Satan - Cruel Magic

There have been a tremendous number of groups from metal’s earliest days trying to keep flying the sunfaded flag of their antiquated but still enjoyable styles through the winds of metal’s very harsh, extreme, current climate, which I am thankful for. I’m glad metal still respects it’s icons and isn’t exclusively focused on youth or fads. However, groups like Saxon, Stryper, and especially Anvil present the sounds of old in unflattering light that highlights the dated aspects of the sound while not emphasizing the strengths that made old school heavy metal an international phenomenon before such a thing was so easily possible with the help of the internet. It often unfortunately seems to stem from a stubbornness to adapt or a scorn for metal’s progression toward its current extremes and varieties, the kind of attitude these groups probably despised and started playing heavy metal to give the finger to in the first place. But fortunately there are also bands from that era who are still going strong and keeping their current output exciting through undying ambition like Iron Maiden or though the display of sheer mastery of their craft like Judas Priest on this year’s Firepower. On this album, Satan aren’t proving any kind of heavyweight status or pushing the genre forward, but they do thankfully fall more in line with that latter group than with the former.

The recently reformed NWOBHM group Satan continue their reunited run with their third album since the 2011 reunion: Cruel Magic (following the similarly solid Atom by Atom in 2015 and Life Sentence in 2013), and the band perform just as well as, if not better than, what can be reasonably expected from them atmthis stage of their career. Frontman Brian Ross sounds comfortable in the range in which he sings on this album, giving the songs a classic sense of drama with his operatic tenor voice, while hitting some respectable high notes.

The introductory track, “Into the Mouth of Eternity”, showcases the band’s instrumental abilities and Ross’ voice in a way that fits the spooky tone of the song and doesn’t reek of overcompensation. The cowbell intro and the operatic group-sung refrain are quite fitting additions to the band’s sound on the subsequent title track as well. I also really like the short, creepy clean guitar intro that kicks off the speed metal gallop of “The Doomsday Clock” and the odd introductory vocal and palm-muted guitar melodies that open the song “Ophidian”. “Who Among Us” also has a similarly cool clean intro that opens the gates well for the classic heavy metal bulk of the track.

My one gripe with the album is that the band’s lack of variety of their approach across it kind of lends itself to a gradual loss of interest over time, a bit unfair to the songs on the latter half of the record which don’t differ much in quality from those on the front half. They just don’t differ much in their writing either, which is something an album like this reall needs. Classic heavy metal has lasted into this decade by way of sharp songwriting, and if a band can’t prove themselves to be more than a one-trick pony, they generally don’t make a strong enough case for their longevity in this day and age, and Satan definitely run that risk. Though they do benefit, perhaps unintentionally, from a modern strategy of making an appeal through a consistent and classically ritualistic heavy metal vibe, kind of turning sweet licks and tasty riffs into a swirling old-school atmosphere. In a strange way, Cruel Magic is deficient for what it is, but also takes a twist into atmospheric quality. It’s by no means a poor effort from the resurrected group; it’s a consistent, competent album. But it’s also definitely one-dimensional and definitely not quite up to the same modern writing standard heavy metal’s legendary names are held to this decade.