Watain Conjure Up Black Metal Magick on ‘The Howling’ + Announce ‘The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain’ Album

Black metal purists Watain have just debuted a new song, "The Howling," which comes off their newly announced album, The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain.

It's the seventh overall full length from the Swedish group and first since 2018's Trident Wolf Eclipse, bringing 10 new songs to the Watain canon.

Commenting on the first single, vocalist E. Danielsson offered, "'The Howling' refers to the wordless voice of the wild, wailing eerily through the ages, urging us to leave our safe spaces and explore the dark recesses of the great Abyss both within and without. To see it, to learn from it, to know it."

Lined with sinister melodies, "The Howling" possess a rapturous feel that Watain have so brilliantly captured throughout their career, vacillating between dissonant chord progressions and punk-addled rhythmic shifts. Take a listen further down the page.

The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain is set for an April 29 on Nuclear Blast and can be pre-ordered here. Catch Watain's black metal magick live on their spring North American tour alongside the legendary Mayhem and special guest Midnight at these dates.

Watain, "The Howling" Lyrics

Beneath the surface of the great primordial sea
Beyond life and death
Behind the veil of all our dreams so frail
Below the remnants and the dust of all past

The wailing of the mysteries
That caress the hearts of those who have laid them bare
Where the winds of twilight ever blow;
Beneath, beyond, behind, below

In the lingering light of the primal fires
Through the din of all centuries past;
A call to see, to learn, to know
So that fearless we may go
Beneath, beyond, behind, below

The howling….

Can you hear it still?
The faint echo of the great war
The spectral tremor of the giant collapse
Of the primal scream and a severed dream
The first, the last, the howling of the mother
Still wrestling, scales agleam
With the silence of the void
Howling throughout eternity

In the lingering light of the saints of fires
In their fusing of word and deed;
A call to see, to learn, to know
So that eager we may go
Beneath, beyond, behind, below

Proclaimed by prophets for centuries now;
The amplified rage of aeons
For eternities, in the rising seas and in their deeps
Reminding us
Where every Devilchild must go;

Beneath! Beyond! Behind! Below!
Like the wolf unto its kin it wails
Oh what music it makes…

Watain, "The Howling" Music Video

Watain, The Ecstasy & Agony of Watain Album Art + Track Listing

01. "Ecstasies in Night Infinite"
02. "The Howling"
03. "Serimosa"
04. "Black Cunt"
05. "Leper's Grace"
06. "Not Sun Nor Man Nor God"
07. "Before the Cataclysm"
08. "We Remain"
09. "Funeral Winter"
10. "Septentrion"