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Fire. Blood. Darkness. Destruction. Screaming.

These things are among the many joys you can expect from a Watain show. The black metal brutes have gone down in infamy for their controversial performances, which have included burning crosses en masse and dowsing audiences in animal blood.

And let it be known that the hype Watain have for their intensity and wildness onstage is not without cause. In 2018, supporting new album Trident Wolf Eclipse, the anarchists demolished numerous festivals under the shroud of night, shrieking and hissing the entire time.

But, even they didn’t have all the additional trimmings of unyielding flames and bloody rain, Erik Danielsson and co. would still be superb performers. Their energy is consistent, as is their commitment to creating an atmosphere of pure evil and rage. Danielsson regularly imbues his songs with an apocalyptic edge through bleak speeches. He has also been known to dedicate tracks to the damned, to murderers and to “the stalkers of the night”. Then he puts hand in fire for the hell of it.

A Watain show is not relaxing; it is a noxious ball of pyromania, noise and blasphemy. And, for a metalhead, it couldn’t be more fun.