Watain — The Wild Hunt: Watain's Wild Hunt In A Gold Box

Watain's Wild Hunt In A Gold Box — the Vault Deep Dive on Watain — The Wild Hunt (2013).

The Story

By 2013 Watain had spent well over a decade building a reputation as one of Sweden's most uncompromising black metal bands, from Uppsala roots through the ritual intensity that defined their live shows. The Wild Hunt was their fifth full-length and a deliberate widening of scope. Where earlier records pursued relentless velocity, here the band reached toward atmosphere, melody, and even acoustic passages, chasing a mythic sweep that matched the album's title and its imagery of the spectral hunt across northern folklore. Erik Danielsson framed it as their most personal work, a record about longing, mortality, and devotion rather than pure aggression, and the ambition divided the faithful immediately.

The Sound

The Wild Hunt is Watain at their widest dynamic range. Blistering tremolo and blast-beat assaults still anchor the record, but they share space with slow-burning epics, clean guitar, and orchestration that gives the songs room to breathe. The production is fuller and clearer than the murk of their earlier catalogue, letting the melodic writing surface. The clean-sung centerpiece stunned longtime listeners, revealing a vulnerable, almost balladic side few expected. Danielsson's rasp remains commanding, but he varies phrasing and delivery across the runtime. The result trades some raw savagery for grandeur and songcraft, a broader canvas that rewards patient, front-to-back listening rather than isolated tracks.

The Sessions

The album was recorded at Necromorbus Studio, the home base of engineer and drummer Tore Stjerna, who had shaped Watain's sound across previous releases. The band worked their material carefully, layering the melodic and orchestral elements that set this record apart from the raw approach of their earlier catalogue. That familiar working relationship gave the sessions consistency, and the extended runtime reflects the ambition of the writing. The care taken with dynamics and clean passages meant the studio time went beyond simply capturing speed, aiming instead for the fuller, more textured production that defines the finished album's character and its widened palette.

The Legacy

The Wild Hunt drew acclaim well outside the usual black metal press, earning strong reviews and topping the Swedish album chart, a rare feat for such an extreme record. It confirmed Watain as one of the genre's flagship acts, capable of ambition without abandoning their ritual core. The album polarized purists who missed the earlier ferocity, yet it broadened the band's audience considerably and became a touchstone for the melodic, atmospheric wing of modern black metal. A decade on it stands as a pivotal statement, the record where Watain proved they could stretch their vision while keeping the darkness and conviction fully intact.

What the pressing tells us

The part most listings skip. This is how we grade and how you can tell copies apart:

• German press on Century Media / His Master's Noise, individually numbered /2000.
• Wolfwear.net exclusive Deluxe Box Set in clothwrapped gold hotfoil box.
• Includes red 180g gatefold 2LP, plus two 7-inches at 45 RPM.
• 'When Stars No More Shine' 7-inch is a box-exclusive red vinyl pressing.

Session file

• Recorded at Necromorbus Studio, Watain's longtime recording home.
• Engineered by Tore Stjerna, a frequent collaborator.
• Fifth full-length studio album by Watain.
• Sessions layered orchestral and clean-guitar textures beyond pure speed.
• Extended runtime reflects the album's widened, more ambitious songwriting.

Who played on it

• Erik Danielsson — Vocals, bass
• Pelle Forsberg — Guitar
• Håkan Jonsson — Drums

Vault Trivia

1. Watain's The Wild Hunt reached what position on the Swedish national album chart?

1. Number one
2. Number seven
3. Top twenty
4. Just outside the top forty

Reveal the answer

Number one — The album topped Sweden's chart, extraordinary reach for an extreme black metal record.

2. Which festival did Watain headline stages around during the album's touring cycle?

1. Wacken Open Air
2. Coachella
3. Glastonbury
4. Reading Festival

Reveal the answer

Wacken Open Air — Watain were regular fixtures at Wacken and Europe's major metal festival circuit.

3. Which label released The Wild Hunt across most territories?

1. Century Media
2. Nuclear Blast
3. Season of Mist
4. Metal Blade

Reveal the answer

Century Media — Century Media handled the release, including the His Master's Noise deluxe editions.

4. Watain built their earliest reputation touring from which Swedish city?

1. Uppsala
2. Gothenburg
3. Stockholm
4. Norrköping

Reveal the answer

Uppsala — Uppsala was Watain's home base since forming in the late 1990s.

5. The box set's exclusive second 7-inch featured which additional red-vinyl track?

1. When Stars No More Shine
2. XI
3. The Child Must Die
4. They Rode On

Reveal the answer

When Stars No More Shine — 'When Stars No More Shine' was the box-exclusive red 7-inch, distinct from the black XI single.

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