Erik Danielsson, or simply E, is the vocalist and studio bassist of notorious blood-covered black metal band Watain. The band are preparing to drop The Wild Hunt, their most diverse, and potential devisive, album yet. Danielsson recently spoke with Metal Injection and you can read the full chat here.
I’m not sure if there is as much excitement in music these days when getting signed to a big label, but I’d still like to congratulate you on the signing to Century Media.
Why don’t you think we’re excited?
I was just about to ask, IS there still excitement in signing to a bigger label, and if so how has your life changed, or has it?
It’s become a little bit easier for once, because usually everything we do with this band makes our life more complicated (laughs). That has been a step in the right direction for us. We can focus so much more on the important things now because we have people covering our backs with the mundane aspects of being in a band. The business side, and so on. I’m very grateful for that.
They then helped put out the most diver album Watain has ever put out. What took the band in so many different places this round?
The Wild Hunt is so much based on our past, and our way of seeing things. We have been on this road for fifteen years, and it led us to many very strange places we could never have imagined going. That journey, that’s really what The Wild Hunt was. Us opening the door a little bit more to this strange world that we have made for ourselves, and there's a lot of diversity in that world. On the surface, a lot of people have often thought of Watain as something very much based on chaos, and violence, and digression, and very dark and disturbing things. This is a very accurate way of looking at this band, but on the other hand, there are other aspects that are equally important I would say. We’ve aloud for both parts to shine through and mix them into the music this time.
Some early reviews of the album have wondering if you guys are trying to reach a larger audience. Are you?
You mean, did we have that in mind while writing the music?
Yes.
Uhhh, no. Frankly, not. That’s not really the way we work. The music, first and foremost, is for us to communicate. All of our albums are written as direct hymns or prayers, really. The last thing honestly on my mind when I sit trembling, fucking wrecked, and my eyes rolling back, the last thing on my mind is whether or not people like it. It’s definitely not about adapting our music to a wider audience. That’s something that I reserve for bands with some sort of motivation other than a spiritual one. I think that’s for bands that are out there to entertain, or for success, or something like that. That’s never really been on our agenda.
As we speak, “The Child Must Die” has just gone out online. Who is the child referred to in the song, or what is the song about?
Honestly, these are things that I like to leave up to the listener and whoever takes the time to actually read the lyrics. This is an EXTREMELY important and personal one for me. The child is, to me, anything beautiful, and fragile, and innocent that has to be put on the altar of sacrifice for one reason or another. It is about the suffering that the act of sacrifice demands, because you cannot sacrifice something that is worthless. You don’t want to put a pile of excrement on the altar of your gods. You want to put something that has value, something that is dear to you in order for the sacrifice to have meaning. That’s the fundamental idea of sacrificing something. That is why it brings a lot of pain. The path towards transcendence, the unity with god, is one of suffering. Not only of triumph, it is about sorrow and suffering, and that is very much what the child dying refers to. It’s a song of suffering, but it is a song of triumph and liberation really.
Was there any doubt in releasing the song “They Rode On” because it is so different, or due to any sort of backlash?
I know what you mean. No. It was such a relief for us to write that song, it mean so much to us since day one, that we knew it had to be a part of this album. Very much, because of how genuine it felt, how honest it was. If anything, we aim for this to be the most honest and open album that we’ve ever done. “They Rode On” is a result of that way of thinking. There was never any doubt in that regard. Perhaps, doubt in that it was so extremely personal. Artistry is all about that really, in this case it felt so intimate, but that’s the beauty of it. That’s why it was so important to us, and that is why it MUST be there somehow. I’m actually glad, because people can relate to that. It’s very much, I wouldn’t say evolution, but a natural step for the band. A lot of bands that have been around for fifteen years want to make steps, but stray away from who they really are. I think “They Rode On” is the antithesis of that. For us, “They Rode On” meant traveling deeper into ourselves than we ever had before. I’ve very proud to have that song on the album.
With no disrespect to the rest of the album, it is probably my favorite. Does it open more doors for the band musically, because it has been getting pretty good reviews as far as something completely different for you guy? Do you see going this way more?
Even if it got bad reviews we’d still… It’s still a matter of what you feel like you want express at that specific moment in time. I cannot say if we’ll write more songs like “They Rode On.” It I hard for me to comprehend. It’s hard for me to figure out what the fuck is going on. It’s impossible for me to say if it’s a step in a specific direction, or if it’s us at a specific moment in time expressing a specific thing that might not be needed to be expressed again. It’s very hard to say really.
Now that you are more establish, and people and venues know who you are, do you ever get any concerns from venues regarding your stage show having fire and blood and whatnot?
I guess, you’d have to ask our booking agent about that. They’re booking the tours now. I kind of see them in front of me sitting by their desks tearing out their own hair asking themselves, “Why the fuck did we get involved with this band?” Maybe, people are a bit more aware of what we’re doing. When we were on tour when we still a pretty unknown band, at a venue we went to they were like, “Really? What the fuck do you think you’re doing? This is insane!” While now, hopefully more promoters know what it is that they’re bringing into their venue. I’m extremely tired of touring scenarios where you have to face, I mean I’m used to facing opposition, but in the touring context, in that manner, it’s just tiring and quite draining. Hopefully, it will be a lot better in that regard in upcoming tours, and I think it will.
Now that there’s a new album, I’m assuming there’s going to be a new tour. You mentioned coming to the states in the fall in a different interview. Do you have any idea who with or when?
We are going to announce it next week, and will wait for another week to talk more about it, because there are still more T’s to be crossed. It’s looking to be a very, very interesting tour. I can’t fucking wait to be back to the states. That’s a place where we can fly. It’s a place where the energy of our music can find roots and grow. We’re going to announce it in a week and we think people are going to be quite satisfied.
How do you feel about the term Kvlt, referring to black metal or your music?
Well, it’s a modern term, but it’s something that kind of arose when more hipster types of people became more involved in this type of music, and that’s something I’m kind of allergic to. I would never use that term myself. It meant something very different back in the day when we started this band, but now it is more like an insult than a word of dignity. I actually refrain from commented much further on. I’ll leave it more, I don’t know, Vice Magazine.
Outside of heavy metal, what do you do with your time?
Watain is my life. It is what I think about when I go to sleep, in the morning it is what I think about when I wake up. It’s what covers my body. It is what covers my entire spectrum of being really. Everything I do is very much related to Watain and my religion, that’s all I do. Once every now and then there is time for a little heavy metal, and once every now and then time for a little bit of bike riding, but that pretty much it really. I mean, I’m doing this interview from my little shed out in the field, in the middle of nowhere outside of Uppsala. That’s a place where I have my rare moments of free time, and moments very much of contemplating and communicating with my gods.
Are there any bands out now that you’ve been enjoying, whether seeing them live that you’ve toured with or records or anything like that?
The first band that comes to mind is a band called In Solitude from Sweden that are putting out their new album on Metal Blade later this year. I think September, October or something. It’s one of these bands that pop up every twentieth year or so. Just a band that does everything right, and that just continues evolving into something way beyond their own comprehension. It’s one of the biggest musical experience I’ve had this year was listening to their advanced mix of their new album.
My final question, when you tour the States, have you ever a run in with PETA regarding your use of blood on stage?
With who?
PETA is the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, their animal rights activists here in the United States that go a little crazy when they protest things. Have you every encountered them or anything like them?
I don’t think so. The few animal activists we have encountered we have either punched the out before they’ve been able to open their mouths or we have talked to them for five minutes, and they left in tears. For me, the absurdity of an animal rights activist complaining about what we do it levels with the absurdity of mankind in general, and that’s a high level of absurdity. I spit on them. They can’t think longer than their noses reach. Animal cruelty is one of the last things that this band is about, you know? Fuck off!
The Wild Hunt will be out this August via Century Media Records
