10 Most Anticipated Metal Albums Of 2018

3. Watain – Trident Wolf Eclipse

Even though Norway is usually heralded as the hotbed of black metal, recent years have seen the heavy music haven that is Sweden catch up in the extreme race, having spawned such names as Dark Funeral, Marduk, Funeral Mist and Watain since the mid-1990s.

Of all these names, however, it appears that 2018 is going to belong to the latter band, with the trio set not only to release their sixth album, Trident Wolf Eclipse, but also make major appearances at such festivals as Bloodstock and Wacken.

Clearly hoping to close out 2017 an equally huge high, the band released “Nuclear Alchemy” on Halloween, delivering a slice of visceral extremity only befitting of the evilest date of the calendar.

The single’s links with the infamously lo-fi and unhallowed origins of its subgenre practically go without saying, while the actual audio remains surprisingly well-produced and clear-cut. But of course, this does nothing to dilute the sheer brutality of Erik Danielsson’s vocals or Pelle Forsberg’s dissonant guitars, which are as black metal as humanly possible.

Top it all off with macabre costumes, and the end result is heavy, discordant mastery the likes of which Watain’s rabid fan-base will gladly eat up in spades.