The New Wave of British Heavy Metal was easily one of the
greatest musical movements of all time. It was the most important step in the
transition from the hard rock and early heavy metal of the 1970’s to what we
know today. Through my historical revisionist perspective, however, I can
identify one huge flaw with this movement: it was too obscure. With the
exception of a handful of bands, you’ll rarely hear about greats from this era,
and their music is extremely difficult to find. It is for this reason that I am
only now getting to hear Satan for the first time (and they really aren't even that obscure relative to other bands in the movement). Their comeback record “Life
Sentence” literally made my jaw drop from beginning to end.
As soon as this album opens you’ll notice how skilled the
guitar plays are. “Time To Die” is a great example of how guitarwork can be
technical without sounding like a Malmsteen clone. Adding in leads underneath
the verses also helps to break the simplicity of a standard song structure. As
you progress through “Life Sentence”, the shredtastic theme continues. This
record reminds me a lot of albums like Kill ‘em All, or any number of Saxon or
Black Sabbath albums because the guitarists are completely unhinged. It truly
feels like it’s 1983 when you are listening to this. Perhaps my favourite part of this record is that, if listening with headphones, you can clearly hear how each guitar is recorded. Both guitars have a slightly different tone, and it is very reminiscent of the way things were done in the 80's. That nostalgic feel is
aided by the old-school production. “Life Sentence” isn’t overbearingly loud, and
the guitars don’t sound mechanical. It’s very clear that the band spent a lot
of time working on getting the ideal tones for their guitars, and it compliments the riffs perfectly. Aside
from the guitars, I really enjoyed the vocals of Brian Ross. He tends to stay
in an upper-mid range, but his voice has a lot of character. Ross’ singing tone
lends itself to that feel of impending dread. This is most noticeable on “Twenty
Twenty Five”, but his performance is solid on every track. In terms of
songwriting, Satan does an excellent job of making each track different. After
the first listen, I can assure you that at the least, a couple of songs will
stick with you. None of these songs stand out in a bad way, so it will mostly
come down to which melodies and riffs interest you most. For me, those happen
to be on “Time To Die”, “Twenty Twenty Five”, and the charging “Siege Mentality”, but you
can’t go wrong with any of these songs.
“Life Sentence” is one of the most surprising records of the
year. Satan was always a band I planned to hear eventually, but this record is
proof that I should have listened to them earlier. “Life Sentence” is an
energetic, old-school lesson in how to play heavy metal, from what I can only
assume were one of the genres best bands!
Be sure to check out and like Satan on Facebook!
Highlights
"Time To Die"
"Twenty Twenty Five"
"Siege Mentality"
Final Rating
4.5/5 or 90%.