Satyricon
Rebel Extravaganza
[Nuclear Blast]


I do not often judge an album with its cover, but when I saw this one I was just like "What have they done? Why isn't there any more hair on Satyr's head? ". Just think about the title and its gay sonorities and you'll understand how I was disappointed... I just bought that CD, put it in my player and then was completely shocked: when the first notes from the first track appeared, I couldn't believe that this band was the one who recorded such masterpieces as "The shadowthrone" or "Dark medieval times". Then I began to look at the cover: I do not know where they took these photos, but it must be in a depository, far from $atyr's new house paid by Nuclear Ass...

That first track is long, too long... it is a mix of modern stuff, trip hop or I do not know what other shit with some old SATYRICON influences. The second one is no more black metal, neither is the 3rd, the 4th etc. The recurrent spasmodic pace made me puke all the praises I could have sung for this band. The rhythm accelerations have no reason to exist if it is to give them a reason to say "look at us, we are the best Black Metal band in the world", which is actually not the case as it is NOT Black Metal at all. Here it is music for kids who got rid off the last Fear Factory CD to buy some other trendy crap.

The second track is a pure shame, no REAL metal act could have done that without the aim to gain a new audience, no, new CUSTOMERS, in order to make profits out of its music. Then comes "Havoc Vulture" : that track would be great to play in night club, I'm sure techno-addicts full of ecstasy would like it but I can't bear it.

The fifth track is the only one that seems acceptable to me, but it is in my sense a copy of DØDHEIMSGARD's excellent (past) stuff, with Fenriz on the Drums, which is intolerable for SATYRICON : how can they copy other bands as they were during almost 5 years the leaders of a fucking great style ???

I will not tell you about the other tracks, which are uninteresting and boring, but I have to say that couldn't believe my ears when I heard the last one, a 10' long defecation with extremely fast drumming session and a sort of gospel sing in the middle of the track. It comes as a crowning piece for those who still believed in the band after the 2 MCDs that had introduced their change. With this track they say "hey, you think you've heard the most rotten songs ever? Listen to this now !" to all their previous fanatics.

This CD is the ultimate proof, with other stuff (last EMPEROR, GORGOROTH & MAYHEM CDs for example), that Norwegian Black metal is definitely dead, only the gods DARKTHRONE still deserve to have the mention "true black metal kings". Nuclear Blast and other traitors' record companies (Century Media) have managed to pervert & corrupt a scene that I think was untouchable. Now you can offer "Black Metal" CDs to your girlfriend who ordinary listens to Britney Spears, she'll like them for sure. And take a look at $atyr's propaganda website : he is proud to announce that his band was chosen as the best live band during the last Norwegian grammy awards, and he states the number of CDs he sold on the previous month. This must be more important than the music itself I guess… I hope they die by intoxication after licking Nuclear Blast's boss' ass.

Rating : 1 /10 (and if Fenriz hadn't been there...)


© 2001 lord pesten