The Early Years: Dawn of Darkness

I agree with the other review. The first noticeably bad thing with the album is it's lack of freshness and originality. The first few songs are short, choppy, dull. But then comes song number 5, Breath of the Serpent that Rules the Cold World, this was the first song that stuck out to me, and I really like it. Good intro, easy, yet fitting drum part, and some really good sounding guitars. The singer doesn't sound like he got totally wasted and drunk before he recorded the song, like most the othr songs do. Then there comes the breakdown before the solo, the breakdown having that strong metal sound that I think is the best part of the cd. The cd is good and unique also. After that, the next good song is number 7, Nocturnal Presence. A pretty good song with a great solo that really captures that "we hate God" emotion. The next few songs are dull and all sound the same until you reach song 12, Domine Lucipheros. Short, fast, yelling, a really good song. The next good song is my favorite, Hatred of God. This is an excellent song, with fast guitars, great fiting drums, and the hardest to understand singing in the history of recording. I can only make out him saying something like "hatred of God will live forever, 'something' will prevaile" and I caught the world destruction in there as well. The rest of the cd is that dull, choppy bad timing guitar rhythm and slurred speech. Some good songs to listen to are Demons Feast, number 17, Forever I Burn, which is on there 3 times, Land of the Unholy Souls which is track 22, One Night In Hell number 23 is a good one also. That's basically it for this cd. The biggest donsides are the choppy rhythms that really kill the mood and the boring singing that stays the same except in the specific songs listed above. I give it a 75, and every metalhead should hear the cd, at least the songs I mentioned above.

EMAIL ME FOR TABS FOR HATRED OF GOD AND ONE NIGHT IN HELL

Satanic Slaughter are one of the least impressive bands I have heard but somehow manage to be very entertaining at times. They are masters of the bog-blast black metal with creaky vocals that pour from a bad "bass-drum-tapping" mix that somehow creates a certain mood of "evil" and "hatred." The lyrics are the same old "we hate Jesus" load and while I normally like this...the focus on this CD is the competent, if understated musicianship and the all important quest for the "evil vibe". They're not quite Krisiun for speed and attack, but they're also not Darkthrone in terms of playing and vibe. They are just...a band called Satanic Slaughter!

It's obvious that the band gets better with time and development. The longer this CD goes, the better the songs get. The band write songs in the typical "swirl of death" style of black metal with a few neato guitar/bass interludes here and there. The swirl never really leaves as this compilation progresses...it just kind of hones intself into a somewhat deadlier swirl. Despite these limitations, it makes a for a few good listens before it all wears off into nothingness. Satanic Slaughter don't really compose...they just swirl and attack like a bunch of carnivore locusts.

Satanic Slaughter are a skilled, and often come with a great melody to drive things, but they aren't the most amazing of bands either. This being said, I suggest all fans of extreme black metal pop their heads out to check this out...but this WON'T be converting the hammerfall fans.