To commemorate their 25th anniversary as a band, Swedish black metal collective Watain released this live album, recorded in Stockholm in October 2022, which is why it is subtitled ‘Agony And Ecstasy Over Stockholm’. The band have been incredibly stable over the years, with founders Erik Danielsson (vocals) and guitarist Pelle Forsberg still there, and although drummer Håkan Jonsson no longer performs live he is still very much involved. For their live performances they also have bassist Alvaro Lillo, guitarist H. Eriksson and drummer E. Forcas, all of whom have been with the band for some time. With seven studio albums behind them the band had plenty of material to choose from and this album includes such well-known numbers such as “Casus Luciferi”, “Lawless Darkness”, “The Wild Hunt”, “Trident Wolf Eclipse” as well as material from the recent ‘The Agony And Ecstasy of Watain’, plus a cover of the classic “The Return Of Darkness And Evil” – it certainly does not sound as if that was a song written by Quorthon all the way back in 1985!.

Watain are a band who have reputation for very powerful live performances, but this recording shows they are far more than just an act who like to use pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood (although I am not sure that covering audiences with real animal blood is a good idea), as there is a tightness in their musical delivery which can be overlooked due to the theatre (Alice Cooper and Kiss also suffer from this, they both know how to deliver a show and could easily do so without all the bombast but people rarely talk about the music – interestingly I see the same happening with P!nk). This is full-blown in your face black metal, with the concentration on the second word and less of the ambience than can be heard in many. This is ferocious stuff, and there is no doubt their home crowd were enjoying themselves – nice to hear E talking in Swedish as opposed to English – and the tightness displayed on songs such as “Nuclear Alchemy” show why they have stayed at the top of the game for so long (they even won a Swedish Grammy!). If you have yet to come across Watain but enjoy this style of music, then this is the right place to start.

Rating: 8/10

Links:
https://www.facebook.com/watainofficial
https://www.nuclearblast.com/