''Sworn to the Dark'' is the third studio album by Watain and was released on 19 February 2007 on

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

. The album received very positive reviews from music critics and has been described as the band's "breakthrough" album. The song 'Legions of the Black Light' is dedicated to

Dissection Dissection (from Latin ' "to cut to pieces"; also called anatomization) is the dismembering of the body of a deceased animal or plant to study its anatomical structure. Autopsy is used in pathology and forensic medicine to determine the cause o ...

's vocalist Jon Nödtveidt who committed suicide in 2006.

Critical reception and accolades

The album received positive reviews from music critics. Chad Bowar of '' About.com'' called it "a sinister and forbidding dose of black metal". He went on to say, "You'll hear the droning guitars and frantic blast beats of black metal, but Watain adds a lot of really catchy and melodic riffs and some cool guitar countermelodies." He concluded his review saying, "This is a really well crafted album that's menacing, yet melodic."Chad Bowar
''Watain – Sworn to the Dark Review''
accessed on 29 April 2013. Eduardo Rivadavia of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album 4.5 of 5 stars, saying that the band "achieve a perfect balance between

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

Darkthrone Darkthrone is a Norwegian extreme metal band from Kolbotn, Akershus. Formed in 1986 as a death metal band named Black Death, in 1991 Darkthrone embraced a black metal style influenced by Bathory and Celtic Frost and became one of the leadin ...

's outright savagery and straightforward execution, and

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

's spiraling arrangements and progressive orientation". He went on to say that "you'll definitely find more extreme, misanthropic, or adventurous black metal albums than Sworn to the Dark out there, but you'll be hard-pressed to find one more balanced or – and this may sound contradictory for nasty old black metal – enjoyable".Eduardo Rivadavia
''Sworn to the Dark – Watain''
accessed on 29 April 2013. Scott Alisoglu of ''

Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in October ...

'' wrote that "Watain is a band concerned not with experimentation or genre-bending, just the creation of ripping black metal songs that burn a hole in the soul and leave a lasting impact on the psyche. It doesn't get much better."Scott Alisoglu
''Watain''. ''Sworn to the Dark''
accessed on 29 April 2013. The album also made many end-of-year lists, as well. In '' Terrorizer'' ''Secret History of Black Metal'' (issued in September 2009), it made the number 13 position on their list of "Black Metal's Top 40 Albums". The AllMusic stuff named it one of their favourite metal albums of 2007.

Track listing

Personnel

Watain

* Erik Danielsson – vocals, bass * Pelle Forsberg – guitar * Håkan Jonsson – drums

Additional personnel

* Set Teitan – lyrics and guitar solo on "Legions of the Black Light" *

Peter Stjärnvind Peter Stjärnvind (born 11 August 1973) is a Swedish drummer. His current position is the drummer of Krux and Swedish black metal band Pest, and guitarist and founder of Black Trip. Before that he also played in Loud Pipes, Merciless, Unanimated ...

, Alvaro Lillo, Carlos Aguilar, Tobias Sidegård – guest vocals on "Stellarvore" * Michayah Belfagor – lyrics of "Darkness and Death" * Peter In de Betou – mastering * Ketalodog (Timo Ketola) – artwork * Erik "Tyrant" Gustavsson – photography * Tore Stjerna – production, recording, mixing

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sworn to the Dark 2007 albums Southern Lord Records albums Watain albums Season of Mist albums