Rabid Death's Curse

Nowadays everyone in the scene and outside of it have heard about Watain. Yes, this Swedish black metal band became huge! They’re certainly one of the biggest black metal bands ever, which is even more weird knowing that they were formed only in 1998, so years after the explosion of Scandinavian black metal. And yes, some may argue whether Watain became more popular because of the whole image, total satanic devotion, the whole aesthetics around the band or due to their music… Hmm, I suppose it depends who you’re talking to. Some may be totally fascinated by the image, some other may simply love the music. I personally think it’s a bit of both… Yes, Watain made the black metal image important again, after a time, when most of the classic black metal band seemed to feel bored with it and became… hmm, normal, if I can say so. Emperor, Mayhem, Satyricon, Gehenna – they all dropped the visual aspects of their music and with it the whole aura around this music was just gone… and then Watain – but let’s be honest, it wasn’t just them, but also some other (mainly Swedish) bands like Armagedda, Ondskapt, Funeral Mist, Ofermod – appears with ultra fanatical satanic music and imagery. And it turned out that these bands gave a new life into this genre. And for Watain it all went so far that now they play huge festivals as one of the headliners (I am sure that mainly due to the show they put out) and the band is recognised by everyone. Yes, they took a long road since “Rabid Death's Curse” LP. This was my first album of Watain, which I have heard back in 2001. The same year I managed to interview Erik and even putted an awesome live photo of him on the cover of the second issue of my fanzine. Ha, so many years ago, damn! Now he’s on the covers of the major magazines, not fanzines anymore, but it is good to go back to those old days and listen to “Rabid Death's Curse”, as I still like this LP a lot.

I suppose the first thing, which is going to strike you, when listening to “Rabid Death's Curse” is the production of this album, which is way, way more harsh and obscure than the albums, which will follow the debut years later. This sound stinks with sulphur and infernal tar and is truly raw, but in a good way… I mean, this is classic black metal production, in my opinion quite alike to such “Kronet til Konge” for example (I have this impression especially when listening to the title song!)… It is harsh and rotten, but still quite powerful and more so, it brings out dark atmosphere of the music. At the same time it’s not perfect, as I realize that sometimes you may lose some guitar parts, here and there the riffs may be slightly unreadable or the music gets chaotic or messy a little. But this is black metal! And the music is obviously also different to the future, more popular Watain albums. Here everything is more uncompromising, faster, it’s cold and grim stuff… and way less melodic! Right with the first song “The Limb Crucifix” this LP is an explosion of utter hatred and an example for the classic black metal means. Nowadays everyone states that Watain has sold out, that their music became too acceptable to some public. Well, you may agree or not… but if you do, then give a listen to “Rabid Death's Curse” as this is as close to the origins of black metal as Watain has ever been to.

So, here is harsh and obscure black metal, very much in the vein of many Scandinavian classics, but that doesn’t mean it is unworthy or repetitive piece of junk. Ha, no way! This is truly awesome album, with several devastating – or should I say desecrating – tracks. Yes, it walks the path which was trodden by some cult bands like (mid era) Darkthrone, Mayhem, Triumphator, Funeral Mist, Marduk, of course there’re also some signs of Dissection style of arrangements and melodies, but not too many… YET (hehe). What I like about “Rabid Death's Curse” is how riff based, how aggressive this album is. I mentioned the song “The Limb Crucifx” – what a killer opener it is, with many fast and crushing parts that are forceful and violent as fuck. Then the title track is very much in the vein of Swedish black metal, of bands like Dissection and Sacramentum as there are even some traces of melody here and there… and yes, this is probably my favourite song here. It goes on and on and doesn’t stop, “Rabid Death's Curse” has awesome riffs spread all over the album, there are many truly killer parts. And I also just worship the atmosphere, which Watain has created on this LP. It is just dark, malevolent, cold and grim…

On a downside of “Rabid Death's Curse” I can say that it is a shame that the vocals are so low in the mix, I mean Eric Danielsson is a killer vocalist, but here his voice often disappears behind the wall of riffs and drumming, which is a shame, as his croaky voice would give more power to the whole music. Sometimes, even with the lyrics in the hand, it’s difficult to find out where is he, what lines he’s “singing”, which is a shame!
Standout tarcks: “The Limb Crucifx”, “Rabid Death's Curse”
Final rate: 75/100

I was a late comer to the Watain show, largely due to being somewhat put off by the image-based commercial approach of the band that seems to contradict the ethos they are pedalling. After hearing enough of their material however, I had to eventually admit, that while they are not a great band, they are a very good band and I now unashamedly bang my head to most of Casus Luciferi and Lawless Darkness.

Watain’s career really took off with Casus Luciferi, so that was naturally where I began to go through their catalogue. I have now finally gotten around to their first full-length and was quite surprised with what I found. While their later albums have a very polished and modern sound, with little resemblance to their Nordic ancestors, Rabid Death’s Curse is a different entity altogether. Indeed, if someone had played this to me I would never even have guessed that it was Watain.

What exists here is an album that is deliberately stuck in the old school, attempting very little in the way of adding to what has already done before. There can be nothing wrong with this approach, when it is executed well and intended more as a respectful nod to predecessors rather than claiming it as one’s own.

The sound here is not the raw primitive screechings of Bathory inspired 90’s Scandinavia, but more in the Mayhem camp of rebirthing the 80s thrash scene in a much heavier and uglier way. Indeed I am sure this is the kind of album Euronymous would have loved to release if it has come out in 1992. Apart from the Mayhem influences, this album reminds me a lot of Gorgoroth’s Antichrist, particularly the strong bass presence, although the vocals are a deeper, more guttural sounding than that Pest or Hat. Parts also resemble a less chaotic version of Blasphemy’s Gods of War and others are like an uglier, darker and heavier version of early Sodom.

Overall, this album, being very different to what followed, may appeal to those traditionalists who have thus far dismissed this band for reasons mentioned above. For better or for worse, there is little clue here to what would follow. For me this a definite positive addition to my collection and while I wouldn’t exactly call myself a disciple of this band, I am certainly a fan of most of their music.

"Rabid Death's Curse," is the debut album of Swedish black metal band Watain. After first hearing "Casus Luciferi," I decided to purchase that album's predecessor, and was honestly disappointed with what I heard.

On their debut album, Watain's version of black metal features much more thrash/death sounding guitars than traditional black metal. The guitar's play with a style that is similar to that found on Bathory's self-titled debut album, however, Watain's seems more technical. In fact, the riff from "The Limb Crucifix" sounds almost exactly like "Hades" from Bathory's debut album, which costs the band points in originality. At times there is a certain dark melody present at certain moments like during "On Horns Impaled," and "Life Dethroned." The guitar players certainly are skilled but they suffer from two setbacks. The first is the complete and utter lack of variation throughout the album and a lack of original ideas. Almost every song sounds exactly the same, with the exception of songs like "On Horns Impaled," "Angelrape," and if you have the bonus track version, "The Essence of Black Purity."

The vocals are actually quite well done. They're the traditional black metal shrieks, but harsher sounding. To me Watain's vocals sound like the vocals from Marduk, both of which are from Sweden. They're also similar to older black metal bands in that they add a dark, depressing feeling to the music. At certain times, Watain's vocalist sounds almost like Abboth's vocals did on "Battles in the North."

The second setback of Watain's debut is the bad production quality. Normally on black metal albums, this isn't a problem for me seeing as they thrive on the "I recorded this in my basement," sound, and for the most part, I enjoy that. But Watain takes the low value production to the point where you have to pay close attention to clearly hear what's going on.

Rabid Death's Curse could've been a good album, but the poor production and lack of originality weaken it considerably.

Watain are a band that have slowly grown on me over a long period of time, their strange blend of the more melodic sides of their Swedish brethren Dissection, while maintaining the grim atmosphere and stage presents as Mayhem, is at times a somewhat contradictory mix. ‘Rabid Death’s Curse’ is Watain’s first album, and features far more of the Mayhem-esq grimness than their later albums. I tend to see the album as an attempt at a very fast and brutal onslaught of black-metal, in fact they held back some of the more melodic songs that they played on their demos from this album. The entire thing clocks in at 38 minuets, making it a fairly short listen.

The album starts off with ‘The Limb Crucifix’, which sets the tone for the entire album, if you don't like this song, shut off the album. It displays both the technical musical talent of this band, which far outweighs the majority of their contemporaries, which also gives rise to the early comparison to Dissection. However, the use of power-chord based song structures as oppose to tremolo picked riffs being the lead, is far more similar to Mayhem songs like ‘Pagan Fears‘. The listener is immediately greeted by the voice of Erik Danielsson who I personally find to be one of the most consistent black-metal vocalists ever. His voice comes across as a slightly more controlled version of Dead, and most importantly, his vocals are understandable, which allows for one of the most important elements of Watain’s music, their lyrical talent. While their lyrics are not up the amazing standard on Casus Luciferi, they are far superior to their contemporaries simply in the religious scope and the knowledge of esotericism shown.

The biggest criticism of this album one can argue, is that the songs all sound the same. This is not helped by the production, which tends to sound like a studio attempt to recreate ‘Live At Leipzig’ which while admirable becomes annoying by about the 20 minuet mark. However, while the production causes problems, it also makes the albums sound evil. Few albums come across as technically accurate and yet produced so raw, and I guess it’s this mix of ‘kvltness’ and technicality that I’ve always liked about Watain.. Song’s like “Life Dethroned” and “Angelrape” often break from the more complex riffs into a very simple Darkthrone like riff that chugs along, which provides the listener a temporary break from the endless dissonant tremolo picking.

Over all, this album really does come across as a very youthful attempt at black-metal. There is not the sense of pacing or control that one finds on later Watain albums. The band here almost seem to be obsessed with being “kvlt” never breaking from form for a moment. However, it still provides a very good listen, were it any longer than 38 minuets it would simply becoming monotonous, but as it stands, it is a quick brutal blast of an album, from a band attempted to recreate the golden days of black-metal.

Watain is a band that doesn’t try to be “true” by producing formulated trite black metal in an attempt to keep Scandinavian black metal pure in respect to its roots with such bands as Emperor, Marduk, and Immortal . Rabid Death’s Curse does away with tradition and creates a grim, fast, and brutal black metal album that stands on its own. Not only is Rabid Death’s Curse different and unique from other Swedish black metal bands and albums, its different from most every black metal album out there. Simply put, the debut album from Watain, Rabid Death’s Curse, is nothing short of Amazing.

Rabid Death’s Curse features many different songs with many different things to offer. The songs on this album are mostly riff based. While there is not to much centralization with the riffs, they will be the main carrying force of each song. On Horns Impaled the song can be broken down into sections where riffs will be dominant and different from the rest. One part of the song features a grim melody based riff, while another part of the song showcases an aggressive, heavy, and brutal riff. The strongest point of making Rabid Death’s Curse a riff based album is that it allows for something unique to happen on this album that doesn’t happen on many other black metal albums, the structure. Rabid Death’s Curse structures their songs similar to death metal songs so that songs like The Limb Crucifix and Life Dethroned feature heavy melody. Grim and atmospheric melodies will carry songs like these giving them a great flow and making them quite memorable. The best comparison to how the songs on this album are structured would be to the songs of Opus Nocturne, a focus on riff based melody and a concentration on flow.

One thing that ruins many black metal albums is the vocals don‘t fit at all and they sound like they were just placed haphazardly over the music. This vocal style sometimes works very well for albums trying to be grim, like Darkthrone. Fortunately the vocals on Rabid Death’s Curse never once sound like this. Vocally Erik Danielsson knows how to create the perfect type of vocals for this album. They are similar to those of Darkthrone, but more gargled and harsh. He also knows how to lace them seamlessly into the songs melodies and riffs (somewhat like Nergal of Behemoth and Abbath of Immortal). On Walls Of Life Ruptured the song features a segment that has somewhat chaotic guitars and choppy drums, Erik Danielsson sings with the same pace and structure of this somewhat technical segment making his vocals seem more of an instrument, a part of the song, instead of sounding like ordinary black metal vocals over aggressive guitars and blast beats.

Rabid Death’s Curse certainly has made itself an unique and great album in the black metal scene. With great melody and vocal work its in the top of its class. Other elements like an audible bass line, one that actually flows perfectly with the melodies of the album makes Rabid Death’s Curse even more unique. That aspect helps with the volume very much. The perfectly timed and placed drumming gives this album at sometimes a technical feel and also helps with some of the more aggressive riffs making them sound more brutal as well as making the two instruments sound as one. Fans of old style Marduk will like this album, as well as fans of Abazagorath. Rabid Death’s Curse is easily one of the best albums of the past five years in the black metal scene, look into them for something new and unique. Absolutly nothing is done wrong with this album.