Sathamel - Sathamel

(Words by Griefmonger, archivist of blackened aural misanthropies) 

A brutal black metal record? "What?" I hear you exclaim! "Warm bass and deep vocals?" Shock horror! What would seem at first as your average death metal chunk-and-stop evolves into a black death slugger quicker than water into good red wine. We have the drill of the tremolo layering the typical bellow and breakdown-friendly nod that what would normally be a staple of a death metal band. Sathamel build a song, but very quickly the meat of the mainstay is brought to bear. If you're into frostbitten kingdoms, you're not going to get it here; instead of hyperthermia, you're going to get a baton of freshly smithed nails smashed into your head. 

Its more on the melodic side of British black metal, but its heavy as fuck. If these guys were born in Poland then they would be held aloft. (Early) Decapitated and Behemoth seem to be the influence. It would probably be a crime not to mention that there is a bit of Belphegor here too but without a lyric sheet I might be wrong……

Tracks that stand out are "Wingless", "Abbadon" ( c’mon, a song about a deity that brings three versions of the bible into question can’t be bad) and "Eternal Hunters". It is not to put into question the other three tracks, but like the songs themselves, these tracks are the ones that build the album into a crescendo. Just listen to it, okay!

Witnessing them live also I can attribute the blood drenched image they use suites better than the crisp corpse paint. these guys will make you bang your head and none of that is lost on the recorded version. Also, the release is in a nice double cardboard sleeve (wish there was a lyric sheet though), and it has a chained up fat bird with her intestines and serpents bursting out of her so its fucking cool, alright? 

Look, listen and learn - there is a brutal black metal band (dare I say blackened death metal?) scene in the UK.