Lawless Darkness

Lawless Darkness
Studio album by Watain
Released	7 June 2010
Recorded	January–February 2010 at Necromorbus Studios in Alvik, Sweden
Genre	Black metal
Length	73:28
Label	Season of Mist
Producer	Tore Stjerna, Watain
Watain chronology
Sworn to the Dark (2007) Lawless Darkness (2010) The Wild Hunt (2013)
Alternative cover
Limited edition digipak

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	[1]
Allmusic	[2]
Metal Storm	[3]
The Needle Drop	[4]
Pitchfork	[5]
Revolver	Favorable[6]

Lawless Darkness is the fourth studio album by Swedish black metal band Watain, released through Season of Mist, on 7 June 2010. The cover art was made by Zbigniew M. Bielak, who also painted The Wild Hunt cover art.^[7]

Reception

In general, reception was positive, with a few middling scores. According to Eduardo Rivadavia, writing for Allmusic, "Lawless Darkness is black metal through and through, and Watain even make a point of retaining some cardboard-sounding drumbeats in honor of lo-fi pioneers like Venom and Bathory, ferchrissakes! This is why purists looking for their fix need only look to the pulverizing fury unleashed by 'Death's Cold Dark', 'Total Funeral', and 'Kiss of Death', or the Emperor-worthy melodies swirling madly across 'Hymn to Qayin', or the majestic glacial desolation of 'Malfeitor' and the instrumental title track. Finally, there's the ultimate swan dive into the abyss that is the 15-minute-long, all-encompassing 'Waters of Ain', which feels like a mini-album unto itself, and casts a blinding spotlight upon the full scale of Watain's latest, significant achievement for the advancement of black metal's cause."^[2]

About.com was similarly favorable to the album, calling the album "Epic black metal that doesn't come off as over-indulgent" and "an accumulation of everything Watain has done on the past three albums". The Examiner also praised the album, describing the production as "absolutely top-notch", and that "Musically, this album is fantastic, with cuts like 'Reaping Death' and the title track providing a testament to Watain's creativity."^{[citation needed]}

Pitchfork and The Needle Drop were slightly less favorable to the album, though still positive on the whole. Comparing it to Watain's previous album Sworn to the Dark, Pitchfork's Tom Breihan seemed to disagree with The Examiner's thoughts on the production, instead writing that "The cleaner production feels more compressed and less immersive, like they're attempting to bludgeon you with sheer loudness rather than suck you into their universe". However, Breihan finished his review by saying "Still, judged on its own merits, this is pretty powerful stuff. Occasionally, the band hits levels of all-out ferocity so absurd that they actually sound pretty. Danielsson has a truly great black-metal voice, a ravaged and demonic back-of-the-throat gargle that only occasionally says anything I can decipher ('Rivers of blood! Rivers of blood!'). When they chant, 'Hail! Beelzebub!' on 'Four Thrones', they sound like they mean it, which somehow makes the whole thing more fun. These freaks still know what they're doing, even if they're just treading bloody water this time around."^[5]

Track listing

Personnel

• Erik Danielsson – lead vocals, bass
• Håkan Jonsson – drums
• Pelle Forsberg – guitar
• Set Teitan – lyrics on "Hymn to Qayin"
• Pete Helmkamp – lyrics on "Total Funeral"
• Carl McCoy – vocals at the ending of "Waters of Ain"
• SL/TDB/AO – solos on "Waters of Ain" & "Lawless Darkness"

References