Interview with Erik of Watain 2007

By Bradley Smith

You masterwork Sworn to the Dark is now upon us.  How do you see it as a development from your earlier work?  I think it is a much more varied and mature album and showcases your songwriting much better.  Plus it invokes moods stronger in the listener and is less one dimensional.  How do you view it as a whole statement of what Watain is all about?

I think it is very natural for every band with high ambitions to reach higher levels of artistry for every release, and although I would never decline the potency of our previous albums I can agree on that we have taken a huge step with Sworn to the Dark.  Huge step in the sense that we have threaded much further into the darkside and learnt much more of it’s terrible nature, found out more effective and powerful ways to bring it into this world through music.  In this sense, the album is a perfect statement about the wholeness of Watain.  Dark, dangerous, twisted and magical…

Looking back on the legacy you started with Rabid Death’s Curse and Casus Luciferi, what sort of foundation and image do you think those two albums created for you? 

Well, they have led us to where we are now, and that is a very dark and powerful place.  Every album has its own certain significance and importance to our being, but I never really think about it in terms like “what would have happened if we would have done this or that differently” because I do not believe we could have done it in any other way.  The albums were meant to be, they could not be stopped, just like Watain itself.  We are extremely proud of them.

You guys recently did a European tour with Celtic Frost and Kreator.  How did that tour go?  What did you think of touring with such “legends” from the metal scene and did it give you a newfound respect fro those bands?  How do you think the audience took you in comparison to the other bands on the tour?

It was a bit different from what we were used to, we were like the black wolves of the tour in many ways, I think it was probably only Celtic Frost that really liked us being there.  But anyway, it was a killer experience and it really made us grow a lot stronger considering all the opposition we had to eliminate every day from the organization and the venues which would not approve of our “controversial” and “extreme” appearance.  But anyway, we only did this to tour with Frost, it was them who invited us and we hold the friendship between us and them very high in regard, they are some of the few real artists left from the old Black/Death Metal legacy…

Also you recently did a US tour.  How did that turn out?  Did you notice any differences in the audience and atmosphere between those shows and the ones from Europe? 

Yeah the American audiences are a bit better than the European, a bit more grateful and a bit more hungry.  They are more willing to understand that there is a difference between us and many other Black Metal bands, and they are not that spoiled with this kind of thing in the first place.  Also it was such a killer fucking package with Angelcorpse and Negative Plane playing before us, so the turnout was always good as well.

To me philosophy plays such a central role to the music one creates.  What is some of your personal philosophy that you color your music with?  How do you try to intertwine both the mental/spiritual beliefs with the musical creations you compose?

The art of Watain has always been something floating straight from our own hearts, there is never a filter in which our personal beliefs is taken away.  It is the fire of Satan that burns in our hearts, and there is no way that it could not have a profound impact on the band, as its driving force.

Many are crowning you guys as the Heirs to the Swedish black metal throne.  Do you think that Watain is ready of such a lofty title?  Or do you think that there are others that are more in line with wearing that sort of crown?

If there is such a throne it is we share it side by side with Nifelheim.  And yes, we are very ready for that.  Really, what competition do we have?  There are no other bands of our kind, with the same hunger, conviction and iron will.  I really do think that most bands that come to a certain level of fame or acknowledgement lose a part of their hunger, because their vision of achievement does not reach further.  We, on the other hand, know that we have not even got half way yet.

You guys had a close bond to Jon/Dissection.  How did you develop that friendship and what did his loss mean to you and the black metal scene at large?  Do you think that he will ever be replaced or was there something too special about him that no one can match?

His legacy will live on and continue to burn holes in the scene, even if he is not in this world the magic that he left behind with Dissection is ten times more deadly than any other similar band.  We and some other bands will see to it that the legacy is always brought further.

During your classic shows you throw a Stinking mixture of fermented blood into the audience which I personally was enthralled by as well as being equally repulsed by its stench.  What is it exactly and what are the desired effects you hope to have upon the audience with it and how do you personally use it?

The blood is yet another way to lead the audience away from their regular lives and states of mentality into the thick, radiant darkness of Watain. This is the purpose of the concert in general; to present another reality.  Every aspect of a Watain show has this function in one way or another, what we are presenting is not of this world, and the place where it comes from demands a certain mindset to connect to.  A mindset that can be brought forth by rotten blood, fire, incense, death, sweat, violence and loud, heavy black metal…

Black metal is considered by some to be an essentially MALE environment.  Do you agree or do you think that women understand the music and aesthetics the same way?

The women that I am in touch with within this environment are in many cases for more sincere and true to the arts than men.  They are however few, but perhaps as many as the males I respect anyway.  People who look down on women in this aspect simply have too small cocks.  I however, have the cock of a fucking god.

I have always sort of wondered from a band’s perspective why do you think that playing live is so essential to the experience?  I mean one might be inclined to just experience the music through their stereo speakers as it was originally planned.  But there is something special about hearing a band live.  What do you think it is about a live performance that makes it special?

What makes it special is that it confirms what the albums suggest; that we can physically back up the music with action.  When people understand this, the music becomes twice as potent.

When it comes to a band that seems to be of greater depth than the average one I always wonder if you read books and do you think that there is more to be gained from the written word than just the easily accessible code of the internet.  If you do read books what are some of the more recent titles that you have read? 

Of course we read, there is no more efficient way of obtaining knowledge apart from real practice.  I read practically as much as I can.  Right now it is a book about the south American black magic cult of Quimbanda.  Extremely powerful and dangerous!

What’s coming next for Watain?  Any more touring or any more recording in the near future?

The “Fuck the world” tour will last the rest of the year pretty much, after that, new horizons are to be conquered.  You have seen nothing yet!

Last Words

Hail Satan!