Satyricon – Satyricon (2013)

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Five years have passed since Satyricon’s last album, “The Age of Nero”, and people are still not fully over the fact that the band has left their more direct Black Metal style of “Nemesis Divina” back in the closet. For those of you that have kept up with the band’s musical evolution, “Satyricon” is a release that follows the same path and delivers a very unique mixture of Black’n’Roll with strong Black Metal roots and a sick guitar-driven atmosphere. The vocals are Satyr’s signature style, but the music is a bit on the darker and gloomier side, similar to his side project Wongraven, minus the folk-ish elements.

Opening with the instrumental “Voice of Shadows”, we are treated to solid and devilish sounding guitar melodies. As “Tro og Kraft” rolls by, we got a very Storm/Wongraven vibe from how the guitars create melodic passages alongside Satyr’s BM snarls. The drumming is superb, what else can you expect from Frost, and nicely gives the music an aggressive edge, on a slower tempo. Typical Black Metal structures are very evident on “Our World It Rumbles Tonight” but with a certain slower pace, this helps create a very unique and unraveling atmosphere that only a few Black’n’Roll bands manage to achieve.

The powerful “Nocturnal Flare” is a fine example of how Satyr and Frost still deliver powerful BM music, since this track is filled with crushing riffs and excellent speedups, similar to Vreid but a lot darker and less catchy. One of our favorite songs is the creepy “Phoenix”, a track filled with incisive guitars and very cool clean vocals that create a sickening atmosphere. “Walker Upon The Wind” sets up a different pace and unleashes some very furious sections that nicely contrast the previous songs and allow for Satyricon’s true power to shine. On “Nekrohaven” we again have that Norwegian BM vibe with a Punk-ish edge on the drumming, reminding us a bit of more recent Darkthrone.

Mixing both slow passages and furious BM sections, “Ageless Northern Spirit” is a very well balanced track that combines both faces of Satyricon. Our favorite track is the crushing “The Infinity of Time and Space”, a song that has a very dark atmosphere thanks to cool acoustic, nearly Jazzy, interludes that transform the direction of the song quite nicely. In a true Satyricon fashion, the album closes with the pensive “Natt”, a very mellow song that completely morphs into a dramatic BM riffing Doom-esque vibe.

Overall, by sticking to his guns, Satyr and company keep pushing their unique take on Black Metal to the fans. “Satyricon” is quite a solid release that fully unravels itself after more than a few spins. All tracks have solid Black Metal foundations that are taking one step further making their music quite crushing, on their own terms. If you liked the band’s previous releases (in the 2000’s) you will surely enjoy the hell out of this one.

Band: Satyricon Album: Satyricon

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: September 17th, 2013

Oficial Site Social Media

Genre: Black Metal / Black’n’Roll

Country: Norway

Rating: 92/100
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