MP3: Watain - Death's cold dark
"Have you heard the new Watain?"
"Yeah, it's weird... it's got hooks"
"True, but they've always kind of had that. I dunno, it just doesn't do much for me"
"Me neither"
I paraphrase, but that's more or less the discussion I had with a friend on the subject of "Lawless darkness", Watain's latest album. As I was saying earlier in the first part of my examination of black metal in 2010, I often wonder if my disinterest has more to do with me than it has to do with the actual music. I've been actively listening to the album for a couple weeks now and while I'm still not that into it, there's nothing definitely wrong with it either, at least not that I can pinpoint. But it does also play into the subject I brought up before: modern BM's lack of mystery. They still sport some of the best corpse paint around, looking more like the rotting undead than evil clowns, but then again, I'm looking at their spread in Terrorizer and thinking, god, this is all so corny. Not that everyone should emulate Portal all of a sudden, but that band is pretty much the only BM act I can think of whose image is as creepy/fearsome as their music. Like I've been saying: the element of mystery is crucial! Also, though Watain frontman Erik Danielsson no longer goes by the letter E, I kinda wish they would just shed the artifice entirely at this point. It's not necessary, it's distracting and arguably, seeing as how they are currently the most popular black metal band in the world right now who still managed to retain their cred, they could easily get away with it. Still, I suppose it could be me. I'll keep listening and hoping that it eventually clicks.
Watain - Death's cold dark