By: Richard Maw
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 07/09/2018
Label: Metal Blade Records
Satan have produced another fantastic
heavy metal album, packed full of riffs and great songs sung by a wonderful
singer. This should come as no surprise to anyone, though- the devil always did
have the best tunes.
“Cruel Magic” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. Into The Mouth Of
Eternity
2. Cruel Magic
3. The Doomsday Clock
4. Legions Hellbound
5. Ophidian
6. My Prophetic Soul
7. Death Knell For A King
8. Who Among Us
9. Ghosts Of Monongah
10. Mortality
The Review:
Satan are one of the more
revered NWOBHM bands and also, unusually, have gone on to create fantastic
albums since reforming. Both “Life Sentence” and “Atom By Atom” are heavy metal
greatness in recorded form and the band are excellent live. They occupy a
special place in heavy metal heaven, as they define the NWOBHM sound, in terms
of what it should sound like when done absolutely right!
Brian
Ross' vocals have always been a strong selling point of this Newcastle band and, for those unaware, the
city has more metal to offer than Venom alone. This is their third full length
in five years and their return has been welcomed by anyone who ever heard “Court
In The Act” and loved it. Musically, then, the band sit firmly along the Angel
Witch/Di'Anno Maiden era trajectory with hard rock tropes fitting
nicely alongside the metal on offer throughout.
The
initial fast pacing of “Into the Mouth
of Eternity” sets the album roaring out of the gate and by the time a
cowbell crops up in the title track, you know what you are getting: heavy
metal. Resolutely old school heavy metal of the highest quality. It says a lot
about the times we find ourselves in when I am surprised to not find
doom-inflections in Satan's latest offering. This is not doom, or
thrash or any other sub genre currently in favour. It is traditional heavy
metal, that's it.
Most
tracks are pacey, of course- “The
Doomsday Clock” is rapid, but possessed of fleet-footedness a la Maiden's
“Killers” album rather than the leaden foot of retro thrash. Elsewhere the
riffs come fast, “Legions Hellbound”
is heavy metal heaven for those listeners out there who either were at The
Marquee in 1980 or wished they had been.
The
weighty “Ophidian” is a change of
pace and brings into focus the fact that the band have opted for the
traditional ten track format here. That is absolutely the right move as all
songs are focused and tight, devoid of filler and don't stretch beyond the six
minute mark. That is not to say that they don't sound epic though, as they
often do. Satan
have mirrored the trick that Maiden used to do so well, which is to pack in
an entire theme into a relatively short space of time and capture the essence
of the subject matter (for Maiden, think “The Trooper”). “My Prophetic
Soul” sounds like an epic track with its anguish and multiple changes but
it packs it all into only four and a half minutes.
Down
the backstretch, the album is no less metal, no less accomplished and features
material delivered with absolute conviction. “Death Knell For A King” is heavy metal writ large and classic-
fantastic track. “Who Among Us” is
larger in scale and quintessentially British in its metallic delivery. “Ghosts of Monongah” is another winner; Priest-esque
chugging combines with Priest-esque guitar work in general. Excellent
stuff.
By
the time of closing epic “Mortality”
there is no doubt that the band have done it again: Satan have produced another
fantastic heavy metal album, packed full of riffs, leads, frenetic bass
playing, drums that don't just consist of frantic double kicks and great songs
sung by a wonderful singer. This should come as no surprise to anyone, though-
the devil always did have the best tunes.
“Cruel
Magic” is available here
