They may not be decorating the Sistine Chapel but there is no denying that Watain are artists of high regard and once you get over the slightly clunky album title there’s plenty of anticipation on what they are going to paint here. It’s certainly going to be deep shades of red and black and there is a certain congruence as their seventh full-length album was “recorded live inside an old church on the Swedish countryside.” There has been a fair bit of agony for them in the four-years following ‘Trident Wolf Eclipse’ and they are naturally one of many bands stumped by the plague, which they may have lyrically wished upon mankind, curtailing their infamous live assaults. The ignominy of being personas non gratis in the USA and having to scrap their tour there with Mayhem must have been a real calamity but hopefully they will find some ecstasy on the back of this and upcoming dates in Europe reminding us just what a potent stink they are capable of delivering.

I have to admit that I was slightly underwhelmed with the last album, one always gets a bit suspicious when a band changes label that they are fulfilling contractual obligations and here we see them making their break from Century Media to Nuclear Blast. They are also now crediting the recording here not just as a trio but as a sextet with members of Degial boosting their sound and no doubt adding to the ideas of the triple pronged assault of E. Danielsson, H. Jonsson and P. Forsberg.

Enough beating around the burning bush and the good news is the album strikes as much more focussed and the impact of it, even on first spin, should be enough to reinstall faith for those of us finding the last sermon just a bit lacking the spark we have become accustomed to. The first three tracks are an excellent case in point at illustrating the diversity on display. ‘Ecstasies In The Night Infinite’ is just the devastating and incendiary number one could wish for as it storms in and is belted out with rabid tenacity. The drumming is absolutely immense with H powering away and delivering some explosive force as the others unleash flaming chaos. The production is nothing short of magnificent here and it’s a track you are immediately going to want to witness live. Single ‘The Howling’ is equally volatile at first before settling down with a bouncy chorus, plenty of hooks, fiery elemental lyrics and very black heart at its midst. Then we get ‘Serimosa’ a progressive, orthodox weaver that settles back on the melodic aspects that grew out of Sweden from the classical roots of the genre. It can’t help but take you back to the spirit of Dissection that burned so brightly before being ultimately truncated by its own destructive forces.

The rest of the album’s seven tracks should not be sold short after this wonderful triptych. Proving that Watain are not going to stop being contentious ‘Black Cunt’ is an eyebrow-raising blasphemous title which twists and turns between savagery and tumult complete with a brackish and obsidian melodicism. ‘Leper’s Grace’ is a battering miasma with everything including the vocals pitched up into a furious chaotic contusion of the senses. ‘Not Sun Nor Man Nor God’ serves as a short atmospheric interlude and bridge to the album’s longest number ‘Before The Cataclysm.’ Plenty of majesty and grandiosity here to sweep the listener off their feet, the short near pauses in the vocals colouring it with plenty of drama as it gracefully flows and captivates. Ex Devil’s Blood and current Molasses vocalist Farida Lemouchi is the perfect enchantress to inject some magic into the slow-burning dedication to those that have departed and those that Remain.

After these few it’s time for another out-and-out blaster and one would expect nothing else from a song entitled ‘Funeral Winter.’ Hang onto your britches and ride the bomb like Doctor Strangelove here. Compass pointing North, final number ‘Septentrion’ has a bit of a symphonic embellishment about it providing a magnificent conclusion to a formidable album.

Watain really do strike as being at the top of their game as well as doing things in their own way without any outside influences steering them off their path. Time will tell if this is the best black metal album of the year but it is certainly one that will be remembered and should leave the legion of fans more than a little ecstatic.

(9/10 Pete Woods)

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