Customer Reviews

Volcano

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"ON MY SIGNAL.....UNLEASH HELL"

and with those words one of my favorite albums begins. This is my favorite satyricon reconrd next to Nemesis Divina. Sure the guitar wor is slower and the sound is alot clearer then previous Satyricon releases but still an incredible album. Satyr is a musical genius, He handles all vocal,lyric,synth,bass,guitar work for satyricon the other member of satyricon, Frost, right now hes one of my favorite drummers. This might be his best satyricon album. Here is the problem people seem to have with this album. Its there 1st on a major record label which is owned by the guitarist from the well known nu-metal band system of a down. I say, so frigging what hes not making the damn album so don't judge it by that. My favorite tracks off of "volcano" would be Fuel for hatred, repined (...) natin and mental mercury.

extra features includes the unedited banned version of the video for "fuel for hatred" I hope this review could help you on this certain album, enjoy.

Satyr's a lucky guy. Satyricon is the first black metal band to get a major label release, and they remain 100% in control of the direction of their music and artistic presence. Before the release of this album, I read an interview with Satyr-- He came off as highly pretentious, calling his new work "state-of-the-art black metal..." But after finally listening to Volcano, I can't say I can disagree with him. Being a relatively mainstream release, I can imagine not only Burzum-obsessed 17-year olds shunning Volcano, but I don't see CoF and Dimmu-worshipping symphonic black metal fans embracing this any time soon either. Their loss.

The album has a few progressive tints scattered throughout the song structures, but it's mostly minimalistic black metal with a few hard rock and thrash elements. The songs are a bit doomier/slower as well as more expansive, dragging you through some twisted chord progressions that cut like sharp rocks. This is by no means how I imagined Satyricon's EUM debut, and I rather like it. You don't have to atonally grind for an album to reflect an attitude that doesn't accept compromise.

This album starts out with the song "With Ravenous Hunger," a fitting opener. It begins with some alternating growls and hair-raising spoken-word verses by Satyr, laid over some sharp arrangements featuring intelligent use of melody.

The second track, bearing the silly name "angstridden," kind of shambles along and introduces some female vocals into the mix. I can't remember her name, but she's apparently the daughter of some esteemed Jazz musician. Anyway, her vocals are fragile, yet darkly mysterious. And yes, I do know what a cliche it is to describe female vocals with those adjectives. The song eventually gives way to some chilling keyboard meanderings at the end. (Don't think Dimmu.)

"Fuel For Hatred" is the most controversial track. People say it was added simply for the purpose of a "hit single," and that it's musically simple. And yes, it is. But to that I say, so what? It recalls the days of Celtic Frost and Bathory, in some ways. And Frosts's fluttering double-bass is always fun to listen to.

"Suffering the Tyrant" is pretty nondescript the first few listens. Lots of seemingly random spoken-word parts, and some nice vitriolic hisses by Satyr as usual. "Possessed" is another thrasher in vein of "Fuel...," and unlike the aforementioned song, is quite interesting structurally. "Repined Bastard Nation" is one of my favorites, with some sharp hooks and venemous vocals.

"Mental Mercury" is trance inducing, with some intentionally monotonous grinding passages that lead into lush tremolo melodies. It slows down to a hypnotic crawl, before being engulfed in chiming keyboards.

"Grey heavens!... No light shed!" Satyr snarls, initiating the 15 minute epic, "Black lava." It's very tiring to listen to, and as repetitive as you hear. It brings to mind being trapped on the side of a magma-drenched mountain. War drums(!)and incredible female vocals attribute to an early sense of variety, before one riff obsessively maintains for several minutes. I'm afraid describing the song does in no justice, since its strength lays in the repetition. That fact Satyr pulls off what even Varg has had trouble doing is intriguing.

If you're a fan of black metal, or metal in general, I highly recommend anything Satyricon has done. (Especially Dark Medieval Times.) Disregard the simple-minded, black metal doesn't mean releasing the same album over and over again.
- Thus says the Pellington

first off to the idiots that think they are to cool to listen to this just cuz its missing a few elements of "true" black metal you are ignorant cuz Satyricon has always been in the 2nd wave of Black metal with bands such as Marduk, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Emperor, Immortal, Carpathian Forest, and many of the others. just cuz they wanted expand their musical horizons isnt a bad thing. i mean why would you want a cd that sounds exactly like the last...

Every time a band tries something somewhat new or even slightly different the unimaginative fans start screaming sell-out. How in hell does a black metal band sell-out anyway, I'd really like to know. Do they start singing about beer and girls? Or perhaps they start endorsing cell phone companies, they'll all satanic anyway right? Or maybe they start writing love songs with rap breakdowns in the middle. "Yo man lets get a DJ, that'll help sell our CDs to the kids yo!" Well Satyricon don't do any of those things on Volcano. What they do is play some great dark as f*ck metal. No, its not as fast as some of their previous work but its heavy, grim and cold. Satyr is an excellent black metal songwriter and Frost is one of the best drummers in the genre. Is this their best album? No, some of the songs could have used editing: Black Lava is 14 minutes long, it drags after a bit (still got some good riffs and atmosphere). Suffering the Tyrants, Possessed and Fuel for Hatred all shred. Volcano is a very solid effort, but not a masterpiece. Buy it and be happy that Satyricon is still putting out excellent material.

And yet another band pulls itself out of the typical black metal cycle (in which, basically, everyone does the exact same thing they did in 1994) only to be called sell-outs. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Hmm... if this is selling out, then I hope everyone starts doing it.

This is Satyr & Frost's most minimalist effort, and for the most part has a 'black'n'roll' feel to it, not unlike Darkthrone's "Total Death" album from 10 years ago... yet definitely not a copy.

The production is surprisingly clean (possibly due to major label budget - Satyricon went corporate with this release) which helps the album along significantly, lending clarity to the sound and a cold edge to Satyr's nasty little growls.

Some very fitting and well-performed female vocals poke their way in on a few occasions (most notably on "Angstridden" and "Black Lava") and really do set the tone for the movements in which they're used.

Song picks here would be the two mentioned above, as well as "Mental Mercury" for having an ending that simply blew my head off - one of the best uses of repetition I've heard in the genre, ever.

This is definitely the highlight of Satyricon's catalogue, and a must-have for any fans of straight-forward 'blackened' metal without the bells and whistles that many other bands have made use of.

Yes, this is my first Satyricon album and it certaintly won't be my last. Overall the cd is very good but sadly Satyricon seems to be heading towards a more mainstream approach similar to Cradle of Filth. Some of the songs have a nu-metal vibe to them and that is my main disappointment with this cd. Despite that, Volcano still has a more underground sound than COF or Dimmu's latest so hopefully they will hang on to that for their next album. Other than that its quite good and if your looking for some more modern black metal then be sure to pick this up.

My thoughts won't be for this album in particular, but for all the new black metal musical direction. Many bands such as Darkthrone, Mayhem, Arcturus, Kovenant, Ulver, Thorns, have set sail to a kind of avant-garde musical expression, and Satyricon is in the front waging the flag. I love the old school black metal, the washed out and harsh recordings done overnight in a necrohell 4-track machine, but you can only keep pushing the cart for so long. It gets to a point where it may get boring seeing the outbreak of mediocre imitators that lack completely the essence of true black metal - which for me is simply express a deep feeling of anger, dispair and nihilism, no matter the musical form. Sooner or later you have to stop kicking the same dead horse, and take on a new approach, and that new approach is what you see in this work from Satyricon, and from many of the extremely skilled norwegian black metallers. A modern sound, keeping the familiar touch of grimness and coldness I have always loved, without falling into the cliche trends of techno and other stuff, that even though is valid, some bands just abuse of those resources.

So, all in all, I fully embrace this new approach from all these guys, not only Satyricon: a fresh sound, a break from the boring music being released nowadays.

This is Satyricon's best album IMO. Ten Horns Ten Diadems was better, but that was a "best of" album so it doesn't count. This doesn't even remotely resemble nu-metal. Volcano actually feels like an old-school black metal album to me. There is some experimentation on this cd, that works out very well. Any black metal fan should pick this up. Highly recommended!

I've just begun exploring the realm of Black Metal, so I don't come here as an expert. All I'm saying is that this CD makes me want to search out and hear more from the genre. The guitars are perfectly crisp and precise, the vocals are audible and executed brutally well (not buried in the mix like some black metal I've heard---sorry, I find that annoying), and the songs have many catchy, memorable elements. I'm very pleased to own this CD.

As a Black Metal newbie, I would highly recommend others listen to Satyricon's "Volcano" and also Cradle of Filth's "Damnation and a Day."

This is a brutal and experimental album from these's masters of the black metal genre. They manage to have a kinda early black metal sound mixed with alot of experimental techniques, and very odd drum beats, while keeping a great and dark atmousphere. \m/