WATAIN - Lawless Darkness

 

WATAIN - Lawless Darkness

Season of Mist

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What an original, differently paced tempos, FAST/MEDIUM/SLOW black metal, it's all inclusive work! Screaming in pain, songs are lengthy, dark and depressing. You can hear everything in this production/mixing. Some songs are groove laden and catchy. One LONG album, but interesting nevertheless. Tremolo picking galore, and riff-tastic. The vocals mix well with the music. ATMOSPHERIC. Some lead guitar here, but not really that much. Mostly rhythm guitars, which is fine by me. Their lyrical concepts aren't very interesting just the music hits home with me. That and their vocals. It's hard to like certain black metal bands because of crappy vocalists.

The mood the whole way through is very dark, but then again the title of this album IS 'Lawless Darkness'. If I had to pick one Watain album out of their entire discography, this one would be it. Not because of anyone else's opinion or scores on here, but because this one really hits home with me. Everything about this album is amazing and it all fits into place. Black metal isn't even close to being my favorite genre because most of it is quite depressing. However, this I do appreciate. The guitars here are really thrashy. That's another reason why I like the album. And the fact that there are no keyboards or synthesizers. Those (to me) damage my ratings.

The vocals sound a bit like Legion (ex-Marduk, ex-Devian). A lot of black metal vocalists are grim sounding to go along with the dark music. Most of the concepts too are Satanism or the Occult. But the focus here is mainly the music. The riffs are original and not entirely fast and furious. They're mostly dark riffs. Dark but amazing. I haven't heard a good black metal album this good lately except the new Mayhem and Darkthrone, Dark Fortress as well. But this has its own unique sound. I beg to say that this is the only Watain album I'll own unless they produce something that's groundbreaking over the next few years.

I would vouch to say that this sat on my CD shelves for quite some time before I decided to re-listen to it as of recently. I was appalled by the music. Of course, not the lyrics but solely the music. Just simply invigorating and awe-inspiring. I'm not sure why it just sat there, this is one black metal album that's worthy of praise. And dynamite in the whole more than an hour of playtime. I would say support the band, but I would caution you this if you're sensitive to black metal in its' entirety, download it on Spotify or listen to it on YouTube because it might not be suitable for everyone that likes metal. It is a MONUMENT to me and I say support the band by buying the CD. Just a warning. Enjoy!

Ryan “Death8699” Fanucchi