[2][3][4] The band have become famous for their theistic Satanist views and for their live shows which involve pyrotechnics, candles, Satanic rituals, animal carcasses, and blood.

The band's core lineup has remained stable since their formation, consisting of Erik Danielsson, Pelle Forsberg, and Håkan Jonsson, though as of 2015 Jonsson no longer performs live, Emil Svensson (aka E. Forcas) of fellow Uppsala death metal band Degial was recruited as live drummer.

A split LP with Malign was planned in the early 2000s and supposed to be issued by Grim Rune Productions before the recording of Watain's second album Casus Luciferi,[2] but never got released.

[25][26] On 7 May 2012 the band released a DVD and live album Opus Diaboli – 13 Years of Black Metal Magic directed by Johan Bääth and Watain.

In January 2015, Watain, Mayhem, and Revenge played together as part of the "Black Metal Warfare" tour in the United States.

[34] On 2 August 2017, Watain confirmed the release date of their long-awaited sixth Full-length studio album, the title of which was later revealed as Trident Wolf Eclipse.

It is the band's first album to not feature founding member Håkan Jonsson playing drums, but he did contribute in the songwriting process with the rest of the lineup.

[42] Allmusic journalist Eduardo Rivadavia wrote that their debut album Rabid Death's Curse "suggested that Watain were, at best, content to produce intentionally crude facsimiles of inspirational forefathers ranging from Bathory to Mayhem and, at worst, unable to do anything else" but "fulfills an important function in Watain's career arc, one that the casual listener need never pay heed to, but which loyal fans will likely want to explore at some point in order to better comprehend all that followed".

"[45] Rivadavia called "Storm of the Antichrist" "a perfect balance between Venom or Darkthrone's outright savagery and straightforward execution, and Emperor's spiraling arrangements and progressive orientation" and pointed out their "greater appreciation for different forms of heavy metal, far beyond black metal's often tiresomely stubborn 'f*ck everyone else' mindset" as shown in the "thrash-like speed-picking" of "Underneath the Cenotaph", the "magnificently dense, almost Opeth-like riffs" introducing "The Serpent's Chalice" and "the Iron Maiden-quoting bassline" at the end of "The Light That Burns the Sun".

"[47] According to Danielsson, Lawless Darkness is based more upon Watain themselves than other bands and was compared to Bathory, Master's Hammer, Fields of the Nephilim and Deep Purple.

[49] Rock Hard journalist Götz Kühnemund compared the album to old Rainbow and Dio-era Black Sabbath due to the atmosphere, as well as to Bathory's more epic releases.

All lyrics, unless contributed by members of other bands, are written by vocalist Erik Danielsson,[3] who summed up their topics as "the religion they are based upon, Satanism, or – to avoid confusion – Devilworship".

[54] Asked about this incident in an interview to the German online metal magazine Metal.de, Erik Danielsson replied that calling them Nazis was the only way such people were able to deal with a black wolf entering a "herd of white sheep".

"[52] The band have publicly distanced themselves from, and openly criticised, Antisemitism and far-right ideologies, describing these as "one of the greatest evils that people today know".

To me, it should be quite obvious that we would have been some of the first people to be executed in the Third Reich with the whole idea of the National Socialists being based upon a kingdom of bright-eyed little Aryans, and we are quite honestly the very opposite of that.

"[55] Watain's guitarist Pelle Forsberg was denied entry into the United States when the band arrived to perform with Morbid Angel.

[56] Watain has been known to perform live using candles, pyrotechnics, and, akin to numerous black metal acts, limbs and bones of animal carcasses.

[57][58] The band gained notoriety doing this and even dousing audience members with animal blood (which is part of the normal Watain Ritual) in a show at the Brooklyn Night Bazaar in 2014, reportedly causing some attendees to vomit.

This was authorised by the Info-communications Media Development Authority due to security concerns related to their lyrical content and previous concert events.