release date: September 7, 2018
label: Metal Blade Records
production: Satan, Dave Curle & Dario Mollo
album length: 49:46
rating: 10/10
If anyone stands behind their deeds after more than 30 years in the game, we can say it without a second thought about the cult British N.W.O.B.H.M. heavyweights Satan! With “Cruel Magic” they’ve once again passed every test of time and songwriting creativity. No sugarcoating, straight up: “With the highest honors.”
Satan are contemporaries of Iron Maiden, but lately it’s Iron Maiden (drunk on all that commercial gigantism) who could stand to learn a thing or two from them. Even in their mature years, Satan remain exceptional old-school metal scoffers who bow to nobody, don’t swear by even a pinch of production kitsch or recording-tech progress, and sound on their new albums like it’s 1981, not 2018! As analog as it gets.
Satan remain complete rebels. The most authentic reflection of the old-school British heavy metal creed, teleported from 1977 straight into the present! “Cruel Magic” is loaded with venom, wrath, evil, too! A heap of post-apocalyptic visions and lyrics steeped in the occult, witchcraft, and the personal downfall of the individual. Brian Ross’s soulful, lived-in delivery of the verses fuses and clicks incredibly well with the cataclysmic look of the lead phrasing structures and transitional ornaments, in short with the very structure of the compositions. Brian Ross keeps his remarkable vocal explosiveness, incredible power, and range! When he tackles the highest registers and screams, he nails them with piercing conviction. The penetrating, charismatic, instantly recognizable vocal output of this legendary singer, also very well known to Blitzkrieg fans, remains one of the most striking trademarks of Satan’s music.
“Cruel Magic” follows the expressive charisma of its outstanding predecessor “Atom By Atom”, which was said to be a very tough act for any new Satan album to top, if one ever came out. With a run of concerts in this new era, Satan also confirm that this is a band that’s incredibly experienced and focused, a group in which the energy currents between the members work phenomenally. We experienced it firsthand when we caught them in 2016 at the Bang Your Head festival, as well as at Metaldays (the same year). That tremendous good vibe, excellent stage form, and highly inspired creativity were carried over by the guys very effectively from “Atom By Atom” to the new album “Cruel Magic.”
This one is a bit more complicated in its compositional structures, we could say more variably structured, and it even feels slightly more pompous, though it’s saturated throughout with a distinctly dark, post-apocalyptic atmosphere (Ophidian). In 2018, Satan keep the typical British production of the late-’70s punk era alive. The drums sound deliberately boxy (that snare), Satan flat-out don’t recognize the existence of double bass drums, and the riffs run dirty and bite like rabid pit bulls. Full of exceptional sharpness and rawness. The two guitarists share outstanding solo duels, often skillfully complementing each other through ornamental passages in harmonized thirds, and they tear many phrases apart (at hellish speed). A classic. A perfect N.W.O.B.H.M. classic.
When you compare Satan’s music today with their still-active generational contemporaries like Tygers of Pan Tang, C loven Hoof, Overdrive, Blitzkrieg, Weapon UK, and Diamond Head, it’s no exaggeration to conclude, after listening to the latest records from these bands back to back, that of all of them Satan have carried the primordial rage of N.W.O.B.H.M. rebellion over to their newest work in the most authentic and unsullied way! The opening Into the Mouth of Eternity can immediately hand you the source code of metal pioneering in classic N.W.O.B.H.M. riffage, the stuff that, say, Metallica fed on creatively and drew inspiration from when they were taking their first steps into the world of metal and starting to piece together their first riffs.
“Cruel Magic” is an album you can’t get tired of, it’s that honest and real. In everything it delivers. Full of great insight in its guitar phrasing, which reaches big variety within the songs. There’s a heap of witty passages confirming the band’s remarkable flexibility in performance and arrangement, and the cohesion between all the building blocks of their sound. “Cruel Magic” is an album you can only bow to with the following “note to self”: “Listen and learn!” Satan aren’t running out of dynamite, and let’s hope this magic, wonderful in all its holy, ritualistic cruelty, keeps this legendary band on its feet and running!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
track list:
01. Into The Mouth Of Eternity
02. Cruel Magic
03. The Doomsday Clock
04. Legions Hellbound
05. Ophidian
06. My Prophetic Soul
07. Death Knell For A King
08. Who Among Us
09. Ghosts Of Monongah
10. Mortality
line-up:
Brian Ross – vocals
Russ Tippins – guitar
Steve Ramsey – guitar
Graeme English – bass
Sean Taylor – drums
