SATAN’S HOST set the bar very high with their previous effort "Burning The Born Again (A New Philosophy)" and how deep my faith in them can be, I was nevertheless anxious to hear if their new record could live up my great expectations. Fortunately, SATAN’S HOST did it again, releasing an album gigantic in musical genius. On "Satanic Grimoire" the band reaches titanic highs in term of song crafting and musical mastery. Believe me, this album is HUGE. First the sound is a vast improvement from the already great achievements SATAN’S HOST obtained previously, the production courtesy of Dave Otero is awesome to say the least, so much it is clear, dynamic and powerful. But that is not enough to guarantee a great album. The songs have to follow, no matter what. Fear not, "Satanic Grimoire" is gorged of fantastic riffs and ideas, delivered by so much passion they become instant classics. More frankly Black Metal now than before, SATAN’S HOST still explore well known forms of music and refresh them, applying to them their secret formula. Like King Midas, SATAN’S HOST transform everything they touch into gold. I know for a fact these warriors of Hell are fans of the most famous European Black Metal bands, but instead of trying to copy them they give their own interpretation of this music, forging their original style mixing all the forms of Heavy Metal subgenres. Once again the musical performance of all the musicians is breathtaking to say the least. Eli Elixir imposes himself as the very best extreme singer on the planet (I am not afraid to write this as I did before), all the lyrics are delivered with clarity and passion, with an unbelievable power, it has to be heard to fully realize the supernatural effect these vocal lines offer! Mere words cannot transcribe this properly I can tell you (especially in a time polluted by easy and false enthusiasms). When it comes to guitarist Patrick "Satan" Evil, well, it is not everyday you will hear a guitarist of more than 20 years of experience playing updated Black Metal. Patrick surpasses himself here; he gives all he can, without any restraint, like if his life depends on it, adding a lot of drama to the songs. He mixes extreme finesse (being not afraid to play an almost lullaby song) with insane brutality, his guitar then becoming a butchering axe in the most literal sense. Drummer Pete 3 Wicked explores here all the possibilities of his kit, from blast beats to thrashing rides, always enriching the music with unexpected fills and rolls, he reminds me of Sir Prosciptor McGovern on more than one occasion, need I say more? "Satanic Grimoire", to give you a faint idea of its content, could have been the Black Metal album KING DIAMOND (the band) could have composed, because of the complex structures of the songs, the variety of atmospheres (some spoken and screamed invocations are included to punctuate the album, they always reach cyclonic proportions, so much the vocals are powerful). In fact the album is so rich music wise that one has to listen to it numerous times to catch it in all its details, to in the end find out it betters with each additional hearing. The version I own is self-issued by the band, so I don’t know what the final form (I mean licensed, because I have no doubt this masterpiece will find its public all over the globe) will be, two tracks are listed as extras (no fillers!). SATAN’S HOST deserve all the success possible and above deserve your support. Don’t fail to visit their site: www.satanshost.com for tons of info and above all mp3 of the new album that will give proof enough to validate my enthusiastic review. This is what I call Metal. I am happy SATAN’S HOST exist.

This is one of those very few bands that went on from playing Power / Speed Metal to a brutal Black / Death Metal. This is actually their 4th recording in the new style, and if you have not heard them before, I suggest you to do it now. I have their last CD around "Burning The Born Again", besides some other previous recordings too (with their new style) and few things have changed. They still play a guitar driven form of Black / Death Metal, comparable to newer BEHEMOTH or early MORBID ANGEL, with sometimes quite long songs, and a good variation of speed. Still, I feel that the songs tend to be longer than what they really need to be, and sometimes, the mid-tempo speed they at time abuse, make things sound similar. Patrick Evil is still a very accomplished guitar player, and once in a while his terrific riffs are sure enough to catch your attention with his Heavy Metal sound, and Eli Elixir’s vocals are also very powerful and quite good. They are also cursed with a great heavy production. Probably if they choose to arrange the order of the songs in other way, it will be more interesting, and without a doubt they need to do them shorter; sometimes after a monster riff, they sound like they don’t know what to do to make the song longer and they lost a bit of momentum. I still think that the band has not shown us what they can be really capable of. They have the riffs there, they can execute the music pretty tight, yet they have to be more direct. It is obvious that bands like SLAYER and MERCYFUL FATE are their influences, more so than more modern bands, so if they keep it straight to the point, do shorter songs and use a bit more of speed, they can kill without mercy. As it is, it is above average, and I suggest you to check them out. I am sure, that within time, they will deliver the monster album they are capable. So far a new album is on the way, so I will keep an evil eye watching for that one. www.moribundcult.com