By: John Reppion
Album Type: Split LP
Date Released: 16/02/2018
Label: Relapse Records
This is two bands at the top of their game, producing some of their
finest work to date
“Windhand & Satan’s Satyrs Split” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Windhand – “Old Evil”
2). Windhand – “Three Sisters”
3). Satan’s Satyrs – “Alucard AD 2018”
4). Satan’s Satyrs – “Succubus”
5). Satan’s Satyrs – “Ain’t That Lovin’ You, Baby”
The Review:
I was lucky enough to catch Windhand and Satan's Satyrs playing
together when they toured the UK at the end of 2017. At the time I didn't quite
see the kinship between the two bands, but thanks
to this new Relapse
Records split release, the connection is now somewhat clearer
to me.
On first listen Windhand’s opener, “Old Evil”, sounds
like a track straight off of “Griefs Infernal Flower” (and
that’s definitely no bad thing). Further plays however, reward the listener
with something that’s actually a few degrees heavier, and tighter than the
content of the 2015 album. Essentially it’s like the most Windhand that Windhand have ever
been; they are well and truly on point here. “Three Sisters” is built around
one simple and massive riff, with added keyboard gloom courtesy of
Jonathan Kassilow (of Sinister Haze and former Windhand Split-buddies Cough). The track is
staggeringly doomy: lumbering and powerful and miserable, and pretty
fucking wonderful overall.
“Alucard A.D.” starts
things off on the Satan’s
Satyrs half of the record, and it does so in heavy style. Now
previously, thanks to their 2015 album “Don’t Deliver Us”, I
thought of Satan’s
Satyrs as a kind of Glam Punk retro rock kind of band, but
that’s not what they sound like here. This is juicy, juicy stuff which reminds
more than a little of Electric
Wizard’s “We, The Undead”, in the best
possible way.
“Succubus” follows on
wonderfully well with a main riff that’s both doomy and kind of cheeky and
funny. There’s more than a hint of NWOBHM in the guitar work, and the whole
thing just slots together in such a way that, even after several listens, still
hasn’t failed to put a smile on my face. Closer “Aint That Lovin’ You Baby” is
much more in line with my previous expectations with regard to Satan’s Satyrs. It’s a
sleazy 12 bar blues that clicks into double-time half way through before going
down in a blaze of Cock Rock guitar solos. Claythanas'/Clayton
Burgess' shout of “thank you, goodnight!” is all that’s really
missing from the end of this obvious set-closer.
Sometimes these split EPs can feel a bit like filler
between “proper” releases; songs that didn’t make it on to the main record, or
versions of some work in progress that’s not yet quite come together. That is
definitely not the case with this Windhand / Satan's Satyrs release however. This is
two bands at the top of their game, producing some of their finest work to
date. So much so in the case of Satan's Satyrs that
I’m really regretting missing the beginning of their
set back in October.
“Windhand & Satan’s Satyrs Split” is available here
Band
info: Windhand || Satan’s Satyrs
