By: Daniel Jackson
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 05/01/2018
Label: Century Media Records
Trident Wolf
Eclipse’ is an album that’s both diverse, but also does a better job of staying
within the band’s established wheelhouse.
The album’s opening track is a perfect statement of intent: “Nuclear
Alchemy” is the sort of thrashy, high-energy hellstorm that sets the stage for
the rest of the album
‘Trident Wolf Eclipse’ CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Nuclear
Alchemy
2. Sacred
Damnation
3. Teufelsreich
4. Furor
Diabolicus
5. A
Throne Below
6. Ultra
(Pandemoniac)
7. Towards
The Sanctuary
8. The Fire of Power
The Review:
9.Antikrists
Mirakel
There’s course correction, and then there’s course correction. 2013’s ‘Wild Hunt’ was regarded as something of
a misstep by a sizable portion of the band’s fan base. You could make an
argument that this was either a fan base’s knee-jerk reaction to any kind of
experimentation at all or reasonable reaction with the new direction being seen
as a real downgrade. Wherever you fall on that spectrum, ‘Trident Wolf Eclipse’ is an equal and opposite reaction;
returning to, and building from, the sound they were working with on ‘Lawless Darkness’.
In that sense, the album’s opening track is a
perfect statement of intent: “Nuclear
Alchemy” is the sort of thrashy, high-energy hellstorm that sets the stage
for the rest of the album, while also being an incredible addition to Watain’s
live arsenal. It’s three minutes that runs the entire Watain
gamut, from 90s Swedish black metal to black thrash and with a remarkable knack
for hooks and arrangement.
The rest of the album covers a number of other
bases as well. “Teufelsreich”
alternates between an homage to the middle section of Mayhem’s “Cursed in Eternity” and low-tempo Dissection.
“A Throne Below” focuses on a more
grim, atmospheric darkness. And album closer “Antikrists Mirakel” is an entrancing way to end the album, even
with its near-funeral doom tempo. All of this is to say that the album is—as
contradictory as this sounds—all over the place in a cohesive way.
‘Trident
Wolf Eclipse’ is an album that’s both diverse, but also does a better job
of staying within the band’s established wheelhouse. Those who were dreading
the possibility of further experimentation will be relieved by this return to
safer ground. Those who enjoyed the band exploring new musical terrain will
still find a lot of variety to enjoy, though you won’t find anything as
adventurous as what was found on ‘Wild
Hunt’. In a sense, this is Watain playing it safe, but the
songwriting more than compensates for any perceived lack of forward momentum.
There are times when a band wants to branch out and try something new and
discovers it just wasn’t what they’d hoped for, and that appears to be what Watain
has discovered over the last few years.
Band info: Official Site || Facebook
