Reaping success: Watain goes gold

Watain’s single Reaping Death has been awarded gold status in Sweden, after selling over 10,000 copies. In a genre whose fans usually praise albums rather than hit songs, it seems odd that sales of a single should outstrip those of the full-length. Is this a sign that Watain have broken into the more song-centered market of popular music?

The most interesting (and amusing) thing to come out of the single’s success is frontman Daniel Eriksson’s reaction. I’ll let it speak for itself:

“‘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, 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…” (from Earsplit PR; my emphasis.)

Openly embracing commercial success is a striking response from a Black Metal band, and something unimaginable in the genre’s first explosion of mainstream attention in the early-to-mid ’90s. To say that BM is new and dangerous (‘we now have a forum’, ‘one to be reckoned with‘, etc.) is pretty disingenuous, but the dude’s commitment to his job as an evangelist for the big guy downstairs is perversely impressive.


Well, sort of.

Edit: on the topic of metal in the mainstream, I’ve had some fun looking up various BM bands’ successes in the Norwegian charts. Watain aren’t the only ones to sell well in their own country: Darkthrone’s Too Old, Too Cold single reached # 11, and Mayhem’s Ordo ad Chao charted at #12. Unfortunately, the site doesn’t give actual sales -figures.

8 Comments

  • Reply August 20, 2010

    Richard

    Watain are adorable.

  • Reply August 20, 2010

    Krumbled Kookie

    Watain suck giant cock.

    This is proof that they've been marketed well enough and that they've suck enough corporate cock to satisfy the masses of morons who buy their music.

    I don't mean to hate, but Watain are fucking awful. I wish them all the corporate success in the world.

  • Reply August 20, 2010

    Richard

    Kookie, you need to wrap your ears around Casus Luciferi. They were actually somewhat respectable prior to Sworn To The Dark; quiet, doing their own thing with no regard to how much they sold. I haven't been able to get into Lawless Darkness as much as I wanted to, perhaps as a result of this bullshit.

    See this post for more Watain related laughs:

    http://lurkerspath.blogspot.com/2010/07/watain-london-posters-printed-in-human.html

  • Reply August 20, 2010

    Anonymous

    what a fuckin twerp. i hope there is a hell and i hope satan fucks em all in their stupid fuckin asses for all eternity.

  • Reply August 20, 2010

    Rob

    I gave Lawless Darkness a fair chance, but it didn't get any better with time. That 'Wolves' Curse' song was fun the first time round, but grew old fast. And the lyrics were a huge step down from their previous output.

    People dismiss Sworn to the Dark, but I like it. Well-structured and memorable songs, with decent lyrics. Casus Luciferi blows it out of the water, though. And the artwork dominates.

  • Reply August 21, 2010

    Anonymous

    His eyes are totally crooked yo.

  • Reply August 21, 2010

    Richard

    "DERP"

  • Reply August 26, 2010

    ValkyriaI

    YES!
    I'm always glad when good music is being awarded..
    These guys are committed to what they do and their music screams passion!

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