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Watain > Sworn to the Dark > Reviews > gasmask_colostomy
Watain - Sworn to the Dark

Can't keep its promise - 70%

gasmask_colostomy, May 5th, 2017

Before Watain went a bit off the handle with The Wild Hunt, they released this, which is a fairly decent, if conventional, black metal attack on the fringes of the underground. I get the feeling that this would be a reasonable place for newcomers to black metal to get their teeth into the genre, since there isn't anything too challenging or unusual going on here. The basic tropes of black metal are all present, from the aggressive vocals to the off-kilter guitar scales, while the ladling of atmosphere is just enough to keep things interesting but not so much as to efface the purpose of the musicianship.

It would be helpful for listeners to bear in mind that Watain were never the most extreme of black metal outfits and on Sworn to the Dark their accessibility is evidenced by the clean and clear production that gives emphasis to all instruments, the audibility of Erik Danielsson's vocals, and the familiar ploys they utilize to create the necessary aura of blackness. The production comes close to what Dimmu Borgir had on In Sorte Diaboli, which is a comparable album in sound and scope, though the style of Watain is more conventional and devoid of all symphonic elements and deliberate forays into commercial modern metal. Some of the riffs are borrowed from death and thrash metal, such as the first riff proper to 'Under the Cenotaph', which along with 'Storm of the Antichrist' represents the quickest offering. Drums vary from full-out blasting on the faster songs to more varied beats and atmospheric backing on the slower numbers, which also feature a greater bass presence courtesy of Danielsson, who gives 'Darkness and Death' that typical lonely ambience thanks to his wandering tones behind the guitar. The riffs are not the most memorable, though they do a good job of conjuring emotions, especially when they thrill across the soundscale on 'The Serpent's Chalice', evoking mystery and the reek of danger.

While the basics are done well, I can't help but feel that Sworn to the Dark doesn't quite do as much as it could. Not to say that accessible black metal is the bane of the genre, but with lyrics and sentiments as powerful as that which follows, the album could have been cranked up a notch in the intensity stakes:

Wrathful beasts of Satan's fire.
They urge me further on my path.
Now soaked in froth and dark desire,
at the threshold of the inverted womb I stand.

That extract is from 'Satan's Hunger', a song that also shows philosophic depths that the album finds itself musically incapable of plumbing. The conventionality of the assault cannot even rival Mayhem in the brutality stakes, nor does it progress beyond Marduk in terms of nuance, barring the intrigue of the mid-paced sections, so it seems a shame to squander such poetry on middling compositions. Perhaps the most insightful stab made by Danielsson is the following view on truth and belief, though even here there is a certain deficit in the delivery that fails to intrigue the listener as much as the message should:

The brightest light will always cast the darkest shadows.
Shadows in which truth lies concealed.
For deep in the tunnels beyond the dream of this world
the mysteries truely reveal...

The true complaint is that Watain hold something back with Sworn to the Dark. The ethos of the album should be one of total abandonment to the cause and utter conviction in its own strength, though we get a merely adequate performance and effort given by the band. It's not the case that anyone from the three-piece does a bad job, rather that the manner in which they execute their songs leaves something to be desired for most black metal fans, especially anyone already versed in the genre. There are highlights among both the sharper and the more explorative numbers, though nothing to truly write home about. The band's following album Lawless Darkness would take new risks and allow Watain to move ahead, but Sworn to the Dark fails to keep its word to the shadows.