Review by Carl on January 1, 2022.

Fast Scandinavian black metal bands. If the bomb should drop tomorrow, they would be the only ones populating the Earth, I think.

Satanic Slaughter (awesome band name, by the way) come charging from Sweden, and I was surprised to come across this album, because I only knew their debut, which was a pretty enjoyable affair. After checking their MA page, it turned out that this is already their fourth (and final) album. Apparently someone has not been paying attention here, and that would be me.

Right from the first track, the album flies at you with fast paced percussion, tremelo picked riffing and screamed vocals. If this were Swedish black metal bingo, my card would be full already. The very first name that popped up in my head was that of Dark Funeral. Even the production reminds me a bit of "The Secrets Of The Black Arts". To give the band some credit, it's not only Dark Funeral that I hear. After a few repeated listens, there begins to surface a thrash/speed metal influence, noticeable in the excellent guitar solo's, that are way above par from the usual black metal militia. In this, they remind me of a band like In Aeternum, another band interweaving old school thrash with Scandinavian black metal to great effect. The thrash influence is most obvious in a track like 'Dark Temptation', where the band sounds like a more controlled Nifelheim. Also a nice touch is the classic heavy metal/Iron Maiden influence in 'Season Of Sorrow'. They keep the tempo high for the majority of the album, but know when to loosen the gas every now and then, like in the punkish 'One Night In Hell', injecting a good deal of variation into their music, keeping it all interesting throughout. The production sounds up to date, without turning into a digital nightmare soundscape, holding the music together and keeping it aggressive and energetic, all the way to the moody and desperate album closer 'Ending In Misery'.

Even if Satanic Slaughter isn't the most original act on the block, the high level of playing, good songwriting and the excellent production puts them ahead of other acts of their ilk. This is a most enjoyable black metal album, with thrash and some classic heavy metal influences popping up throughout. For those into black metal from the early to mid 90's, this is a good album to keep you occupied until the next Dark Funeral album drops.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Review by Denis on April 18, 2003.

Satanic Slaughter is the brainchild of Ztephan Dark, who created the band way back in 1985. It wasn't until 1995, however, that the first full length came out. The world famous producer involved was Dan Swanö. After numerous musician changes, the current line-up is now made up of Martin Axenröt (drums), Ztephan Dark (guitar), Filip Carlsson (bass), Andreas Deblén (vocals) and Stefan Johansson (guitar). So far the band have seen about thirty different members through the years.

Now, onto the album. What a dynamic and well-done mixture of black and death metal! This album will please for sure fans of both styles. “Banished to the Underworld" is mostly fast, the drumming completely crazy, the vocals are black and somewhat screamed, and the guitar work splendid either by the riffs or the lead. Guitars, guitars and more guitars! Riff after riff will give you a ride on what it is all about. Ten intricate compositions of raw and sophisticated metal that manage to keep a melodic structure mainly caused by the lead guitar guiding you through a chaotic path. Without this album, your collection would be missing a piece of the never-ending metal puzzle. Songs like 'Infernal,' 'One Night in Hell' and the title track are some of the finest moments with their own share of bloody good metal involving extras like slower doom passages, thrilling moods, pounding percussions, clean guitar notes and solos. Once in a while, we have very deep guttural style death vocals as a bonus just like on the intro number 'Bringers of Armageddon.‘ To close the massacre, the last song goes as far as including samplings, acoustic guitar, punching drums, screams and whispers on a slower pace changing into something horrifying, enhanced by effects on both vocals, thus 'Ending in Misery' as it is called....

Bottom Line: A grim and macabre walk into the dark side.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 8.5
Originality: 8
Production: 8.5
Overall: 8

Rating: 8.3 out of 10