Review by Felix on June 3, 2020.

I beg your pardon, but I have a serious question before I can start with the review: Will I live to see the distant day when kitschy artworks finally die? I fear I will be reduced to ash before the sun will rise on this day. Either way, the baby blue artwork (and now we are at the beginning of the review) is among the smaller problems that I have with Risen Prophecy’s third full-length. Really annoying are the vocals of Dan Tyrens. Maybe he is a good car mechanic, an outstanding administrative officer or a brilliant connoisseur of the British fauna and flora, but his kind of singing sucks. He kisses every word which leaves his mouth, always aware of its overwhelming importance. His idol is probably Hell’s David Bower, but he does not reach his class. Instead, his theatrical style lowers the quality of the songs significantly. 'The Tower of Shinar', for instance, holds some intense parts with speedy and sharp guitars that upgrade the entire song, but Dan disturbs the good performance of the instrumentalists with great enthusiasm and big success.

But don’t think that the dude behind the mic is the only disruptive factor here. Unfortunately, the songwriters of Risen Prophecy also haven’t done a flawless job. Some sections are going nowhere, not to mention tracks such as 'The Eye of Hades'. Is this a chorus or an accident? What I certainly know is that it’s a tragedy, because so many defects and their weakness for kitschy sequences veil the strengths of the band. Some good riffs form auspicious parts and if the surely ambitious quartet would be able to identify its pompous ballast and throw it overboard, we would probably have a completely different situation. Instead, they offer an overburdened semi-ballad like 'The Ancient Curse', useless intermezzos and overlong pieces which lack clear direction.

I have already mentioned Hell and they are a stylistic point of reference, not only in terms of the vocals. This means that Risen Prophecy’s work commutes between speed or occasionally even thrash metal and traditional heavy sounds. This is an actually interesting combination, but the musical mix alone cannot ensure a fascinating full-length. The dudes from England are definitely no amateurs, they offer a couple of good ideas and the production scores with transparent heaviness. Nevertheless, too many shortcomings prevent a good rating. The opulent closer with a length of more than ten minutes reflects the dilemma of the entire album: a good start, but after some minutes the song derails silently and everything is going down the drain. Only Tyrens sings as if nothing has happened.

Rating: 4 out of 10

Review by Felix on June 3, 2020.

I beg your pardon, but I have a serious question before I can start with the review: Will I live to see the distant day when kitschy artworks finally die? I fear I will be reduced to ash before the sun will rise on this day. Either way, the baby blue artwork (and now we are at the beginning of the review) is among the smaller problems that I have with Risen Prophecy’s third full-length. Really annoying are the vocals of Dan Tyrens. Maybe he is a good car mechanic, an outstanding administrative officer or a brilliant connoisseur of the British fauna and flora, but his kind of singing sucks. He kisses every word which leaves his mouth, always aware of its overwhelming importance. His idol is probably Hell’s David Bower, but he does not reach his class. Instead, his theatrical style lowers the quality of the songs significantly. 'The Tower of Shinar', for instance, holds some intense parts with speedy and sharp guitars that upgrade the entire song, but Dan disturbs the good performance of the instrumentalists with great enthusiasm and big success.

But don’t think that the dude behind the mic is the only disruptive factor here. Unfortunately, the songwriters of Risen Prophecy also haven’t done a flawless job. Some sections are going nowhere, not to mention tracks such as 'The Eye of Hades'. Is this a chorus or an accident? What I certainly know is that it’s a tragedy, because so many defects and their weakness for kitschy sequences veil the strengths of the band. Some good riffs form auspicious parts and if the surely ambitious quartet would be able to identify its pompous ballast and throw it overboard, we would probably have a completely different situation. Instead, they offer an overburdened semi-ballad like 'The Ancient Curse', useless intermezzos and overlong pieces which lack clear direction.

I have already mentioned Hell and they are a stylistic point of reference, not only in terms of the vocals. This means that Risen Prophecy’s work commutes between speed or occasionally even thrash metal and traditional heavy sounds. This is an actually interesting combination, but the musical mix alone cannot ensure a fascinating full-length. The dudes from England are definitely no amateurs, they offer a couple of good ideas and the production scores with transparent heaviness. Nevertheless, too many shortcomings prevent a good rating. The opulent closer with a length of more than ten minutes reflects the dilemma of the entire album: a good start, but after some minutes the song derails silently and everything is going down the drain. Only Tyrens sings as if nothing has happened.

Rating: 4 out of 10

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