The roots for Boulder Colorado's Satan's Host surprisingly reach all the way back to the late 70's. The group gained the most notoriety for becoming a side project of sorts for then ex-Jag Panzer front man Harry Conklin who sang on their first two albums Metal From Hell (1986) and the unreleased Midnight Wind (1987) under the pseudonym Leviathan Thisiren. During this time the band's sound was more rooted in the power metal vein, however, after drummer D. Lucifer Steele's murder in 1989 the groups sound eventually morphed more towards black metal after founding guitarist Patrick Evil (where do they come with these original sounding names) resurrected Satan's Host in the late 90's.
Power, Purity, Perfection their latest disc for Moribund Records, definitely finds the band, which in addition to Patrick E, consists of the snarling vocals of Eli Elixer, drummer Anthony 'Evil Little Hobbit' (I kid you not) and bassist Margar, on a roll, as it marks their fifth album since the new millennium. Despite their penchant for choosing ill advised names which quite frankly makes one wonder about the seriousness of the music, any doubts are cast out the minute you slap this satanic little gem into your preferred music player and the savage, melodic opening notes of "Sitra~Ahra (Power 9)" take hold. This is a harrowing sixty minute trip through the abyss as the band does an admirable job of serving up a veritable black metal feast, which at times sounds surprisingly uncharacteristic of your traditional BM release. Sure tracks like "Dark Priest", "End All~ Be All" and "Satanic Magick" are all replete with an impressive amount of Patrick's soaring, melodic solo's, the ultra fast drum tempos and a heaping dose of evil, ritualistic sounding vocals, the band also shows they are capable of changing things up a bit as well. For example the brief acoustic number "Buer" adds a bit of a nice touch before segueing directly into "333 (Purity 9)", which is tightly executed, searing, eight minute epic that will hold you tightly in its grip for the full duration. On the topic of epics, they're certainly not afraid to venture out into longer compositions as both " Azael 9 Lords ~9 Keys… Abyss King" and "Luciferian Spirit (Perfection 9)", which clock in at eight, and eight and half minutes respectively, are definite highlights worthy of mention on this disc.
I like what Satan's Host have assembled on Power, Purity, Perfection because they've managed to stick to the classic structures of extreme metal, and yet they've twisted it in such a way that it also comes off sounding much fresher than initially expected. If you're a fan of extreme music with a bit of a twist, that doesn't sound the least bit clichéd, then Satan's Host is a band you should definitely check out.
- Ryan Sparks
Rating 3.5/4
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