Out of the Dark was recorded in the autumn months of late 2023 with engineer Sasha Stroud at Artifact Audio in Maspeth, Queens, New York. The Watcher went to great lengths to ensure that the songs worked within the context of the album format with an organic flow of ideas and intentional peaks and valleys to ensure listener engagement. As a result, Out of the Dark expands on what The Watcher started on Your Turn to Die. From urgent, heads-down 'bangers to festival-ready chorus all the way to the climatic closing track, Thy Blade, Thy Blood, the band's growth is readily apparent. The album artwork was created by Austin, Texas-based artist Burney, who crossed paths with Furst in early 2024. Furst wanted a cover that was dark but was also representative of the overarching themes and concepts of the songs that detail the human journey through a doomed world and the struggles humankind faces. Burney captured exactly that--in Furst's estimation, the cover creates an evocative mood that is reminiscent of the many classical artists that he takes inspiration from. The Watcher will be gigging around the East Coast and parts of Canada in support of Out of the Dark (ex-Malleus guitarist Nelson Ribas and Demon Chrome guitarist Dylan Kulpa have since completed The Watcher's live lineup.) More importantly, the band hopes to arrive on European shores sometime in the near future. For the present, though, Out of the Dark emerges as a compelling LP that unifies classic metal and the darkness of doom, fortified through the spirit of three metallic diehards who never say die.
