Gold record ceremony with Watain

Written by Niklas, September 2010

he Swedish black metal-constellation Watain are not only known for their defining music, but also for their controverses. When Watain together with their distributors Sound Pollution gave the fans an opportunity to meet the band and get the new single Repaing Death signed with autographs, the trio from Uppsala wanted to make something special out of the occasion. The Sound Pollution-store in Stockholm was therefore dressed in black, with only candles providing the light and various carcasses (including a dead German Shepherd Dog) had been placed around the room. Watain themselves had their corpse paint on and signed the autographs in pigs' blood. Apparantely, the stench of rotten flesh didn't leave the store for days.

he signing in blood proved to be a good idea; the single Reaping Death was awarded the certificate Gold, which means 10 000 units sold in Sweden. Quite remarkable for a black metal-band, which meant that this had to be celebrated. Metal Covenant was invited to attend at the awards ceremony and certainly couldn't afford to pass this one up. However, those who hoped for similar circumstances than during the signing must have left disappointed, since the band walked around without corpse paint, drinking beers while talking to friends and journalists.

hortly before the ceremony was about to begin, rain started pouring down from above, which made all the guests flee inside for cover. But a black metal-ceremony should on the other hand not be about warmth and sunshine, right? When the ceremony could commense, Watain took place behind the impressively clad podium and finally received their gold records.

fter the photographers had gotten their pictures, front man Erik Danielsson held a brief speech about the song Reaping Death and also told everyone what he feels about what state black metal is in. Thanks to Henrik Karlsson and the staff at Sound Pollution for providing the speech in its entirety:

“Reaping Death is a song written as a tribute to the first murderer and Satanist, Cain. Through the murder of his brother Abel, he was the first to break the shackles of creation and went against the will of God. Therefore, he was pushed away and found his way to his true father, the serpent in the Garden of Eden, also known as Satan.

To openly praise Cain, his origin, his works and his offspring is something that never would have been possible, say 300 years ago. 300 years ago they tied people such as us up and burned them alive.

Now we are awarded gold discs and praise in the media. This is an encouraging proof that this road is leading to hell. Through black metal, we now have a forum, in which we are without being persecuted and tortured, can celebrate the ancient ruin forces, revolutions and the gods of total liberation, and thus give them additional force.

This gold disc is proof that the genre as such is one to be reckoned with, and with fire, fanaticism and passion as the driving force, we intend to take it even further, deep down in still unexplored abysses."

Niklas - September 2010