In my review of the Intermezzo II mCD, I anticipated the upcoming full length would be filled with all sorts of silly avant-garde riffs and other novelties if the mcd was any sort of accurate reflection. I stand corrected. After waiting for all the sensationalism to finally fuck off, I was able to calmly give a listen and hear what the morons have been fussing about. I don’t know where these people get off fidgeting about how "avant-garde" this album is and how it’s breaking all new barriers in black metal (try Sigh if you like that idea) and, "Oh my god I’m going to cream at the brilliant earth-shattering pandemonium going on here." FUCK all of you. If Satyricon is so original, how come they stole a Black Sabbath riff and put a Hammond organ to it?? Oh, nevermind. I don’t detest this album or anything (just the fans mostly), I’d just like to point out that it’s far too simple to be considered "avant-garde" or whatever. It has its unconventional parts, sure… Satyricon has slowed back down quite a bit and taken to more flavorful drum beats, but practically everything is done riff by riff and hardly more than one melody is being played at a time. The fast parts are ridiculously fast ("Supersonic Journey"), the bulk of the album is pretty much straightforward, mid-paced metal, although I haven’t really found any underlying themes that connects the riffs in these songs since the changes are so random. There are some downright, mean metal riffs ("Filthgrinder", "Havoc Vulture")… I take it "metal without keyboards" is the reason this album sounds so "different" to the fans. Well, if you’re really into this, there’s a lot more where it comes from… check out any metal album recorded before 1993, likely you’ll find something worthwhile. "A Moment Of Clarity" is probably the most original track, given the song sounds more plain without most of the keyboards (but no complaints here). The improved production helps the guitar sound cut through more clearly, and even the goofy blasting part fits in quite nicely! One thing I’ll always respect this band for is the traditional absence of triggers. The drums themselves sound great and Frost’s uncanny sense of timing and absurd stamina is almost hypnotic, however the abrupt riff changes don’t help and I just end up extremely jealous of Frost because I want to own the drum set that De Misteriis Dom Sathanas was recorded on!!!!!!!! I’d go so far as to say Satyricon has shifted to a more healthy direction with their music… it’s still pissed off and anti-christian, however I don’t find it as dark and maliciously hateful as the earlier material… it’s striding forward now instead of caving inward into coldness. Lyrically, Satyr ascends to a more abstract level yet still makes his discontentment fairly obvious (though it’s no dominion of satyricon or dominion of hate). I can see this album serving well in a social setting, but when concentrating and listening alone, it doesn’t hold me beyond a few really good, sporadic riffs and the solid musicianship (which itself doesn’t necessarily make for great songwriting obviously, i.e. Van Halen). It’s best heard for the sake of curiosity… look how much I’ve written on an album I can’t really get into. If you haven’t heard the first two Satyricon albums, do yourself a favor and find out why it’s necessary to fuss about them instead.

Written By: Abbas