Conquistador have definitely put out some cool releases (i.e. Sargatanas' The Enlightenment) and I had heard this Pennsylvanian band were rather good as well, so you can imagine I was quite pleased when I pulled this out of a dollar bin one day. Formerly known as Bathym, Sathanas are rather notorious for bad luck with bankrupt labels (Conquistador themselves having to be brought out by Supernal music) and they've played a lot of shows with more well known acts such as Incantation, Immolation and Acheron. Indeed their classic opus "Jaws of Satan" has been covered by at least five bands and is often regarded as one of the best songs to ever manifest from the U.S. death/thrash underground, led by a very traditional Sodom/Destruction influence and a rocking authentic sound.

Well, this was definitely worth my dollar and reminds me a great deal of early Sepultura, but unfortunately most of it is also rather boring and I have to admit in the end I was pretty disappointed with Armies of Charon. Habitually characterized by simplistic structures and a hollow bass/guitar sound with shallow drums, the production is absolutely terrible for the music and everything sounds weak and thin. The first time I heard The Enlightenment open with "Eternal Darkness" I felt like somebody had hit me in the head with a fucking brick and I can scarcely believe this is the same label. Conquistador can hardly be blamed though because the album itself is lackluster and even with a great production I doubt I could have gotten into this.

Nothing special here.

© 2001 hando