Satyricon - Deep Calleth Upon Deep review
| Band: | Satyricon |
| Album: | Deep Calleth Upon Deep |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | September 22, 2017 |
| A review by: | nikarg |
01. Midnight Serpent
02. Blood Cracks Open The Ground
03. To Your Brethren In The Dark
04. Deep Calleth Upon Deep
05. The Ghost Of Rome
06. Dissonant
07. Black Wings And Withering Gloom
08. Burial Rite
When Satyricon revealed the title track of their new album, Deep Calleth Upon Deep, Satyr advised to "consider it a journey, play it loud, close your eyes and head into the forest". But how on earth does one find a forest in the capital of a hot Mediterranean country?
Being not a Nordic person and living in Athens does not provide the best environmental conditions for a Satyricon album. However, I often go running up a green hill right next to the Acropolis hill and when I reach the top of it, I always pause for a moment and enjoy the view of the Parthenon and the entire city built around it. During the last few weeks, I've been doing this with Deep Calleth Upon Deep playing loud through my earbuds. Although the setting is not exactly a Norwegian forest and right now the temperature is about 27°C, it still had to make do for the purpose of this review.
If black metal was architecture, Satyricon would perhaps be the Parthenon. The (un)holy trinity of their albums in the 1990's stands out as a splendid exhibition of the genre at its zenith. Nonetheless, no one in their right mind would expect the band to come up with another Nemesis Divina either in terms of style or quality-wise. And they didn't because that train left the station a couple of decades ago.
The duo chose to go for an album representing their whole discography instead. All songs are individual and different from each other, blending the dark and eerie atmosphere of the earlier works with the more modern black 'n' roll era. Deep Calleth Upon Deep is submerged in emotion, with Satyr's sardonic melodies unfolding over Frost's iconic and unparalleled drumming. The drama and tension is emphasized by the use of brass instruments, as well as cello, violin and operatic backing vocals and, surprisingly enough, there is room for all that provided by a natural and organic production.
The slow-paced, melancholic dance of "To Your Brethren In The Dark", the "Now, Diabolical"-like catchiness of the title track's chorus, the melodic explosion of "The Ghost Of Rome" and the progressive black metal masterpiece, entitled "Black Wings And Withering Gloom", make an immediate impression. The remaining tracks don't fall too far behind and, given Satyr's recent serious health issues and the band's not-so-spectacular latest releases, Deep Calleth Upon Deep is a pleasant surprise.
Returning to the third paragraph, many modern buildings have been constructed to evoke people's admiration and, in a similar framework, black metal, being an ever-evolving genre, has offered us a plethora of new bands that push the limits and create astonishing music. Satyricon though, just like the Parthenon, is still around standing proudly as a monument of how it all commenced and will always have a special place in history. Even more so, with a release like this Satyricon manage to stay relevant, refusing to rest on their laurels.
"Just like the fire burns on the hillsides north,
You will tear the skies and we will never die?"
 | Written on 12.10.2017 by Only way to feel the noise is when it's good and loud! |
Comments
Comments: 13
Visited by: 206 users
| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6100  |
I don't think Frost's drumming is unparalleled. There are quite a few great drummers in metal. He isn't even the best of them. He is damn good, but not the best.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345  |
Written by Daniell on 12.10.2017 at 15:26 Maybe bad choice of word. By "unparalleled" I wanted to mean "unique" or "instantly recognizable". Of course he's not the best, but great nonetheless. How do you like the album btw?
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6100 |
I think it deserves an 8. It's solid, mature, varied and engaging. It's Satyricon's best since Volcano. Not even close to their masterpiece, Rebel Extravaganza, but still, so many albums in their career, Satyricon is very strong, and further developing. I was thinking of writing a review too, but since you did such a fine job, I'll not do that 
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| flightoficarus Stamp Tramp Posts: 1116  |
This album is soooo booooooooring
---- Daily underground metal recommendations at Metal Trenches. Watch metal content on the Metal Trenches YouTube Channel.
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| Bad English Tage Westerlund Posts: 62004  |
I like way how you talk about nature, even somehow someone don't like when I talk about it in MS, but well old BM bands are inspired from it and its truth in BM. Yes as Atenas freak you cant imagine what winter can be there, and Columbian band singing about might winter, makes me laugh. Album us boring, I did not like it, tthere are many better BM acts nowadays whaty keeps old sound alive, this was boring, but keep writing soon you will beat legendary greek in MS and his reviews, more metaphors.
---- I stand whit Ukraine and Israel. They have right to defend own citizens. Stormtroopers of Death - "Speak English or Die"  I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086  |
The opener is the only solid track on this album. The review seems to be parallel with what the album really is like, another Satyricon snooze fest dating back to The Age of Nero album. Skip this kids.
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Written by Daniell on 12.10.2017 at 20:22 Agree with all points except the Rebel Extravaganza part 
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| nikarg Staff Posts: 7345 |
Written by Bad English on 13.10.2017 at 03:51 Black metal is my favourite genre and it goes better with winter even though we don't get a lot of it here. Some people, including you, found the album boring which surprises me because I found it to be quite diverse. Thanks for the good words.
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6100 |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 13.10.2017 at 10:42 No kid, you don't tell others to skip it. they should give it a chance. And they should give you a wide berth for calling them kids.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by Daniell on 13.10.2017 at 12:13 Ok kid. But rather than giving a chance to snooze fests, maybe they should just, idk, skip it and turn to old Satyricon albums when Satyr et co. weren't lazy and were not lacking in creativity? An album every 4 years and boring every single time. The style is nice, the vocals are great, the production is good, but with a song-writing this boring, is like dining in a fancy restaurant with shitty food. Satyricon just releases one boring album after another one, for continuity's sake and that's it. But ok, lets give it a change, maybe 3-4, or 5, being the number of spins I gave to this album before realizing that it is another hack. Although if you plan to be a fan of this band, and you start with this album, then I can't be blamed that people will consider this boring, although it rightfully is nowadays.
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| VforIAmAVagina Posts: 56  |
Great review for another fascinating work of Satyricon. People who got stuck in old era of stupid raw black metal makes me vomiting though. Anyway, shouldn't waste time for these oldies whining all the time past was good and etc. Enjoy another masterpiece of Styricon
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| Marchosias Posts: 44  |
Written by TheMAGAmvm on 14.10.2017 at 00:05 To my ears it did not appear to be a hack, Its just a decent record from Satyricon in the direction of " Black'n roll " style they have adopted. Nice additions to this style such as the correct usage of outside elements in the form of operatic vocals and other instruments as well as changes of guitar tones and melodies got me. It felt like these changes and the haunting atmosphere made the record stand out from its recent predecessors. However if you were looking for a sharp return to the first records of the band. Sir you are delusional !
---- A mediocre metalhead.
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| TheMAGAmvm Soycrusher Posts: 1086 |
Written by Marchosias on 30.01.2018 at 12:54 It kinds is a hack, really. The additions are minimal, and do not influence the music as much as Satyr would like. The songwriting is like copy pasted from the past 2 albums. Not looking to a sharp return to the sound of the first 3 records, but I would appreciate the raw thrashy sound of Now, Diabolical. This kind of style is very boring, stale, derivative and by the numbers.
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