Review: Satan’s Satyrs ‘After Dark’
I remember back in 2017 missing out on going to see Satan’s Satyrs when they played in Manchester with Windhand. I’d recently got into the band who played a high-octane blend of psych-blasted doom metal, grindhouse punk and sleazy garage rock and was intrigued to see what they’d be like live, but I thought, they’ll be back soon.
Several years later, they are finally back with a new album called After Dark and nine new songs to enthral their cult following once again. They’ve always been a band who are different from the rest, as bassist Clayton Burgess explains, ‘we were always the riffy band on punk bills, the fast band on doom bills, the glam tinged band on metal bills’ and I suppose this is why they had such crossover appeal.
The cult scuzz rockers have a love of exploitation movies and horror culture which is evident from the opening song Hellin’ It Like It Is armed with its howling vocals and a freak-fuzz guitar meltdown, it’s almost like they never went away. Deadly Again continues the theme and you can see why their potential couldn’t be ignored any more.
During the band’s time away, Burgess never stopped writing new music, and when the right players fell into place, it was time for the comeback. They have some crazy new songs; Quick Quiet Raid has some quirky vocals over a dirty riff with a grubby solo kicking in midway and then we have the exquisite All 4s which starts off sounding as if it should be in an episode of The Fonz. If this song doesn’t make you want to get up and dance, then nothing will.
howling vocals and a freak-fuzz guitar meltdown…
Saltair Burns feels different from what has preceded it, much more of a doom feel at the start, and then the madness begins with a decent riff on a song that doesn’t quite fit, yet it fits perfectly with their odd band out legacy. It meanders around quite a bit and doesn’t quite know which direction to go, but it sums them up well. They go a bit back to their normal selves with Iron & Ivy which is followed by What The Winds Brought with its filthy, sleazy attitude running right throughout.
The penultimate, Genuine Turquoise, has some very odd vocals and a softer edge to it, just because they can, and it adds something different to the overall album. Eventually, they round it all off with the over-the-top exciting number The Afterdark Matressback which, for some reason, and it might just be me, has that post-punk Joy Division feel to it. Somehow it feels right and I for one, am glad to have Satan’s Satyrs back.
Label: Tee Pee Records
Band Links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: Matthew Williams
