Formed over three decades ago in Boulder, CO, Satan’s Host were once a mullet-boasting, leather-clad, occult power metal outfit led by Jag Panzer vocalist Harry “Tyrant” Conklin under the alias of Leviathan Thisiren. They released one official, low-budget full-length called Metal From Hell in 1986 and briefly touted their nefarious wares on the live circuit before fading into obscurity following the unsolved murder of drummer D. D. Lucifer Steel. Original guitarist/Luciferian lifer Patrick Evil, presumably driven by the power of the Horned One (duh), resurrected the band in the late ’90s with a new lineup and a far more abrasive sound. A handful of underrated long-players later and Satan’s Host offer up the blackened death thrash of Power, Purity, Perfection... 999, a three-pronged concept record steeped in ancient prophecies, numerology, LaVeyan teachings and more Satanic citations than you can shake a stick at.
Never ones for subtlety (see bold album title, its flaming goat head cover and the pewter, Flavor Flav clock of a pentagram often spotted dangling around frontman L.C.F. Elixir’s neck), the band gets down and deviant from the opening battle march of “Sitra—Ahra (Power 9).” Heads bang, horns are thrown, souls are crushed. More diverse, layered and epic sounding than 2007’s largely mid-paced Great American Scapegoat...666, 999 is driven by Elixir’s delightfully diabolic demigrowls and Evil’s arsenal of memorable riffs and tastefully-executed metal guy solos (see “Luciferian Spirit [Perfection 9],” “Xem Deitus… 999,” “333~Purity 9” et al). Acoustic interludes swell into poignant climaxes, maniacal pace shifts pour into the turbulent, oft mechanical-sounding blasts of new drummer (ahem) Evil Little Hobbit and signs of filler are nowhere to be found. While Power, Purity, Perfection... 999 doesn’t exactly explore any new metal terrain, it’s almost guaranteed to throw your inner demon into a Christ-clobbering tizzy. Well done.
8/10
—Liz Brenner
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