Erik speaks about the album cover for "The Agony & Ecstasy of Watain" to Heaviest of Art Magazine: "The two columns on either side of the cover represent Agony and Ecstasy, two extreme states of altered consciousness that have been a part of Watain's emotional spectrum since day one. Agony can be said to represent the deep darkness and struggle of existence, while ecstasy on the other hand pertains to transcendent bliss and the euphoric madness. I believe in the valuable charge or friction that occurs from the union of opposing extremes. George Bataille meant that when pushed to the utmost limits of pain and pleasure, both physical and spiritual, we enable the experiencing of a divine singularity where the differences between divine ecstasy and utter horror are eradicated. Eros and Thanatos sodomizing one another, producing a magical offspring. The demonic maelstrom that coils and twist between the columns is meant to represent this result of that union, which is the music and art of Watain. From that whirling chasm, our emblem emanates, winged and graceful, as a twilight child out of the pits of Hell and into the world. Pure rock n' roll, just like the Devil intended."
📸 Photo by @varghamne.artphotography
