Review by Chris Pratl on September 15, 2018.

Some legends never die…they just find a new audience and bring the NWOBHM right back to the forefront where it deserves to be heard by a new audience of fans. Satan strikes out again with their latest album, Life Sentence, and it’s a hellish crossfire within.

For a 26-year layover, save for two live albums and two compilations in the interim, Satan hasn’t missed a single step, and when you hear the first notes of “Time to Die” that’s innately evident. Once that verse riff kicks up the dust and that clear vocal comes soaring over, it’s like 1984 all over again. Without the material sounding dated, Satan manages to take traditional heavy metal to a logical plateau. The album has a magical quality that transports us old folks right back to that wonderful period, yet it can impress and entertain the youngest metalhead fit for history lessons from the old guard.

The wonderful richness to Brian Ross’ vocals lends to such a natural purity not found in many forced efforts or studio trickery these days. The genuine power he emits with seemingly no effort is the very stability that made Satan one of the better bands from that historical era. When listening to this album the second time around I feel a real sense of nostalgia, sure, but I also hear a lot of true heavy metal riffing and structure that will resonate through every generation of fan if given the time. 

“Cenotaph” is one of the strongest tracks on the record with its extremely strong verse riff and really speedy delivery. It’s really a pleasure to hear bands of the early era, no matter the genre, sticking to their proverbial guns and not giving in to a demographic that might otherwise change their entire sound for the sake of monetary or generational (im)balance. The borderline speed metal that sets Satan above many peers of the NWOBHM milieu is still scattered copiously around the album, but it’s the slower, potent chunks that really stick in my head. I’m thinking anyone that likes this traditional style made popular by Judas Priest or Iron Maiden will enjoy those moments as well. If you can listen to “Another Universe” and not hear some Maiden in there, you’re in the wrong genre. This is one amazing track with its perfect vocal melody and some of the best guitar work I’ve heard from a traditional outfit in a while. It’s generally hard to keep this style fresh and interesting, but Satan has no worries here. 

Without relying solely on the old schematics, Satan issues a thick production with these tracks that was otherwise unheard of back in the days of Suspended Sentence or Court in the Act. It works so well throughout and adds a very modern feel to their style. The track that really calls out some early Mercyful Fate tones is “Incantation” with its vocal melody and ascending bridge riff that is a familiar element in some of the early Danish legends’ arsenal. Yes, I managed to compare Satan to Mercyful Fate.

Another strong element to the record is the lyrical content, which doesn’t bother with a myriad of fantastical images that fly fast and furiously past your eyes like a highway ride in the car while gazing out the window. The images themselves are the selling points, especially in the title “Life Sentence”, which is Satan’s essence in a musical nutshell. All over this release there are some really introspective moments to ponder without boring you to death as I may have done with this review. 

Without burying the point in a lot of rhetorical banter, Life Sentence is a return to form for Satan, a band known for issuing strong, somewhat blueprinted albums on their own terms and by their own rules to an appreciative fan base. This can certainly be an album you’ll pull off the rack again and again when you want those heavy riffs to swim around your head, drowning out the world and its horrors and labors.

Rating: 9 out of 10

(Originally written for www.metalpsalter.com)

Review by Vladimir on May 30, 2023.

Darkness and death are always lurking around every corner, even as we speak. Today I will be covering a new release by one of the most interesting and experimental bands within the Swedish metal scene, Tribulation. Tribulation is one of those bands that took me a while to get into after a few attempts, because their music was very hard for me to understand. They are very unique in the sense that their songwriting is very simplistic yet so progressive and complex with a mystical aura around it. Their style of horror-themed gothic/black/heavy metal with rock ‘n roll influence helped the band shape and define their signature sound which has been prominent for over a decade after they shifted from death metal. The subject of today’s review will be their latest EP Hamartia released on April 7th, via Century Media Records.

Hamartia is another example of Tribulation continuing to push their traditional sound made of rock ‘n roll guitar riffs with harmonizing guitar leads and harsh vocals by Johannes Andersson, while the drums often play in mid-tempo rhythm with occasional moments of reverse drum beats. On top of that, we also have very beautiful heavy metal like guitar solos and guitar leads which dominate on the second track 'Axis Mundi'. The third track 'Hemoclysm' is a bit more progressive in terms of songwriting when compared to the previous ones, focusing more on tender guitar work and soloing during instrumental sections which are very complex like they’re influenced by Rush or Blue Öyster Cult. Speaking of Blue Öyster Cult, the final track on this EP is the cover of their song 'Vengeance (The Pact)', which is surprisingly well done in Tribulation’s style and fits so well with the other songs on this EP. One thing that I always found very questionable about the EP is why does the woman portrayed on the cover art look a lot like Lindsay Schoolcraft (Antiqva, Coldbound, The Astroplex, ex-Cradle of Filth). I am not sure if this is just something that I came across or if anyone else felt the same way when they observed the art closely. That isn’t to say that the album cover is bad by any means, it’s just that this small detail made my mind boggle, while also making me wonder if this was done on purpose or if it was just a coincidence. Production-wise, the EP takes the usual route of Tribulation’s previous releases with the very clean guitar and drum sound, without applying too much distortion to the guitars.

Hamartia is an overall enjoyable and promising release which will definitely open new doors for a potential sixth Tribulation album in the near future. The band is obviously not attempting to push their songwriting out of their limits and their style of music very much remains inside their comfort zone. It is very easy for people to miss out on this EP if they’re only interested in full-length releases, so I would highly recommend that you check this one out before we get another album from Tribulation. 

Rating: 8.6 out of 10