Watain - Sworn to the Dark (2007)

 Here comes an album from which may appear different views, depending on what your beliefs are about Black Metal and its new waves.
 Watain's Sworn to the Dark is not an album that may impress you by the "blackness" it inspires. It's not an album that apparently keeps the tradition of black metal openly with the compositions that it's consisted of (and that's why I said about the beliefs above).
 However, what truly impressed me in this album was the very same compositions and I'll tell you why: First of all, it keeps the atmosphere of a black metal album, with its endless tremolo picking and its lyrics about mythical creatures, satanism and darkness.
 Secondly, you can find a great variety of riffs and pretty many lyrics, something I believe that is good. What's more, the songs do not follow the same pace for long, as they change a bit after a while.
Finally, even though it's an album that cannot be categorized with what Darkthrone and Mayhem played, it's an album that does not lack intensity and anger at all!
 I had my arguments about this album and I had to tell them to you, so as to justify this for all those who are going to say "New wave of Black Metal sucks, I won't listen to that!". What you should do, is to not compare it with the rawness obsolete of the oldies...listen to it as a different genre and you'll see, you won't be disappointed!
Support them if you like them and go see them live if you're lucky!
Album & Band info here: Metallum Page
Download here: Mediafire Download