Shroud Of Metal

Photo by E

Last time Watain played live in London the new “no fluids” rule was in effect. It made bringing the rotten blood they use to impregnate their clothes with a little trickier, but somehow they managed to smuggle it onto the plane and into the UK (yay for security). The result was, as always, both intensely nauseating, and surprisingly stylish. So let’s give Mayhem and wearing pig snouts a rest, and let’s hear it for Watain. They’ve just finished their new album, Sworn to the Dark, and are set to tour with Celtic Frost and Kreator, and I was really excited that I got to talk with them about clothes, because I seriously think this might be one of the best albums ever made. We had coffee, singer Erik showed me around the bunker where he lives, and then we discussed what the perfect jockstrap is like, and if it should be made out of an animal with its intestine hanging out. After that he showed me this brown trunk and said, “This is the holiest, this is where I keep my stage clothes.” Vice: Yeah, tell me more about that. Erik: They used to be whole and without tears, but they’ve just sort of disintegrated. We make everything ourselves, you won’t find any ready-made Blue Fox studs here. What’s the difference between being on stage and being private? On stage my personality gets plugged into an amplifier, that’s all. How many studs do you own? Oh come on, I’m not going to answer that. Which one is your favourite one then? That would have to be the limp one on my jockstrap. Do you have a style icon? Cronos of Venom, Quorthon of Bathory and GG Allin. What do you think about trendy media hipsters walking around in Darkthrone T-shirts because it’s “in”? I hate them and I want to shoot them. Are you the one who makes the prints for Watain? Yeah. I know we’ve got the best T-shirts, there isn’t much more to add to that. What do you think are sexy clothes? I think that if your clothes have been torn it probably means you have an exciting life. PIA
Sworn to the Dark is out soon on Season of Mist, and the tour will begin in March this year.