Swedish black metal institution Watain has revealed that their upcoming eighth studio album will serve as the band’s final full-length release. The record is set to arrive in three years’ time, coinciding with their 30th anniversary in 2028, and will mark the official closure of the group’s decades-spanning career.
In a statement released earlier today (September 20), the band addressed fans directly: “Ladies and gentlemen, followers, allies and supporters, this is a solemn transmission from the Temple of Watain. We hereby announce that in III years’ time — upon our 30th anniversary — Watain’s eighth and final full-length album will be released.
“The album will mark the closure of a thirty-year-long magical Work, the last crossroad of Watain, after which the band will cease to exist… Instead of being consumed by the jaws of time, or broken upon the wheel of circumstance, we choose to let Watain return, unbowed and undefeated, back into the primordial chaos that once gave it life.”
The group added that the next three years will be spent writing new music, performing concerts, and unveiling additional projects leading up to the grand finale. They describe this final phase as “III liminal years in the borderlands between the living and the dead”, inviting fans to take part in what they call a “sacrificial requiem” to conclude the band’s legacy.
Formed in 1998, Watain has risen to become one of the most infamous and influential black metal acts in the world. Though the band’s end is now in sight, Watain promise to make their remaining years a final, uncompromising chapter worthy of their history.
“Take this message not as a farewell, but as the first note of a sacrificial requiem, as well as your invitation to partake in shaping these last years into something beyond compare,” the band declared.
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