Monday, November 21, 2016

Watain - 2004 - Casus Luciferi

Another one of the Swedish bands that have emerged from the dark depths have released their second album, the follow up to Rabid Death's Curse, and they have made great progress. The opening of this album is as much De Mysteriis as is possible, almost to the point of plagiarism. This does not last, but there are many De Mysteriis moments throughout this album, the bass in "Opus Dei (The Morbid Angel)" is another example. Some Shining moments are present on this album too, and the intro to the title track is very much Black Sabbath.

The soundquality has been greatly improved since their last album, and the heavy Death Metal influence that was prevalent on their debut isn't as much in your face here. Greatly improved soundquality doesn't mean perfect, since it was rather bad on Rabid Death's Curse, but it is rather good here, more treble oriented, with the guitars slightly in the foreground.

Overall this album is a lot more listenable than their first, mainly because of the improved soundquality and also a lot better material. They have also rerecorded "Puzzlez ov Flesh" for the album.  Watain plays fast Black Metal, just the way I like it.

Standout tracks are "Black Salvation", "I Am the Earth" and "The Golden Horns of Darash".

On a sidenote I find it strange that both Watain and Abruptum release an album with the exact same title only a few months apart.

Thursday May 20 2004, by :Vragh:

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