Author: Sebastijan Videc
Artist: Satyricon
Label: Roadrunner Records
Release: numbers
Length: 51:22
Rating: 3.5/5
Norway is famous as the homeland of black metal, and one of the bands that left a huge mark on the genre in the nineties is Satyricon. Five years! We had to wait five whole years for new music from the Norwegian duo, but sadly the arrival of the self-titled album leaves a bitter aftertaste – like they’ve lost their helmsman. It feels like the once mighty hellish beast from the cold far north is slowly going gap-toothed and dull-fanged. The fact that their fan base shrinks with every new album isn’t something to shrug off either, and I’m convinced this one will make even more of them turn their backs.
For the first time in their career, Satyr and Frost open an album with an actual intro track, the oriental-sounding Voice of Shadows. Despite some interesting melodics, the good two and a half minutes of it get repetitive and boring fast. Sadly, it spills straight into Tro og Kraft, which is nothing more than a dull continuation of that (too) long intro – ironic, considering the title translates as »Hope and Strength«, and there’s precious little of either here. Our world, it rumbles tonight suffers from similar problems, and waiting for a payoff and a crushing wave is in vain – the keyboards here and there at least partly save the atmosphere. For anyone who hasn’t given up on the album yet, Nocturnal Flare will fix the taste in your mouth. It still suffers from repetition, but a faster rhythm, melodic riffs and a lovely instrumental section with a solo in the middle bail it out.
Next comes the album’s biggest surprise – Phoenix. Clean vocals aren’t exactly common in black metal, and to be honest, this song doesn’t really feel black metal at all. The vocals for this bit of poetry were lent by Sivert Høyem (Madrugada), and stylistically I’d sooner file it under Nick Cave or Johnny Cash than Satyricon. Walker Upon the Wind kicks in out of nowhere, and comparisons with Nemesas Divina aren’t off the mark, while Nekrohaven may not hold a wild pace, but spoils us with melodies and riffs that will have heads banging on the upcoming tour. Satyricon fans will also recognize in it a likeness to the older hit Fuel for hatred. The hard and fast Ageless Northern Spirit is followed by the epic, almost eight-minute The Infinity of Time and Space. A mix of fast Frost fills, Satyr’s growling, slow, almost gothic passages and recitals in between really demands your total devotion if you want to enjoy this masterpiece. The album wraps up with Natt, an instrumental of almost four minutes that closes the record melodically – and, you could say, its second half too.
Listening to Satyricon gave me the feeling that Satyr and Frost simply don’t care what anyone else thinks. And fair enough, but I can’t shake the feeling that they stick too closely to the established Black’n’Roll style of the previous three records and experiment too little. Phoenix and The Infinity prove the opposite here, but most people will wish for even more. I also find the track order interesting, since it seems flipped from the usual, with the punchier songs sitting in the second half, which only confirms the »we don’t care« attitude. Before the release, Satyr said in an interview that the album was recorded entirely analog with no additional processing on the sound; true or not, the production is excellent, whether in the slow grooves full of warm bass or in the faster tracks. Satyricon is a record you’ll either like or you won’t, but it’ll take quite a few spins to get under your skin.
Lineup
Satyr (Sigurd Wongraven) – vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards
Frost (Kjetil-Vidar Haraldstad) – drums
Production
Satyr
Tracklist
01. Voice Of Shadows
02. Tro Og Kraft
03. Our World, It Rumbles Tonight
04. Nocturnal Flare
05. Phoenix
06. Walker Upon The Wind
07. Nekrohaven
08. Ageless Northern Spirit
09. The Infinity Of Time And Space
10. Natt
