If nothing else, then at least one thing I have in common with this Italian band: A deep respect for the long defunct British thrash band Acid Reign. By inviting (and convincing) H from
one of my all-time favourite British bands to take part in the
making of
a sequel to the classic track Motherly Love (from 'Moshkenstein') , Satanika score a shitload of
old-school points in my little book of metal!
H's contribution is a welcome relief after the first twelve songs which suffer
under the minimal variation of the vocal performance by Cristian Renzi (Pervertor).
Pervertor moves in the grey zone between thrash and black metal, something which
in my ears becomes a tad strenuous after a while.
Equally strenuous is the production quality of the majority of the album.
Especially the drums sound exactly the way many thrash drum productions sounded
when I started listening to metal...and it's not a good thing in this day and
age!
A shame about the sound, really, because there's some really fine riffing in
some instances. Just take a song like Hidden in the Deep which is a way cool and
hard as bones tune.
The band promises those they despise to die into [sic] the fire, and I've
probably just written myself into that category of unfortunate souls, but, there
you go, that's an occupational hazard I have to accept.
