By Avinash Mittur
A little over thirty years ago, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal changed the landscape of heavy metal entirely. The movement was the direct precursor to thrash, and that of course evolved into what we now call ‘extreme metal’. Everyone knows the common names from this era: Iron Maiden, Saxon, Angel Witch etc, but the NWOBHM’s supply of killer bands is practically endless. One of the quicker acts on the market was Newcastle’s Satan. With a name that was bound to cause trouble and a late entry into the declining scene, Satan just missed out on heavy metal immortality. The band’s debut record, Court in the Act, remains a gem from the era but a pile of name changes and inconsistent material led to Satan fizzling out near the end of the ‘80s. Thirty years later, Satan’s original lineup have reunited and released Life Sentence, an album that proudly lives up to the legacy of their debut. There’s nothing on here that hasn’t been done before, but on Life Sentence the band does classic, traditional heavy metal better than most of their peers and just about all of the retro-minded bands around today. This album is a wonderful throwback to one of the coolest periods in metal history, and a fine slab of classic heavy metal in its own right.
Life Sentence effectively ignores the last thirty years of changes and evolution in metal history, and frankly the album is all the better for it. Opening cut ‘Time to Die’ shows off the album’s delightfully old-school production and some shockingly youthful performances. The track’s harmonized main riff is immediately reminiscent of the intro to ‘Trial By Fire’ from Court in the Act, and Brian Ross gets to show off his finely aged voice. Ross’ singing is a touch huskier after all these years, but his power and command hasn’t diminished in the slightest. He even offers a few of his vintage screams here and there on Life Sentence– surely Raven’s John Gallagher was smiling when Brian tracked those wails. ‘Time to Die’ and a surprisingly large amount of other tracks from Life Sentence rip right by with speed and flair. Given that many of the elder statesmen of the NWOBHM have slowed things down in favor of a groovy stomp (I’m looking at you Motorhead), it’s refreshing to have an older act tear it up with wild abandon. The jolly romp of ‘Siege Mentality’ is one of the highlights of an amazingly consistent record, and thankfully falls just short of power metal cheesiness.
More than any other heavy metal album in recent memory, Life Sentence has palpable space in its mix. Every instrument has its place in the sonic spectrum, and there’s even some air left over. Life Sentence has a wonderfully live feel as result, and the warm tones only help to lend a vintage vibe. Whoever said that ‘old school’ had to mean low-fi? Thanks to clear, yet powerful production, we’re able to perfectly hear the stellar shows that guitarists Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins turn in. The pair even go for an early thrash frenzy on ‘Cenotaph’; there’s arguably more fire and aggression on Life Sentence than on the early records, and none of it feels contrived. Had Satan continued on their natural creative route from Court in the Act, you can bet that their second record would have sounded a lot like Life Sentence. This record is one that begs to be played loud, go ahead and try not get a speeding ticket when you’re behind the wheel and ‘Testimony’ begins to play. Satan doesn’t always have their foot slammed on the gas pedal though, the guys offer a swinging rocker in ‘Personal Demons’ and a borderline progressive journey in the winding tempos of ‘Another Universe’. These songs flow wonderfully, and Life Sentence is a joy to listen to in one sitting.
The biggest issue that plagued nearly every NWOBHM band was their desire for commercial success. That lust for fame nearly brought an end to the mighty Saxon, while Def Leppard became international superstars to cite just a pair of examples (as for my beloved Raven, their supposed sell-out period is actually kind of awesome). An older, wiser, but no less heavier Satan have truly succeeded in synthesizing an album that would have been hailed as a period classic back in the early ‘80s, but without the lame attempts at breaking through to the mainstream. Satan knows what their fans love about their music, and they have crafted a piece that takes everything great and plain cool about the NWOBHM and condenses it into a taut, filler-free record that gets better and better with every listen. Sure, some new fans may complain about the tracks starting to blend together after a while, but if you’re like me and you can’t get enough of melodic speedfreak heavy metal, then Life Sentence will hit the spot in so many ways. Comeback, throwback, whatever you want to call it, Satan have released one hell of an album and have made yet another marvelous contribution to the NWOBHM canon. Let’s hope that these guys stick around for another record or two.
Rating: 8.5/10
Record Label: Listenable Records
Release Dates:
April 29th 2013 (Europe)
May 21st 2013 (US)
Track Listing:
1. Time To Die
2. Twenty Twenty Five
3. Cenotaph
4. Siege Mentality
5. Incantations
6. Testimony
7. Tears Of Blood
8. Life Sentence
9. Personal Demons
10. Another Universe
Links:
www.facebook.com/officialsatanpage
www.satanmusic.com