Saturday, January 9, 2016

Watain - Casus Luciferi

Watain - Casus Luciferi
2003 / Black metal





Formed in 1998, only a year after Dissection's Jon Nödtveidt was taken to prison, Sweden's Watain released their demo "Go Fuck Your Jewish 'God'". Since then, Watain has, in many aspects, picked up where Dissection left off. While their sound has developed over the years, the release of "Casus Luciferi" (2003) directly pays homage to the forefathers of Swedish Black Metal.

"Casus Luciferi" is a powerful, and aggressive piece of black metal art. It's style is buried somewhere between raw and melodic black metal, with musical themes comparable to Mayhem's "De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas" and Dissection's "Somberlain". The songs are primarily dominated by grim, harsh vocals and a wide variety of icy, in-your-face riffs, some of which would even make Nödtveidt rise from the grave. There are however, quite a few occasions where overly distorted base lines add a ominous depth to the heavier sections of the songs. One interesting nuance of the album is on the song "I AM the Earth". Vocalist Erik Danielsson modifies his style to that of Mayhem's former vocalist Dead, adding a subtle yet chilling atmosphere to the track. 

This is one of my favorite albums released in the early 2000s and I would recommend it to fans of early Dissection and black metal in general.

Favorite Song: I AM the Earth

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