Notorious Swedish black metal collective Watain are proud to unleash “The Howling” – the first single from their upcoming new studio album, “The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain”, which will be released on April 29th 2022.
“The Howling” sets the tone for what will be offered on the band’s 7th full-length, an unsettling blackened voyage in 10 chapters that is as inexorably vicious as it is enticing.
E. Danielsson (vocals) adds:
“”The Howling” refers to the wordless voice of the wild, wailing eerily through the ages, urging us to leave our safe spaces and explore the dark recesses of the great Abyss both within and without. To see it, to learn from it, to know it”.
The single is available in both digital and physical form – a strictly limited 7-inch with “The Howling” on its A-side and the Profanatica cover “I Arose” on its B-side, which can be bought as of today. The black vinyl is exclusively available through Nuclear Blast Mailorder, whereas the oxblood coloured version is being sold via the band’s own shop. Act quickly as these will be gone fast!
Listen to “The Howling” here and watch the video for below.
Buy “The Howling” vinyl single:
Nuclear Blast Mailorder (Black Vinyl – 500)
Wolf Wear / Watain Band Shop (Oxblood Vinyl – 500)
“The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain” Formats:
• Ltd. Deluxe Gatefold LP in Slipcase (incl. the album on CD)
Grey Marbled (667, NB mailorder excl.)
Dark Red Marbled (666, Band excl.)
• LP
Black
Green w/ Rainbow Splatter (2000, EU retail)
Solid Red (300, via EMP)
Pink (300, NB mailorder)
Blue Marbled (300, UK)
Solid Green (300, Seasons Of Mist)
Transp. Blue (300, Levykauppa Äx & Sound Pollution)
Solid Grey (300, Sweden Rock)
Dark Purple (300, Napalm)
White (300, US Retail)
Red w/ Rainbow Splatter (1800, US retail & NB US mailorder)
Green Marbled (300, NB US mailorder)
• CD Digipak
• Digital Album
Pre-order “The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain” here.
Tracklist:
01. Ecstasies in Night Infinite
02. The howling
03. Serimosa
04. Black ****
05. Leper’s Grace
06. Not Sun nor Man nor God
07. Before the Cataclysm
08. We remain
09. Funeral Winter
10. Septentrion
Watain crawled out of Satan’s **** in 1998, and have since then ascended and grown into one of the world’s most well known and notorious Black Metal bands. Their legacy is often referred to with fear, love, confusion or awe, but seldom with indifference.
Their infamous live shows have become a worldwide phenomenon; inimitable ceremonies of wild Black Metal fanatism where the sacred and solemn collides with raw unadulterated force. With their greatly anticipated seventh studio album, Watain continues to arouse and electrify their audience with an unmistakable, adventurous brand of Black Metal Magic, processed and distilled over the course of a 25-year long history.
Recorded live by long time collaborator Tore Stjerna in his infamous Necromorbus studio, now re-located to an old church on the Swedish countryside, “The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain” takes the listener one huge step closer to the innermost heart of a band that despite always being surrounded by rumors and controversy has always strived for a most sincere and genuine form of expression.
With 10 songs written by the founding trinity of Watain (E. Danielsson, H. Jonsson and P. Forsberg), it is also the first Watain album to be recorded live with a full line-up completed by A. Lillo, H. Eriksson and E. Forcas.
The material is further enriched by noble contributions from Farida Lemouchi (ex. The Devil’s Blood, now in Molassess) and Gottfrid Åhman (ex. In Solitude, now in PÅGÅ).
The lyrics, always a central aspect of every Watain album, range from manic proselytism to profound contemplation on the relativity between life and death, sacred and profane, holy and unholy, agony and ecstasy, eagerly excavating the winding depths of mind and spirit with a new sense of clarity and determination.
Characterized by a morbid sense of beauty mingled with raw primal force, Watain is the wolf that keeps hunting, fearless and free, in the dark night of man.
Weblinks:
www.templeofwatain.com
www.facebook.com/watainofficial
