Initial Impressions: Watain and Enforcer

Pretty swamped at work right now so I don't want to spend a ton of time on stuff.

WATAIN: LAWLESS DARKNESSWatain is one of the leading bands in the Orthodox black metal movement. Their lyrics clearly have a Satanic and evil bent to them. None of this stuff really bothers me that much. If the music is good, that's all that really matters to me. Luckily, Watain is one of the best black metal bands currently going.

Watain's music can be described as epic black metal. The sound is amazing and complex. They have a lot of Dissection influence, which is always a good thing to me. The music is very powerful, emotional, and intense. The tremolo riffs are fantastic and really add to the spine-tingling feel of the music. The vocals are understandable, but fairly typical for black metal.

Watain has been steadily improving with each album. This album is their best one to date, surpassing even the amazing Sworn to the Dark. The only issue I have with it is the length. At 70+ minutes this is a very long album. At least the music is so good that it does not feel like a chore to listen to it.

ENFORCER: DIAMONDSOn the other end of the spectrum, we have Enforcer who plays retro-sounding metal that takes a lot of influences from the NWOBHM. Hell, the album cover looks like something that came out of the late 1970's and early 1980's. Enforcer is a Swedish band that manages to sound even more retro than the uber-retro Wolf.

A few years back, a band called The Darkness was being hyped as a return to a more traditional sound of European metal. Well, that band was a joke, and they fucking sucked. Enforcer, on the other hand, are the real deal. All of the songs on this album are catchy and fun. The album is a throwback to the days when Angel Witch, Saxon, Raven, and others were at their best.

I enjoy this album immensely, mostly because of my newfound love for the NWOBHM. Enforcer sounds like they would have been very comfortable in that era.