Satanic Warmaster is a one man band from Finland, led by Tyrant Werewolf, who's a part of many different bands, the most popular one
besides Satanic Warmaster being Horna, who also have some great records, one that even came out the same year as this one, Exultation
of Cruelty (Werewolf, 2024) However I'm just a huge fan of Satanic Warmaster's first three albums, especially Carelian Satanic Madness
(No Colours, 2005) and the debut Strength and Honor (Northern Heritage, 2001). While this record doesn't exactly sound like it was
recorded in a tin can or was trying to sound really noisy or abrasive, it still retains that signature raw black metal production. What
separates Satanic Warmaster from other black metal bands in general, is that they're one of the few artists with highly engaging riffs
and stay true to the bare bones raw black metal sound. First off let’s look at the cover, and, well, this dude looks super pissed off.
He’s got the animal carcasses on the wall in the back, and quite the large curtain. I’ve never seen anyone pull off these spikes this
well, besides maybe Venom. Reminds me of the gloves Varg wore that one time. Opens with the track Black of Circle of Death
which starts off with some standard "in-your-face" black metal and eventually leads into a pretty great riff, and then switches up
the tempo and takes a darker turn in a style Satanic Warmaster does really well. The second track Harken the Bells of Damnation
literally opens with the sound of an explosion and goes immediately back into the gritty evil playing. The song "As Blood Snarls a
Macabre Silhouette" is almost 8 minutes long and prominently features a pretty moody and emotional riff that fans of DSBM might
enjoy. However it still conveys a serious range of interesting guitar ideas, and picks up the speed at the end. There's a track without
any vocals, "Lord of Blood and Darkness (Der Drachenprinz)" which implements some dark keyboards underneath the heavy guitars.
It's definitely one of the highlights of the album, because personally I just love black metal instrumentals like this. "Exhale the Vapor of
Starlit Tombs" has an amazing instrumental that switches itself up quite a bit and has some depth to it. "Behold the Infernal Kingdom of
Hell" is probably my favorite track for its incredibly unique and memorable guitar tone at certain moments, and I'd consider it the most
aggressive track. The closing track "A Dead Rose for a Dying World" is another highlight. There’s 9 minutes of intensity in its purest
form.