Release length: 58:46
Review posted on May 2nd, 2011
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Overall Score:7.5/10
Discography
Discography covers all information available up to day of review and is updated if future albums are reviewed.
Full-Length(s):
Metal from Hell (1986) • Archidoxes of Evil (2000) • Burning the Born Again... (A New Philosophy) (2004)
Satanic Grimoire: A Greater Black Magick (2006) • The Great American Scapegoat 666 • Power ~ Purity ~ Perfection...999 (2009) By the Hands of the Devil (2011)
EP(s):
Midnight Wind (1987) • In Articulo Mortis (1999)
DVD(s):
Assault of Evil...666 (2010)
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Review
Satan's Host originally started out as a late eighties Heavy Metal act. Among the list of members was vocalist Harry "The Tyrant" Conklin on vocals, later known for his time with the band Jag Panzer. However, by the time the band's second album was due out, Harry left to work with Titan Force, and the band split up. In 2000, Satan's Host had been reborn and released Archidoxes of Evil, adorning a more traditional Black/Death Metal approach. While fans will know this history already, some may not have known that Harry Conklin has returned to Satan's Host as vocalist, joining bassist Marcus Garcia, drummer Anthony Lopez, and guitarist Patrick Evil to belt out some more blackened Heavy Metal madness. But, with the established concepts of what Black Metal is today, is there really any room for this incarnation of Satan's Host?
The band has always been known for long track and album lengths, and By the Hands of the Devil is no exception, clocking in at just shy of fifty nine minutes, ten tracks long. For the most part, the album is a very interesting mixture fo traditional Heavy Metal compositions with some of the staple foundations of Black Metal. The title track "By the Hands of the Devil" starts off the song, and it's honestly not the best start for the band. It seems as if the music had been composed prior to Harry's return, and the band still wanted to use it. The vocals feel completely out of place against the prodominantly Black Metal musical backdrop, as well as come off being a bit too over the top in the first place. The song feels more like a Progressive Metal song as well, perhaps is a band like Communic had decided to compose a heavily Black Metal influenced release. Luckily the music starts to take a more Heavy and Power Metal approach after this track to better suit the new vocal style.
But some tracks do wind up working out better then others. As the title track feels more an endurance test, wanting to skip past it only a short ways in, "Before the Flame" becomes one of the most impressive tracks for this release. The song seemlessly blends Heavy Metal and Black Metal together with the right amount of Power Metal vocals that feel a little restrained, but in a good way, best suiting the music without conflicting the music being played entirely like the title track. The music here continues to build from the start, it has plenty of strong, fast, and sinister passages musically that are simply fantastic, and everything just feels right about this epic, yet rather sinister track. It also has enough changes to the music and extra elements added, such as a random gutteral-distortion added to the vocals as they build up to that sort of moment, leaving the listener wanting to sit through the entire eight minute song without a problem. "Black Hilted Knife" also comes off like this, though the music definitely has a stronger Black Metal presence, and at times even an old-school Stoner Rock vibe that could be contributed to acts like Black Sabbath in some of the slower bridges performed. The song shows a fantastic vocal range that, again, doesn't go over the top, and the music really works with it to cast an epic Heavy Metal atmosphere to the song while still creating a darker atmosphere, though this time not necessarily sinister, but more dark and mystical, almost ritualistic and occult-like. The vocals also hit a rhaspier traditional Black Metal style in a chanting formation after you hit the half way mark of the song, which aids that atmospheric overtone, and lasts for quite a while without the band overusing it thanks to the music that seperates the two sets of chanting.
This is practically like a night and day difference. From "By the Hands of the Devil" into "Demontia", the album seems to really take itself in the wrong direction. These tracks feel like they last forever, and with the title track you'll constantly be checking to see if the song ended, only to find that sensation of it lasting forever is literally the song feeling like it'll never end and hasn't done so yet. The vocals are often too much and really feel too far over the top, and clash horribly with the music that seems to know the direction it wants to go, but just ultimately doesn't work out and becomes rather bland. The vocals also seem to stick to one annoying approach of being a higher style with no letting up, hence the over the top aspect, and it really just starts to anger the listener due to the lack of range and how off they feel against the music in a Progressive sense that was performed in a way that even Progressive acts wouldn't use. Even fans of Harry from other bands will be fed up with his performance on these tracks, and fans will more then likely want to just remove the material entirely from whatever media device they are using to play it. "Demontia" seems to show the band starting to get their act together though, as the songs do seem a little more compatable with Harry's vocals, which seem to start toning down here, but not by much. Again, it's at "Before the Flame" where everything starts to work out well, and we're given plenty of great tracks full of energy, sinister, or ritualistic overtones that accentuate the best of the group's Black Metal and Power Metal worlds.
The only song that comes after "Before the Flame" that doesn't really seem to do much is "Bleeding Hearts of the Damned". The song clocks in at three minutes and forty three seconds, much shorter then any other song on here, and you can tell it isn't meant to be a typical song like "Before the Flame" or the lighter, more Heavy Metal inspired "Inferior Worlds" with a seven plus length, or any of the other shorter tracks here. Instead this song doesn't really seem to go anywhere and becomes more like an interlude or pause in the madness that both of these styles create for this recording. The music feels more somber and reflective then anything else, though the drumming does incorporate a bit of a tribal feel with some low, deep clean singing. In a sense, it feels a bit like listening to a Danzig song, though the vocals aren't as deep, and there's not as strong a Rock sense to the music. When it does pick up, it just feels like it picked up because of a natural progression in the performanced, but again, it never feels like it reaches it's final destination, now does it feel like it's part of the following track, "Black Hilted Knife" either. There is, of course, "Norwegian Wood", a song that closes out the album and actually feels very out of place, and it should, because the song is a Satanic parody of the song "Norwegian Wood" by The Beatles, being about the church burnings, and it's actually quite a horrific tale which includes a priest being burned alive in that church that the main character of the tale admits to setting on fire, watching happen, then dancing to the blaze.
Given the strong closing track "Norwegian Wood", it's pretty evident that it's lyrics may upset some strong Christians out there, but if one happens to be listening to a band called Satan's Host, either he/she has a sense of humor, or lost their faith in the first place. Aside that, the track is quite enjoyable, though out of place, and in interesting take on such a classic. By the Hands of the Devil is a truly genuine piece of Metal, and the band manages to nicely blend together the Black Metal and Heavy Metal influences that the members have worked with throughout much of their careers. The only problem is the first three tracks feel like a test of willpower and endurance, making you want to swear off future Satan's Host releases, as well as even Jag Panzer. However, when those three are done, the album picks up, becomes a much more solid effort, and an album that will leave a lasting positive impression on the listener, tarnished only by a few songs.
