WATAIN Announces 10-Year-Anniversary Concert

Swedish black metallers WATAIN have issued the following update:

"As a closure to the two-year-long Fuck the World Tour, WATAIN will do a final date in Uppsala, Sweden, on the 6th of December. This ceremonial performance shall mark the 10-year anniversary of the band, which is also why it is held in its place of earthly origin. Both setlist and new stageshow will be crafted exclusively for this concert, which will be the last not only on the tour but for a long time ahead, as WATAIN shall devote the coming year entirely to the crafting of the next full-length album."

To celebrate WATAIN's "10 cursed years of madness and magic," Season Of Mist will re-release the band first two full-length albums, "Casus Luciferi" and "Rabid Death's Curse" on digipack CD on October 13 and October 27, respectively. Both albums have been remastered in Necromorbus Studio, where they were originally recorded, and will feature two rare bonus tracks, one being the title track from the band's debut 7" EP, "The Essence of Black Purity", and the other an unreleased live version of the VON anthem "Watain". Both releases will also include extensive liner notes from the band along with additional photos and illustrations.

"WATAIN's first two albums have both been hailed as monumental and groundbreaking within the underground for their undeniably magical content and fanatic intensity, yet they are also considered collectors items which to this day are still hard to come by", bassist/vocalist Erik Danielsson states. "As WATAIN never wanted their divine art to be something restricted for collectors and rich eBay kids only, we have now chosen to reveal to all of the world our dark and fiery past. A past that came to shape one of the most terrible abominations ever to stalk the metal scene!"

The October 2008 issue of Metal Maniacs features a special tour preview with Erik Danielsson of WATAIN, who will be headlining the Black Metal Magic U.S. tour with WITHERED and BOOK OF BLACK EARTH starting October 3.

Asked what WATAIN offers black metal, and extreme metal fans in general, particularly those in the U.S., that other bands do not (other than authentic stage props),Erik replied, "Something real; something passionate and genuine. There are maybe five bands within metal that still do that in these days of visionless fast-food music. Bands often seem to grow old and weary the more time passes. We have done the very opposite — we get hungrier and stronger. And the sight of the sorry fucking excuses for black metal these days… to see these myriads of soulless junk-projects and juvenile nonsense rise and fall like puppets, only makes us more confident that we are on the right path."

Kerrang! magazine's (web site) Nick Ruskell conducted an interview with Erik Danielsson at this year's Wacken Open Air festival, which was held July 31 - August 2, 2008 in Wacken, Germany. Watch the seven-minute chat below.

WATAIN's third full-length album, "Sworn to the Dark", was released in February 2007 via Season of Mist. The recording of the CD took place at the infamous Necromorbus Studio (FUNERAL MIST, MALIGN, OFERMOD, etc.).