When you feel the desperate urge to find the right angle to communicate your enthusiasm about something, it could be a painful experience, believe me. And I am in this situation now trying to convince you that this album is a true miracle. How to praise this the right way? Because we all have the same experiences about reviews and adverts promising us so-called masterpieces which reveal themselves mediocre in the end, once we have spent our precious money on these craps of course! But take my word: this album is a killing from track 1 to track 13. You can see “Burning The Born Again” as a grand declaration of war against the lifeless “Metal” music that plagues the underground for now. I don’t know if you feel like me, but I have enough of these useless bands trying to break out, convinced they are they have something of interest to offer. And in the end we rather give “Hell Awaits” or “Don’t Break The Oath” a new spin, right? Thankfully, SATAN’S HOST still exist to prove in a fiery and triumphant way that all hope is not lost. With this new offering, they have reached the highest level imaginable in term of song writing and musical abilities. These Metal warriors unleash onto us their personal Armageddon, their private musical Hell, and it is a stunning experience, the kind of which you don’t return from exactly the same. They are unique in the sense they don’t have severed their ties with the scene of old and with what they were twenty years ago (please note: SATAN’S HOST are not a reformed band!). “Burning The Born Again” is the synthesis of all what the Metal of Death has offered us from its inception until now. SATAN’S HOST have put into their magical cauldron the most exciting elements of Heavy, Death, Black, Thrash and even Doom (listen to ‘Unholy Sabbath’ to hear what I mean) to come out with the ugly beast this album is. Like I wrote before regarding some of their earlier recordings, SATAN’S HOST could evoke SLAYER here, MERCYFUL FATE there, but in the end they have their own style, highly original. Once again on this album, singer Eli Elixir graces us with an unreal performance; this man may be the best vocalist in extreme Metal right now, thanks to his hateful and deep voice (the human equivalent of a demon’s roar you can say, but always clearly decipherable though). The rhythm section handled by bassist J. Phantom and drummer Pete 3 Wicked is punishing all the way, from the slow splashing passages to the blast parts, a feast of complexity. And what to say about the guitar playing of Patrick Evil, the only survivor of the first SATAN’S HOST line-up, except that it is stellar? Patrick shows how gifted he his throughout the entire disc, he has developed a style coming from the heavy rock of the 70s and adapted it to the brutal Metal of today, his solo on ‘Darkmoon Gathering’ is alone worth the price of admittance. The only flaw of this record is that it is too long, because too good becomes too much in the end, and a complete listen could leave you totally exhausted (but exhilarated too!). So, if you are looking for the best pure evil Metal in the world, then look no further, your search is over. Rank this side by side with “Hell Awaits”, “Seven Churches”, “Nasty Savage”, “None Shall Defy” or “Altars Of Madness”, I am dead serious about this you see. To get this fabulous offering, contact PatrickEvil@SatansHost.com or Elixir@SatansHost.com and of course visit http://www.SatansHost.com to hear some samples of the band’s new (and older) songs. A message to the record label owners: stop signing crap and trendy shit, and offer SATAN’S HOST the deal they deserve 100%. To all of you: SUPPORT THIS MAJESTIC METAL FROM HELL!
-Edouard Vergriete
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