You could say that the name Satanic Warmaster is a bit ‘Metal band name generator’ but to be honest it’s pretty cool. It exudes evil Black Metal energy which is exactly what this band excel at. This Finnish solo force, under the helm of Werwolf has pumped out some crushing records, namely Opferblut and Nachzeher in my mind. Today we are focused on the bands sixth full length however, put out naturally through Werewolf Records. Will Aamongandr have us howling at the moon?

Bafomet instantly chimes in with what at first appears to be blistering Blackened hellfire. Granted it is rampant, fast paced and in terms of drumming a total barrage. Yet the guitars and general riffs have a wealth of melody about them. Once the rasping classic vocals charge in the unholy collection is complete. Catchy, dark, headbang inducing, anthemic carnage soon envelopes. Duke’s Ride plays with similar rapid-fire ideals, and proves that it’s a working formula. Naturally I love more atmospheric Black Metal too, it’s a different beast though, and this kind of more relentless Black Metal is absolutely my thing and appeals more to the Death Metal fan in me. That said Duke’s Ride bring in some atmosphere as well as some epic Bal-Sagoth keys and spoken word passages, yeah, this really is my jam.

Going into The Eyes Of Satan I just want more generally over the top Melodic/ Symphonic Black Metal silliness. My wishes are mostly granted and the Dungeon Synth style keyboards make their wondrous appearance. They inject a level of flare into this otherwise atonal Black Metal mist. On the atonal note, you could accuse this release as being a touch singular in approach, almost every song has the same basic ideas and structure. However, given that the album is under forty minutes it is a wild a fun ride with some flashes of utter brilliance. One such moment being that albums climactic Barbas X Aamon closing track.

In closing I can honestly say I haven’t had that much fun with a Black Metal release in some time. A genre that is so often grim, brooding and stricken with misery or delicate beauty it’s nice to break from that. In the same way that the latest Dark Funeral record struck a chord with me so too did this. Sometimes I want my Black Metal to just be Metal, no beard stroking wonder, just sheer titanic mayhem, and this is just that.

(9/10 George Caley)

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