Review of Sathanas - Flesh For The Devil

Sharing a member (and multiple former members) with Acheron, Sathanas have a relatively huge discography extending back to 1988. Whether or not I've actually heard of them, it's hard to say due to their incredibly nondescript band name.

It always amazes me how resistant to change so much of heavy metal is. Influenced by the likes of Venom and Celtic Frost, their sound is elementary thrashy black/death metal, played at a moderate speed and yawn-inspiring energy. While this works well for so many throwback bands, everyone has a limit. Sathanas sort of push this limit, and not in an extreme Mountain Dew way. Fluctuating between a snarl and some competant growls, simple chugging rhythm guitarwork and sloppy staccato picking with the occasional reverberating effect, that's about the extent of their black and death metal composite. I also liked this style a lot better when I couldnt understand the lyrics - something that could be interpreted as a production gripe; I'm angry that I can hear everything so well. To their credit, though, I do enjoy the blackened transition on the title track along with the crazed prototypical solo work. I just don't hear enough of it on the entire release. I'll also commend Sathanas on their steadfast basswork, which comes close to saving their songwriting on more than one occasion.

Sathanas aren't a bad band, but they should probably remain under that banner of simply "not bad". Flesh For The Devil just isn't that entertaining due to the uninvolved songwriting. Who knows, maybe I'm just a little too ADHD-stricken and used to something a little more intricate. Or maybe it's marginally out of place in 2005.

Release Details

Sathanas

Flesh For The Devil

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