VON - Satanic Blood Angel review
| Band: | VON |
| Album: | Satanic Blood Angel |
| Style: | Black metal |
| Release date: | February 08, 2003 |
| Guest review by: | Zombie, M.D. |
Disc I
01. Devil Pig
02. Veinen
03. Watain
04. Lamb
05. Veadtuck
06. Satanic Blood
07. Christ Fire
08. VON
09. Evisc
10. Release
11. Blood Angel
12. Chalice Of Blood
13. Vennt
14. Backskin
Disc II
01. Veinen [live]
02. Watain [live]
03. Lamb [live]
04. Evisc [live]
05. Release [live]
06. Satanic Blood [live]
07. Veadtuck [live]
08. Chalice Of Blood [live]
09. Goat Christ [live]
10. Vennt [live]
11. Dissection Inhuman
12. VON
I guess first I should start with a little history about Von. Von, formed in 1987, were quite possibly the very first black metal band in the Unitied States. While the band was most likely just a side-project which was not meant to be taken seriously, they have certainly left their mark on Black Metal, laying down the foundation for bands like Beherit, Ildjarn, Dark Funeral, Domini Inferi, Haat and countless others. Von are very much shrouded in mystery, the only member who is known outside of his stage name is Joe Allen (known as Kill, the bands bassist) and that is because he is a member of the death metal band Abscess.
This album is a compilation of the two demos, Satanic Blood and Blood Angel and also contains some live tracks. I must give warning, if you are a fan of Symphonic Black Metal or anything with the slightest bit of technicality, this band is NOT for you. Von is primitivity at its finest (or ugliest, depends on how you look at it)
The atmosphere Von creates is most unique and haunting. There are rarely more than a couple of riffs in a song. The guitars create a very hypnotic, droning, and almost ritualistic feel. The vocals are pretty unique also, a deep, bellowing, bark that echoes, it is how I would imagine Satan to sound. Sometimes they use a clean chant/echo (listen to the song Veinen) which sounds very eerie, like a ghost. The drumming is pretty monotonous, but that is commonplace in black metal, it is nothing extraordinary, but I could not imagine any other style of drumming that would fit the music. The blast beats just constantly are pummelling you in the face. The tempo, which is usually a constant onslaught of blast beats and chainsaw guitars, rarely changes.
The lyrics are one of my favorite parts. I'm sure most people will just see them as cheesy and overly evil, but to me they just seem very mysterious and cryptic (admittedly, some of the lyrics are goofy). The song names are equally mysterious, with name like "Veinen", "Watain", "Veadtuck", it just adds to the mystique that surrounds Von. The lyrics sound like they are straight out of some sort of dark ritual much of the time, which fits the music perfectly. They are kept very simple, with the exception of a couple of tracks. Here is an excerpt from the song Devil Pig to give you an idea of what the lyrics are like, "Shine tusk/Blood horns/Pentagram brand/Red screen".
I rate this album, Satanic Blood, 9.5/10. The reasoning behind it not getting a perfect rating is that the sound quality, though fitting, is kind of hard to swallow. I would recommend this album to any fan of old school black metal, or anyone who appreciates simplicity in music.
Guest review disclaimer:
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
This is a guest review, which means it does not necessarily represent the point of view of the MS Staff.
Comments
Comments: 28
Visited by: 69 users
| Slayer666 Posts: 2466  |
Pfft. a bunch of posers with lame music. The riffs suck serious balls, and you can't even hear them through the even shitier vocals... This is just a bunch of dudes who think that continous guitar string-fucking, combined with growling "SATAN" all the time is cool. That atmosphere you mention.... pretty non-exsistant. It's bands like Von that give Black Metal a bad name, and make this brilliant genre a quite often laughing stock of.... pretty much everyone.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439  |
Written by Slayer666 on 27.05.2009 at 12:23 Even though I don't like them either I see the "poser" comment to be completely baseless specially because of their influence in USA. Because this stuff is from the beginnings of Black Metal, of course the stuff is simple and completely over-satanic like most of the bands at the time... Also, I don't see why this band gives black emtal a bad name since it's not like it's friggin famous or anything. Most of the bands that gives Black Metal a bad name are the well known ones! 
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120  |
If I were to rate this release, I'd have to split the rating into 2 categories. As for influential aspect, it does get at least a 9, but as for music, you can't even say it's simplistic. It's sloppy, amateurish and simply bad. I don't care how many bands drew from Von's legacy. I'm just happy that most of them did a much better job while writing their own material. So 9 for influence, 3 for music. Von is the musical equivalent of classic writers such as Henry James or Jane Austen - I respect them, I know their works, but I don't want to read them again.
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| vezzy Stallmanite Posts: 3493  |
VON can be considered well-known (probably not as much as Immortal or Mayhem, but w/e), since Varg did unofficially promote them. (Victory Orgasm Nazis, rofl) That said, I'm not sure if this was a serious band, no one knows for sure and Goat vanished years ago from the public eye (as far as "public eye" gets in this case). Don't know if Von Music Group is legit, probably not. (seriously, a deal with WMG?...)
---- Licensed under the GPLv3. Relinquish proprietary software for a greater GNU/America.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Daniell on 10.11.2010 at 14:12 Exactly, I completely agree, their music indeed suck balls but saying that they are posers or give black metal a bad name is imo completely out of place.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Slayer666 Posts: 2466 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 08.11.2010 at 22:24 This post was written quite a while back, when I was pretty much clueless about BM origins and such. So, the stupidity of that post of mine can be contributed to lack of experience and knowledge on my part at the time. Of course, I still think they suck, but other than that, consider everything in that post non-existent.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Von played live witth Watain in England earlier this year and apparently were even worse live. And yes I agree with the rest that their music sucks big time.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by [user id=5630] on 13.05.2012 at 21:46 [/blogwhoring] Nah, just kidding... While I don't really like their stuff... Von being a huge influence to many now classic bands is undeniable.  So giving the credit to Varg's tshirt only works as a funny comment...Just like Daniel said, if we gave ratings based on history and music impact, Von should get at least a 9, simple as that. As for the music content that's when it's up to you.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| BreadGod Account deleted |
BreadGod
Account deleted Written by X-Ray Rod on 13.05.2012 at 22:44 Well, that's the thing though. Von is one of those bands where the descendents are better than the original. I absolutely despise Von, but I adore Watain.
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by [user id=5630] on 13.05.2012 at 23:24 I don't see the point in hating a band just because of that, feels like an empty and pointless reason. I don't like their music and do think the descendetns are better but I respect what they have done. This is not the first and certainly not the last case this has happened in the history of music.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
Von. Another band that sucked ass, but inspired a lot of good bands. And no, I don't mean the production, but the extremely bad songwriting
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Daniell on 15.05.2012 at 09:37 Exactly just like Venom and Hellhammer.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.05.2012 at 10:17 Let's add a few more overrated pioneers, and we're sure to draw a flock of outraged fans My turn: early Bathory, say 2 first albums, is also very bad.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Daniell on 15.05.2012 at 10:33 Totally agreed on Bathory, who even started off as a pure Venom rip off on Scandinavian Metal Attack. Btw also Celtic Frost I deem quite bad and overrated, but then again they are a continuation fo the even worse Hellhammer. Sodom and Kreator and Destruction very ealr on extremely crap as well yet influential.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.05.2012 at 10:46 What day is it today that we agree all the time The first decent Sodom album is Persecution Mania, everything before is among the worst music ever recorded. Especially Obsessed By Cruelty stinks to high heavens. Kreator's Endless Pain is a sloppy display of amateurish crap. Even Pleasure to Kill is mediocre at best and I have no clue why people love it so much. The first good Kreator album is Terrible Certainty. Destruction is the only band I will disagree with you about. Infernal Overkill is a very good release. What made Destruction stand out among the terrible mass of early teutonic thrash was their riffs - really good, bordering on excellent. Invincible Force, Bestial Invasion, The Ritual - these songs are great in my opinion.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Daniell on 15.05.2012 at 13:00 The day hell freezes over
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.05.2012 at 13:18 I'm now expecting you to agree with Joe this whole day.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 15.05.2012 at 13:20 If that happens as well, you''d better run for true cover. But I do agree with him on Baroness sounding like Nickelback on the new song and Evoken totally aren''t grim (so there I disagree with Daniell)
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 15.05.2012 at 13:22 That's true... But if I see you guys agreeing with genre categorization involving vocals (or not?)... I'm getting the fuck out of here since Armaggedon is about to come.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
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| X-Ray Rod Skandino Staff Posts: 18439 |
Written by Daniell on 15.05.2012 at 13:26 I like it but Hell Awaits is Slayer best albums hands down.
---- Written by BloodTears on 19.08.2011 at 18:29 Written by Milena on 20.06.2012 at 10:49
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by X-Ray Rod on 15.05.2012 at 13:24
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Okay we had enough off topic fun now back on topic and let people talk about this shitty band.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Daniell _爱情_ Elite Posts: 6120 |
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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