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Satyricon: The Age Of Nero Black Metal Koch Records January 13, 2009
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Review
While Satyricon have definitely evolved, their newer albums have been a bit iffy with many fans. The previous two albums showed off a much lighter version of the band, lacking the speed and rather technical aspects of their previous work. Some have labeled the new sound as "black n'roll" (similar to the now defunct style "death n'roll"). While all of that isn't necessarily a bad thing, the song writing has somewhat faltered on the more recent releases, and is rather obvious on this one. Musically, this album isn't bad. It's comprised of rather simple, yet catchy, guitar riffs and drum work. Many of the songs fall into a more doom type of aspect, such as "The Wolfpack" and "Black Crow On A Tombstone". Of course, this album does have some faster moments, such as "Die By My Hand" with guitar riffs that seem a little more complex then others on the album, and some decently faster double bass. As for the song writing faltering, that lies mostly in the lyrics department. Much of them are rather uninspired and will often make no sense. While this isn't usually something that would be taken into account, some of the lyrics in this album will leave you scratching your head. Take for example the first verse to the track "Commando": In the house of lords, We control the movement, Of your limbs. There is endless beauty, In the might that we possess. Dragons are creatures, Of own imagination. And dragons... Dragons breathe fire. What do dragons have to do with anything in this song? "Commando" would be an amazing track if the lyrics weren't so bad. One other thing that is noticable on this release that might aggrivate people in the long run is the use of low/loud vocals during the chorus, or a random verse. You'll hear the vocalist speak the lyrics very low, almost in the background, and then speak the next line loudly and clearly. "My Skin Is Cold", however, throws some distortion on the lower vocals. If you enjoyed the recent Satyricon albums, you'll love this one. The album isn't really a bad album, it's just that The Age Of Nero is just another pattern followed album by Satyricon with less originality on it. This release does make for some excellent driving music. The only sad thing is that some of the longer songs are perhaps the best on this release, but wind up having long, slower moments that will cause the tracks "Die By My Hand" and "The Sign Of The Trident" to become rather boring, not to mention that many of the other tracks on here, such as "My Skin Is Cold" and "Den Siste" seem rather watered down. The choice is yours.
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