The Crow After five years of silence, Watain are back!

And this straightforward album is a good sign that they have not lost punch through the years, offering a true ferocious and direct record with great riffs and dusty (intentioned) production.

Maybe this album is a bit less experimental than previous ones, being some kind of return to their roots. But at the same time, is also more accessible and directly enjoyable.

Sadly, not great in my opinion given the predictable songwriting and lack of surprises, but perfect to be played live, where this band really shines.

Best Tracks: Nuclear Alchemy, Sacred Damnation, A Throne Below, Towards the Sanctuary.

Conclusion: Trident Wolf Eclipse is raw, direct and perfect to be played live. Sadly, this return to the origins for Watain suffers from being too predictable, being unable to create true excitement to the listener.

However, fans of the band Will surely love it!

My rating: ***

Nightfly It’s been five years since Watain last released an album. The Wild Hunt divided opinion with many praising the growth of the band, which to be honest was nothing new and has been an ongoing thing since Rabid Death’s Curse. Others thought it a band aiming for a more accessible sound and losing something along the way. It was certainly epic and sprawling at over an hour in length and a big production sound certainly made it easier on the ears than many black metal albums. Whatever, I think it was the equal of anything they’d previously done in the past and joint contender with Lawless Darkness as my favourite from the band.

Forward to Trident Wolf Eclipse and on the face of it, it’s a little perplexing. This is certainly no Wild Hunt part 2. In many respects it seems like a backwards step. Immediately apparent is the raw production, more akin to earlier work and the songs don’t waste any time getting into their stride. One after another they’re in, do their business and bugger off. The one two salvo of Nuclear Alchemy and sacred Damnation is ferocious, both maintaining a frantic pace, as does most of the album. The recognisable Watain chord progressions remain intact however. You won’t mistake this for anyone else, even if Erik Danielsson’s rasp wasn’t there to give the game away. Thankfully the songwriting is excellent and consistent with each song needing little time to ingratiate itself, in part down to them cutting off all the flab. Likewise the musicianship, with the band operating like a well-oiled machine which when you’ve been at this game as long as they have is to be expected. Missing from my vinyl copy is the closing instrumental Antikrists Mirakel but it’s none the worse for it as it plods along somewhat aimlessly, even detracting from the flow of the album to an extent.

Trident Wolf Eclipse at this point in time isn’t my favourite Watain album but it’s damn good nevertheless and a great way to kick the year off. Where they go from here is anyone’s guess but like all the best bands they won’t be bowing to fan expectations I’m pretty sure. Let’s not wait another five years though hey guys.

Warthur Aggressive, straight down the line black metal which is decently produced and manages to be broadly entertaining... but which just doesn't quite feel like a keeper to me. If you're into black metal at all you already have a stack of albums that sound like this, most likely, and Watain don't show very much of a distinctive personality here. A decent enough gateway drug into the genre for those who are not very familiar with it, perhaps, but I suspect at the end of the day it is a little too by-the-numbers to impress genre devotees and not quite distinctive enough to really enthrall newcomers.

Kev Rowland According to Wikipedia The Wild Hunt is an ancient folk myth prevalent across Northern, Western and Central Europe, with the belief that a spectral group of huntsmen with the accoutrements of hunting, with horses and hounds in mad pursuit across the skies or along the ground, or just above it. The hunters may be the dead or the fairies and seeing the Wild Hunt was thought to presage some catastrophe such as war or plague, or at best the death of the one who witnessed it. So, there you have it. Now it has another meaning, that Watain have produced the album they have long been threatening. They have created a strong reputation for themselves since their first album in 2000, most notable in recent years, but this is moving to an all-new ballgame.

Everything one could wish for from Black metal is here, and here in spades. Black ones. Powerful, menacing, cold, bleak, symphonic, over the top, it is all here. The dark majesty of this is quite hard to comprehend. Some will point to classic Bathory or Behemoth as influences, but instead I would rather say that this is classic Watain, just taken to a new level. The production is spot on, and each instrument is clear and distinct while also creating a wall of sound that light just cannot breach. The record label says “one could say that Watain is about to become the biggest and most important black metal band in the world. Except that they’re already there.” On the basis of this album they may just be right. If you are into Black Metal, then this is possibly the most important album of 2013.