Let's face it....when it comes to Black Metal, America has churned out a lot of posers who will always aspire to the majesty of European Black Metal acts like Emperor, Darkthrone, Mayhem, etc. but never can attain it. They've got the corpse-paint, they've got the B.C. Rich Warlock guitars, they've got the shrieking vocals, and for the most part they've got the sh*tty production.
However, one can undoubtedly attribute the various deficiencies of most American Black Metal bands to one common factor: Their interest in the dark side of human nature never supercedes their need for shock value. Paint your face white, put on a black frown, wear a bunch of spikes, meander pointlessly on the fretboard of your guitar on the bottom three strings and you're a Black Metal band, right? Wrong.
But suppose you're an American Black Metal band. Suppose you have a decade+ track record of tireless touring and recording in addition to your band's sincere interest in the Left Hand Path. Suppose that during your shows, you can don corpse paint and spiked gauntlets and single-handedly invoke the forces of darkness and command them to bestow their infernal powers upon you, that you may show the audience what it really is to play host to the Prince of Darkness.
Then you are Satan's Host.
As far as their music goes, Satan's Host are evenly spread across several genres. Black Metal interspersed with Death and Melodic Death metal. They make their devotion to the forces of darkness apparent through their lyrical and melodic prowess. Unlike many Black Metal bands, each song is its own entity and easily differentiated from the rest; a different exploration of our animalistic and carnal natures.
As American Black Metal goes, it's hard to find any band more dedicated to "practicing what they preach." Eli Elixr is completely engrossed in all things Satanic and possesses an intellect not often found among Satanic metal circles. He truly believes in the magical practices he espouses, and isn't one for the neanderthalic ranting often vomited forth by numerous "Satanic" metal bands.
The bottom line is that if you like your metal dark, harsh, and genuine.....you need to pick up this CD.