Satan's Host - Satanic Grimoire: A Greater Black Magick review
Band: | Satan's Host |
Album: | Satanic Grimoire: A Greater Black Magick |
Release date: | June 2006 |
01. World Wide 9... The Calling
02. Necromantic Art
03. 666... Mega Therion
04. Satanic Grimoire
05. Black Magick
06. Chameleon Of Witchery
07. Incantations Vibrating From Shadow Demons
08. Metal From Hell... 22nd Century
09. My Will, My Law: Evil
10. Lesser Keys
11. Evoking Asmoday
12. 418
13. Infernal Calling
Satan's Host used to be the Power Metal side project from Jag Panzer vocalist Harry Conklin. After two full-lengths they decided to call it quits, however, they reformed in the late 90's. And lo and behold, no more Power Metal for the now unholy trinity. Black/Death is the new name of the game (possibly because Conklin was no longer a part of the line-up, but in any case, such transitions should be supported, not questioned).
"Satanic Grimoire: A Greater Black Magick" still has some influences from their Power days. For example, the wizard on the cover could have fitted perfectly on a Hammerfall album, if he'd only be a little brighter and a bit more muscular. This actually applies to the entire image of the band: cheesy beyond words. From the cult spelling of the word "magick" to songtitles such as "My Will, My Law: Evil" or "Incantations Vibrating From Shadow Demons", there is enough cheese to feed the entire continent Africa.
The music is actually not as bad as the past two paragraphs might imply. What we have here is simple, melodic Black Metal with an occasional lower-pitched growl, which gives the music a slight edge of brutality. Otherwise, the regular vocals are a tad too weak, as if the vocalist is constantly running out of breath. This gives them a slightly annoying whisper-effect, which was probably not intended. Riffwise they reside mostly in Black territory, albeit they sometimes crank up their bass a bit, empowering the overall sound.
All in all this release is quite decent. Nothing groundbreaking or unique, just an album that will get its occasional spin in the routine of the avid Black/Death fan. What I fear will do this album no good is that it is neither completely Black nor Death, and neither completely brutal nor melodic. Fans of this band will see it as their main strength, a multicultural experience. I do not. It would be my advice to either come up with a much stronger vision, or to pick a more definite direction. Otherwise, quite decent.
| Written on 24.03.2008 by If you're interested in extreme, often emotional and underground music, check out my reviews. I retired from reviewing, but I really used to be into that stuff. |
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