Watain
March 17, 2018
March 17, 2018
Fonda Theater- Los Angeles, CA
Swedish black metal legends Watain released their sixth studio album Trident Wolf Eclipse on January 5, 2018. Since the album’s release party in Sweden in 2017, Watain has been actively touring for the album and soon after, announced their return to US soil after last being here in 2015. Watain ran into a bit of trouble the day before when their San Francisco date was cancelled due to the venue owner having an issue with the opening act, Destroyer 666. Watain stood by their tour mates and decided to cancel that date instead of dropping them from the bill. It wouldn’t be a surprise if fans drove from San Francisco to see this show in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles crowd was so eager to see Watain after so long that the show ended up being sold out ahead of time.
Opening bands Degial and Destroyer 666 had warmed up the crowd just in time for Watain to finish them off. The stage was set as it was covered by animal bones, tridents, and upside down metal crosses. Watain has always been known to not be afraid of letting people know their Theistic Satanism beliefs which they have heavily incorporated into their lyrics and imagery. Fog had filled the venue in anticipation to give the stage an eerie vibe. The lights went out and the packed Fonda Theater went into a frenzy as the members of Watain made their way to the stage in traditional corpse paint and garments. Singer Erik Danielsson was last to come on stage and went straight to an altar in the middle of the stage to do perform what looked like a prayer. Watain jumped straight into the opening song which was Devil’s Blood from their 2003 album, Casus Luciferi. Watain showed how crazy and energetic their live performances are as they head banged through their music and made evil faces at the audience. Up next was Black Flames March from their previous album The Wild Hunt and is another energetic song to get the mosh pits going. Danielsson took a quick break to talk to the audience and asked them to surrender their minds, bodies, and souls to Nuclear Alchemy. So Watain next played Nuclear Alchemy, the first track from the new album. Danielsson went to his altar and lit essence to give the venue a surprisingly pleasant smell since Watain usually has pig heads on pikes. Watain played one of their most popular songs Malfeitor and drove the fans wild as the mosh pits only got more violent with each song. Watain kept up their black metal antics as they performed songs from throughout their catalog which consisted of Angelrape, Sacred Damnation, and On Horns Impaled. Danielsson next dedicated Sworn to the Dark to their brothers in the death metal band, Sadistic Intent. The show was coming to an end and so Watain performed The Serpent’s Chalice as the perfect ending song. Danielsson would hold up the skull with horns chalice as high as he could while he sang the song. Watain finished up their performance and left the stage as it was covered by red lights and an ominous recording that left the audience with a feeling of dread and despair.
Review by: Misael Ruiz
