Watain: Becoming Their Own Temple

It’s as clear to their cynics as it is to their fans that WATAIN has always been much more than just a band. They grew from the fertile soil of the Swedish black metal scene to become something much more interesting, developing their own brand of occult gesamtkunstwerk which extends beyond the limitations of a conventional rock ’n’ roll act to combine music, visual art, performance, cinematography and spirituality into a single, mystifying whole. Their latest album, The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain, marks the next instalment in their ever-expanding catalogue of heretical art.

“My passion for heavy metal started when I was very young, and it was for the artwork and grand style of it all as much as it was for the music,” begins vocalist Erik Danielsson. “It was about the totality that the two create together. I’ve always gravitated towards groups which have this totality to them that, as a fan, make you feel that you’re onto something bigger than a band that just releases records and tours. There’s a whole universe to some of them,” he muses, “and I think it’s beautiful when music spills out into the world.”

The aesthetic purpose of a record is never limited to just the music which it contains. The cover primes a listener for the particular experience which the artist has curated, and WATAIN have always cultivated a strong visual aspect in their work. “I’ve overseen almost all of WATAIN’s artworks since the start,” explains Danielsson. “But I haven’t done a front cover since our first album [Rabid Death’s Curse]. This time it came down to the tragic fact that my artistic mentor passed away in October 2020. I found myself in a situation where I had no one to ask about these things anymore,” he reflects, gravely. “I’m not normally that interested in what other people have to say about WATAIN, but Timo [Ketola] was someone who played a vital part on WATAIN’s visual approach from the outset. So this time I said to myself: ‘Fuck it, I’ll do it this time’.”

“I have a background in graphic design, and not just a background, because I still create artwork for other bands from time to time,” he continues. “I did stuff for DISMEMBER, DISSECTION and even GHOST at the start.” The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain bears bold and deceptively simple artwork, which soon reveals its details given close attention. “It’s how I imagine my insides to look: black and white, very detailed, and hinting towards 80s underground DIY fanzine artwork,” remarks Danielsson. “It’s a homage to my favourite graphical styles, and I like that it doesn’t look like a typical Nuclear Blast album cover either.” The new logo, meanwhile, was produced by Indonesian artist Oik Wasfuk. “I was, and still am, obsessed with [the logo]. It doesn’t really look like anything else, but it has a lot of stylistic references within it. Strangely enough, I get a kind of 60s/70s almost psychedelic Harley Davidson biker vibe from it.”

WATAIN are quite unlike most other metal bands in that they do not present their work as mere entertainment. There is something much more intentional and ambitious about the way that they engage their audience, having more in common with experimental/industrial acts like PSYCHIC TV than VENOM. “We’ve actually used PSYCHIC TV and THROBBING GRISTLE and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth as reference points a lot; mostly graphical, but also their whole modus operandi,” observes Danielsson. Lamenting, he adds, “I wish there were more bands that approached their work in that way. It seems to me that if you’re in a band, this is your chance, so do something extraordinary with it! I got to do one poster for PSYCHIC TV, for a Swedish TV show they appeared on. I met Genesis [P-Orridge] at the show and was able to talk to them about it. That was definitely a personal achievement for me.”

WATAIN elevates heavy metal to a level of spiritual intensity, and The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain fulfils its titular promise with the bombastic maximalism which heavy metal does best. “My intention with the title is really quite simple,” explains Danielsson. “With WATAIN we have always worked with extremes. We’re a band that expresses itself in emotional extremes, and not just on one side of the spectrum. So there is a duality to the title,” he continues. “Agony here is meant to represent extreme existential darkness; turmoil; the struggle of being a human being. The Greek root just means ‘to suffer’. Ecstasy meanwhile is the opposite: it’s this transcendental, rupturing of the senses; the touch of god, or demonic possession if you will. Between those two magnetic poles, there exists a friction or charge which you feel when you deal with things at either extreme. That’s what WATAIN does: that friction, that charge, is our music. If you put this album on, this is what you’ll hear. It’s not ten songs of rowdy rock ’n’ roll; it’s not another Swedish black metal album; it’s WATAIN.”

The rich symbolism which you’ll find in excavating the band’s lyrics and imagery offers the best view into their esoteric world. “WATAIN has always been twofold in nature, including our name: ‘Wat’ is a Thai word, meaning ‘temple’, and ‘Ain’ is a Hebrew term for the state of primordial nothingness, the zero that existed before creation. So you get the temple of nothingness, of primordial chaos.” [We heard that it was a tribute to Martin Ain, from HELLHAMMER and CELTIC FROST]. “That’s funny,” laughs Danielsson. “Well he would have been able to tell you about the Hebrew meaning of it, for sure.”

“Similarly Serimosa from the new album is a word that has no history,” he continues. “It was communicated from somewhere else, and, just like WATAIN, it has linguistic puzzle hidden in it. In the case of ‘Serimosa’, ‘Seri’ is Latin for serum, as in antidote. ‘-mosa’ is a mix of words in Latin: ‘dolorosa’ meaning pain, and ‘lacrimosa’ meaning tearful or crying. You could see it as though all these words are spoken at once.” [Is it important to you that listeners engage with these hidden meanings?] “I suppose I find it encouraging. I take pride in writing music and I think that it must be able to stand on its own. That’s where most people will stop. It will be enough for most people to hear it and get something out of it. But I also want to present more for people who, like me, see more in music. Music becomes ritualistic when there’s another reality beneath the surface ready to be explored,” he concludes.

Unlike other WATAIN albums, The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain was recorded live, capturing the visceral intensity of the band performing their rites in unison. “We spent the pandemic rehearsing a lot, meeting up regularly to rehearse old and new material,” remembers Danielsson. “We asked ourselves why would we want to step away from what we’ve been doing together? When we play together, that’s when the air thickens and sparks fly. What we ended up with is the result of our common intent; our common, urgent approach to the performance.”

Their seventh studio album also benefits from the peculiar spiritual amplification afforded to them by their choice of studio: a converted church. “There’s a lot to be said about that of course, but to put it simply: the most important thing for me is that the building was built for the purpose of spiritual work; for communion with something greater than the people who were there, which relates strongly to what we were there to do too,” remarks Danielsson determinedly. “We took our altars and our totems and candelabras with us, and we made it into our setting, as though we were on stage.” [So it was not just a desecration of a church, but more a reorientation of its purpose?] The fact that WATAIN became a black wolf in a white church is of course very nice, but it’s something I’ve become so acquainted with it doesn’t move me anymore.”

The Agony & Ecstasy Of Watain is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.

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