Ziegler: Watain. In: Horrible Eyes, p. 14. See online version of the interview (lacking the introduction) on the old Watain site, Retrieved 14 March 2013.Mastema: Watain – The Dark Side , Disobedience Webzine, 26 April 2007, Retrieved 14 March 2013.Arthur: Interview with WATAIN, Retrieved 14 March 2013. They are famous for their theistic Satanist views and live shows that involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood. At a live performance in Brooklyn in 2014, they doused the audience in animal blood, allegedly causing some members of the audience to vomit. This was picked up and publicised by TMZ, generating controversy around the incident. They have released seven full-length albums, three live albums, and a number of demos and EPs. Their most recent album, The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain, was released on 29 April 2022 through Nuclear Blast. The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson. As of 2015, Jonsson no longer performs live. Emil Svensson (aka E. Forcas) of Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.
History Watain was formed in 1998.Biography, Retrieved 14 March 2013.From the cunt of Satan..., Retrieved 14 March 2013.The Story , Retrieved 14 March 2013. According to Erik Danielsson, at the time "there weren't really any bands anymore that seemed to take things that seriously, and there weren't that many bands that actually consisted of, you know, people that did so much more than just play the music that they liked and the same kind of music that their idols play".Black Metal Satanica, 2008. They released the demo Go Fuck Your Jewish "God" in 1998, and the live tape Black Metal Sacrifice in 1999, which they do not intend to re-release.Mirgilus: Watain, Retrieved 14 March 2013. In October 1999, the band released the EP The Essence of Black Purity through Grim Rune Productions,News, Retrieved 14 March 2013. which they consider their first official release,Mikael: WATAIN (Interview 2004) , Retrieved 14 March 2013. and played a show together with Malign and Dark Funeral, organised by Watain and Grim Rune Productions.WATAIN. Black Metal Militia. In: Jon Kristiansen: Metalion: The Slayer Mag Diaries. Brooklyn, NY: Bazillion Points Books 2011, p. 666.
Watain's debut album, Rabid Death's Curse, was released through End All Life Productions and Drakkar Productions in 2000, followed by a split EP with Diabolicum through Spikekult Records. A split LP with Malign was planned in the early 2000s, and supposed to be issued by Grim Rune Productions, before recording Watain's second album, Casus Luciferi,Ronald Ziegler: Watain. In: Horrible Eyes, p. 17. See online version of the interview (lacking the introduction) on the old Watain site, Retrieved 14 March 2013. but never was released. Watain toured Europe with Unpure in early 2002. In 2003, they recorded their second full-length album, Casus Luciferi, which features lyrics by Necromorbus of Funeral Mist (who produced all their studio releases since The Essence of Black Purity and played live bassWatain: The Ritual Macabre, Sakrilegious Warfare Productions 2001.), MkM of Antaeus, and Scorn of Katharsis. The Stellar Descension Infernal Tour through Europe followed, alongside Secrets of the Moon and Averse Sefira. They toured throughout 18 countries with Dissection on their 'Rebirth of Dissection' tour in 2004.The trumpets of Armageddon, Retrieved 14 March 2013. Dissection member Set Teitan supported Watain in Russia in 2005 due to live bassist Whorth's absence, and later became an official live member.
Watain's third full-length album, Sworn to the Dark, was released in Europe on 21 February 2007. They toured Europe with Celtic Frost, Kreator and Legion of the Damned. In 2008, they headlined a tour in North America with Withered and Book of Black Earth. Eclipse Eternal and Kronosfear joined them for some shows.
In 2010, Watain released the single "Reaping Death" in picture disc vinyl with a cover of the song "Chains of Death" by Death SS, and digisleeve CD with a cover of the song "The Return of Darkness and Evil" by Bathory. It was followed by the album Lawless Darkness, released on 7 June 2010, which received positive reviews from critics and won the band their first Swedish Grammi for 'Best Hard Rock' album. In 2012, Watain performed at Wacken Open Air and Bloodstock. The band participated in the U.S. Decibel tour with Behemoth and In Solitude, and supported Behemoth on their 'The Satanist' tour of Australia with Bölzer. On 7 May 2012, the band released the DVD and live album Opus Diaboli – 13 Years of Black Metal Magic, directed by Johan Bääth and Watain.
Their fifth full-length album, The Wild Hunt, was released on 19 and 20 August 2013 in Europe and United States, respectively, and incorporated elements of heavy metal, progressive metal, and doom metal. The album release was followed by a world tour that began in Uppsala on 24 August. In January 2015, Watain, Mayhem, and Revenge played in the "Black Metal Warfare" tour in the United States. Mayhem and Watain toured the US in November 2015 with Rotting Christ as "Part II" of the previous tour.
In January 2016, vocalist Erik Danielsson starred in the third and final installment of the documentary 'Music, Blood and Spirit: The Life and Work of Erik Danielsson'. The film is "the third in a trilogy about people who are 100% devoted to what society labels as unorthodox beliefs or lifestyles." In July 2016, the band announced that they would tour with Mayhem in December. 'The Past Is Alive' tour consisted of seven European dates. The bands performed their albums Casus Luciferi and De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in full. Watain confirmed these would be the final times Casus Luciferi would be performed in full. On 27 October 2016, the band confirmed that a sixth full-length album was underway. On 12 November 2016, Danielsson performed with Mortuary Drape at their 30th anniversary show. In December 2016, a 7" split EP between Watain and Mayhem, Sathanas / Luciferi Tour EP, was available exclusively at that tour's shows, and featured a live song from each band recorded from the tour.
On 2 August 2017, Watain confirmed the release date of their sixth studio album, Trident Wolf Eclipse. This release was accompanied by a short album release tour in several selected venues in Europe. The first single from the album, "Nuclear Alchemy", was released on 31 October. Trident Wolf Eclipse was officially released on 5 January 2018 through Century Media Records to generally favourable reviews. Critics noted a return to the band's early black metal compared to The Wild Hunt.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Watain cancelled performances at Hellfest 2020, Las Vegas, and their Walpurgis Night concert in Uppsala, performances that were meant to close the Trident Wolf Eclipse tour cycle. The band self-released the exclusive seven-track live cassette tape Corona Mortis on 2 July 2020, limited to the number of pre-orders and never to be reprinted as part of a campaign to counter the pandemic's impact. The tape was a one-take rehearsal recorded at the band's headquarters.
On 5 August 2021, Watain announced a deal with Nuclear Blast Records and that they had entered Necromorbus Studio to start working on their seventh studio album, planned for release in the spring of 2022. The band planned to support the album with a co-headlining US tour with Mayhem. The band withdrew from the tour due to visa issues. On 3 February 2022, the band announced the album The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain, released on 29 April. It was the band's first album without drummer Håkan Jonsson, though he contributed to the songwriting with the rest of the lineup.
On 20 September 2025, Watain announced that, on the same date in 2028, they would release their eighth and final album, and subsequently end the band to commemorate their 30th anniversary.
Musical style and ideology Since the beginning of their career, Watain have often been compared to DissectionGötz Kühnemund: Watain. Sworn to the Dark. In: Rock Hard, No. 238, Retrieved 14 March 2013. or considered to be influenced by Ofermod.Nathan T. Birk: , 2005, Retrieved 14 March 2013. Erik Danielsson confirmed that "Watain and Dissection do indeed have a lot in common as bands, both musically and spiritually", but also replied that questions like these "are completely irrelevant in relation to the great abomination from which both Dissection and Watain were born out of". Bands named as influences include Bathory, Mayhem, Mercyful Fate, Death SS, Samael and Necrovore.
Allmusic journalist Eduardo Rivadavia wrote that their debut album Rabid Death's Curse "suggested that Watain were, at best, content to produce intentionally crude facsimiles of inspirational forefathers ranging from Bathory to Mayhem and, at worst, unable to do anything else" but "fulfills an important function in Watain's career arc, one that the casual listener need never pay heed to, but which loyal fans will likely want to explore at some point in order to better comprehend all that followed".Eduardo Rivadavia: Rabid Death's Curse – Watain, Retrieved 14 March 2013. Ronald Ziegler of the German Horrible Eyes fanzine described the album's sound as "very Swedish, very Death Metalish".Ronald Ziegler: Watain. In: Horrible Eyes, p. 16. See online version of the interview (lacking the introduction) on the old Watain site, Retrieved 14 March 2013. According to Rivadavia, the second album Casus Luciferi sounds less Norwegian and more Swedish than earlier efforts.Eduardo Rivadavia: Casus Luciferi – Watain, Retrieved 14 March 2013. Sworn to the Dark "adds a lot of really catchy and melodic riffs and some cool guitar counter-melodies" to "droning guitars and frantic blast beats"; the vocals "fall somewhere in between black and death metal. They are raw and aggressive, but still understandable."Chad Bowar: Watain – Sworn to the Dark , Retrieved 14 March 2013. Rivadavia called "Storm of the Antichrist" "a perfect balance between Venom or Darkthrone's outright savagery and straightforward execution, and Emperor's spiraling arrangements and progressive orientation" and pointed out their "greater appreciation for different forms of heavy metal, far beyond black metal's often tiresomely stubborn 'f*ck everyone else' mindset" as shown in the "thrash-like speed-picking" of "Underneath the Cenotaph", the "magnificently dense, almost Opeth-like riffs" introducing "The Serpent's Chalice" and "the Iron Maiden-quoting bassline" at the end of "The Light That Burns the Sun".Eduardo Rivadavia: Sworn to the Dark – Watain, Retrieved 14 March 2013. Thomas Gabriel Fischer of Triptykon, whose former band Celtic Frost toured with Watain in 2007, compared them to his old band Hellhammer "in a totally positive manner. Watain approach their music with a certain level of respect, and a certain level of mystique. What they are doing is not just a performance; it goes much deeper than that. That reminds me so much of the good sides of Hellhammer."