WELL it's been quite a while. I realize I think I got caught in a trap of feeling obligated to write reviews of albums I didn't really give a shit about because they were 'big' (-label releases). Well fuck that, I'm just gonna plug obscure albums I like in the hopes of getting them that extremely tiny bit more exposure.
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Satanica is a Japanese band I had never really heard of, but a friend played me the track 'Witch Doctor' from this album and my interest was piqued. The band wholeheartedly embraces the oh-so-kitchy Satanic aesthetic of Mercyful Fate, and in an era of 'serious' metal performers trying to look 'self-conscious', it's incredibly refreshing. The vocals are a mix of speed metal earnestness, King Diamond-esque eerie squeals, and some growls thrown in for good measure, all with a kawaii Japanese twist. I don't normally take very kindly to clean vocals in my metal (power metal can fuck off), but this works for me somehow. It might be the Japanese factor; for the most part, though, this is pretty standard King Diamond stuff. In fact, everything about this band could be described as Mercyful Fate 'worship' (ack I hate that term), not that that's a bad thing.
The riffs are solid, the guitar solos are a mess of notes that don't matter, the drums are GREAT. I LOVE THE DRUM SOUND. The track 'Soldier of Death' stands out, with some doomy riffs that give the drummer some chance to breathe, and by breathe I mean beat the SHIT out of their kit. The track names are funny, I feel like I've seen them all a thousand times (e.g. 'EVIL METAL', 'SHOW NO MERCY', 'VALHALLA'). It's not as if there is anything ground-breaking or new here, but not everything needs to be; in fact I wish more American and European bands sounded like this. Maybe I'm just a metal traditionalist at heart. Regardless, a hidden gem that I would recommend to any fan of the genre. Especially some of the more cynical out there should maybe take a listen; this is why we all came to love the genre in the first place.
4 SATANS out of 5
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