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Satan's Host > Great American Scapegoat 666 > Reviews
Satan's Host - Great American Scapegoat 666

The soundtrack to summon the Dark Lord - 87%

winterheathen, September 25th, 2008

Satan's Host have been toiling away in the underground for some time now, ever since they reformed in the late 1990's. They've released material independently, spreading the word of Satan, to fans of their diabolical death/black metal art. Finally, with The Great American Scapegoat 666, they received proper distribution thanks to the unholy folks at Moribund Cult, and hopefully it will finally reach the audience it deserves.

Satan's Host, both musically and lyrically, don't really present anything most fans of black metal haven't already heard before, but they do it with such conviction its hard not to be enthralled by it. The band don't just play satanic music, they live it. As such, the album seems to be less a musical experience and more like a satanic ritual.

Even though the album features the creative leads of guitarist Patrick Evil and the pounding, almost tribal drumming of the now departed Pete 3 Wicked, the driving force of Scapegoat is vocalist and poet Eli Elixir. His performance is so passionate that even an atheist like me is expecting to feel the Devil himself tapping me on the shoulder.

Its a credit to the band that this album is well over an hour long but never bores much at all. Highlights are many. 'Black Order' is the best of them all. It has a creepy atmosphere and, as mentioned already, features lyrics devoted to the Dark Lord. Basically, if you've heard a Dark Funeral album before, you kind of know what to expect with the lyrics. Acoustic guitar is used on occasion to great effect on Ave, Lucifer and Infernal Victory. Variety is the name of the game here. Satan's Host don't feel the need to always play 666 miles an hour to get their point across. Patrick even does his best Eddie Van Halen impression on the short instrumental 7 Strings, Sin.

I suppose the only negative I can think of is the occasional feeling of redundancy. Especially on the song Hail Satan, it almost makes me want to scream "All right, we get it, you love Satan, Enough already!" But luckily, those moments are rare, the whole thing is so well presented and executed that it just sucks you out of the real world and into the realms of Hell.

Scapegoat is a far cry from the bands early days, when they played power metal. It's intended to scare the crap out of any God fearing Christian believer, and it succeeds. Hopefully the band will now be known for more that just for once having Jag Panzer singer Harry Conklin in its ranks.

As a side note, I must say that if you have the chance to see this band live, you must do so without any hesitation. It is truly a unique experience, and Eli and Patrick are two of the nicest guys in metal today.

Great Goat of Scapping - 91%

GuntherTheUndying, August 27th, 2008

Talk about obscurity, just look at Satan’s Host! The band’s original incarnation featured Harry Conklin as their vocalist before splitting after a famed debut, but guitarist Patrick Evil resurfaced again with new members and an utter transformation into black/death metal unlike other groups doing similar activities. Still, Satan’s Host stayed dangerously consistent throughout dynamic recordings such as “Burning the Born Again” that pushed new frontiers beyond what eyes could see; charged with influences unbeknownst to expected ears, powerful progression moved the cosmos under Leviathan’s comrades. So, thirty years have passed since conception, yet “The Great American Scapegoat” marks another stage in this group’s fantastic legacy, focusing on successfully shoving the limits of death/black metal once again. You see, not all scapegoats are bad!

Through psychic walls, Satan’s Host warmly embraces witchery that disguises itself in chameleonic forms. Bending like a slut, these gentlemen firmly grasp items melodic, furious, calming, chaotic, and generally awesome to one’s eardrum. This record practices qualities most black/death metal bands preach, but still nothing generic when worshiped here: sharp tremolo picking, fantastic balancing between blast-beats and memorable patterns in the percussion sense, twisted vocals, and old-school solos. But who gets a trophy? Eli Elixir! Face it, the guy has a serious skill behind his flaming larynx; I mean he growls in a singing voice! That’s incredible, or not even possible! Yea some folks might find the album’s lyrics a bit laughable or even disturbing, but that’s how things are done in the Satan’s Host camp. Musically, they can alter any loss on a poetic basis back to darkened fields of instrumental chaos, hence why “The Great American Scapegoat” will easily induce neck-snapping reactions upon first listens.

Also, do I smell a little experimentation? I must! Indeed, a few documentaries about their writing process of this record depict Patrick Evil explaining how he viewed the production a little different than his previous efforts, as seen by chat of using multiple amplifiers, guitars, and other tampering ideas. Of course, his guitar tone waddles from different keys all over the sound barrier, even applying acoustics throughout several anthems, which creates something quite colorful from his performances. Likewise, things seem drawn on atmosphere rather than straight-up brutality; again, another impeccable flip adding enjoyable hues past what a mind would apprehend. At day’s conclusion, Satan’s Host is one of my all-time favorite bands, and this album is just fuel for the tank. Is that how black magic works, guys?

Thirty years of dimension-hopping didn’t have a chance at stopping Satan’s Host here, plus the new slithers of experimental patterns added much more tint to their stellar identity than expectations could foresee; indeed a prodigious offering pushing the configuration and mixture of rabid sub-genres into a single blender of instrumental brilliance. The main thing I really appreciate is the utter balls these guys have. They know metal has no rules, and Satan’s Host continues bending and breaking norms others would not attempt, thus explaining why this record feels like a metallic spell rather than some generic crap. However, “The Great American Scapegoat” is a great album, and Satan’s Host is a wonderful squad many would fundamentally love, so ditch those junky black/death metal CDs you scorn and buy this mighty coin of extreme metal done right. Bam!

This review was written for: www.leviatan-magazine.com