Metal from Hell

We'd better add yet another great album to the list of legendary albums that came out in 1986 with this record. I'm not saying that "Metal From Hell" is legendary or that is of the same caliber as say "Pleasure to Kill" or "Reign in Blood," but it's a damn fine album that deserves a mention or two anytime that unholy year is brought about. Satan's Host are one of the more peculiar power metal groups from the United States, in that they were much darker and evil than bands like Omen, Griffin, Jag Panzer, and many of the other popular US acts in the early to mid '80s. Their lyrical focus was all about Satan, hell, death, and the evil kind of stuff like that, not your normal power metal type lyrics. Another part of their music that separated them from other bands was the production on this album. It's terrible, but in a great way that adds to the atmosphere, similar to bands like Iron Cross or Heathen's Rage.

Musically, Satan's Host knew exactly how to work their instruments to near perfection. The riffs range from derivative thrash/speed metal blitzkriegs, to complete Motorhead worship, all the way over to stellar riffs that are blended with melody much like many of the USPM bands of the day. "Black Steele" is a catchy, thrashy track sure to get your headbanging and the next song "Into the Veil" is another decent song, but once past those two tracks, "Metal From Hell" comes in and blows the preceding two completely out of the water with a punk-inspired assault and intense vocals that command the listener's attention. Leviathan's vocals are a definite highlight on this record, as he can sing cleanly and beautifully, but can also scream his fucking lungs out and capture an evil, almost maniacal sound ("King of Terror"). The track "Hell Fire" is an epic one that epitomizes power metal with its terrific intro, top-notch riffs and the incredible guitar solos that lead into a clean section where, Leviathan, once again shows off his vocal skills.

Much like the vocals and guitars, the bassist's performance on this record is fantastic. There are plenty of nice fills, like on "Strongest of the Night" where the bass almost outshines the guitar solos. The bass parts on the intro to "Hell Fire" is another moment that should be highlighted, as it contributed to the overall brilliance of the track. The drumming isn't quite as special as the other instruments, but it's adequate and no complaints can be made. "Metal From Hell" is quite easily a gem of the USPM scene (Which was one of the best scenes around) simply because it conjured evil spirits and demons that other bands simply could not, and for that I salute Satan's Host.


Highlights
"Metal From Hell"
"King of Terror"
"Hell Fire"

Originally written for Nightmare Reality Webzine.
nightmarerealitywebzine.blogspot.com

Ah, Metal from Hell. The album that's become pretty infamous for its atrocious mixing and extremely inconsistent production. Half the time you can't even tell where the instruments have gone, while special effects seemingly appear out of nowhere. One things for certain however, this is one dark and demonic venture. The distorted sounds and twisted instruments create this odd and evil atmosphere that works exceptionally well. If we're going to call this one power metal, its in a lost void of its own.

Satan's Host was constructed by none other than Harry Conklin himself, after Jag Panzer apparently fell through the cracks for awhile after their classic release Ample Destruction and a few demos. Conklin doesn't seem to allow anything to hold him or the band back here and their lyrics easily represent that. Unlike hundreds of bands out there that put on a mask to do their show, only to hide their true beliefs and to leave it all behind once its over, Satan's Host is without a question extremely believable and convincing.

Despite the flaws and the constant sound/mixing changes between the tracks, there's still a great deal of memorable riffs and whatnot here. The guitar is usually heavily distorted, but sometimes tends to come out like nothing but a huge wall of sound. When its in the clear, the riffwork is very dynamic with constant changes and at times is even rather complex with a lot of thrash influences. Unfortunately the leads are lost in the midst of everything more than anything else, with Souls in Exile as a more noticeable exception. When the songs are in slower states the bass stands out quite a bit and is actually easy to hear. Its always there and thicken's this evil smoke, but never really tramples over the other instruments outside of the impressive intro's. The bass actually opens up more than a handful of the tracks here. Drums are pretty explosive and downright fast. Other than that, they are usually middle-of-the-road here in terms of quality and technicality, just like all the instruments. With the incredibly odd mixing and inconsistency, it somehow works and doesn't ruin the album.

But if there were a single reason to hear this album out, it would be for Harry Conklin's vocals alone. I'd go as far as to make the claim that these are perhaps some of the most diverse and craziest vocals ever recorded in metal history. Even if you thought his commanding and rather flawless performance on Ample Destruction could never be surpassed, think again. He makes this hellish album more convincing than anyone else ever could have. This kind of class and performance is hardly matched. His true range is revealed and just when you thought he could not go any higher or lower, he does. With songs like In the Veil I find myself in a complete lost awe, speechless as to how much energy and effort is put into his singing. Its unbelievable such a leap could be made from Ample Destruction and compared to even Titan Force's releases with Conklin, if the vocals on those albums were not already good enough, but he makes it happen and with these three bands I think its clearly displayed he was and forever will be a true Legend within heavy metal.

Those looking for something truly demonic and evil that doesn't find itself in the death metal realm or anything should check this album out. Overall I'd say the album deserves an 85 or so, but if I were grading Conklin's vocals alone I'd wish it would be possible to give ratings above 100.

This album is an atypical representative of US 80’s Power Metal. It can be best characterized as a cross between epic Heavy Metal and Thrash. The closest analogue would be Satan (1982) – Into The Fire [Demo]. Though this demo is not that thrashy it can be considered the prototype of this album. Vocals and epic touch of this demo definitely share some similarities with the material on “Metal From Hell”. Iron Maiden influences can be traced here as well.
The material on this album is very diverse; it varies much from song to song and even within the songs. Variety is achieved through complex song structures and numerous time changes. Song often consists of strongly contrast parts, but nevertheless they are solid units, not just random riffs thrown together. In general the album is violent and at times is like an uncontrolled burst-out.

Vocals.

Vocal performance of Harry Conklin a.k.a Leviathan Thisiren, on this album can be considered one of the best in the metal history. Vocals stand out against the instrumental part of the album, but it doesn’t mean that the instrumental part is weak, just vocals are over the top. Conklin has a very wide range and powerful lungs. He uses different types of singing: from singing in a clear voice to insane long high pitched screams. Usually he sings in a high pitched voice. And sure you can find him “barking” out lyrics just like in many of the Thrash Metal songs. Lots of unusual vocal melodies and rhythm patterns. Most of the refrains on the album are performed by chorus consisting of the band members such approach makes album more powerful. The production of the vocals deserves special attention. Vocals dominate the mix and complex arrangements remind of Queen. In the song Strongest of The Night, Harry sings accompanied by the choir, created from his own voice, in the background. Such method is used throughout the album, but mostly the background choir arrangement is executed by the rest of the band and the level of it in the mix is lower (King of Terror). Sometimes his singing reminds of Eric Adams from Manowar.

Guitars.

Guitar tone of the album is similar to some of the US 80’s PM bands but it is more distorted and flanged, which makes the sound similar to the one that was used by 1st wave Black Metal bands. This album provides listener with a wide range of riffs from melodic to thrashy and blackish ones. Lots of melodies are skillfully woven into the album. Within one song one can find both aggressive thrash riffs and more epic, melodic, Power Metal riffs. Variety in riffing styles and riffs them selves makes it possible to expose complex song structures and odd rhythm patterns.
Lead breaks on this album are melodic, but some songs have chaotic leads. There can be more than one lead break per song, unlike in many bands lead breaks do not sound random and they do not seam to appear from out of nowhere.

Bass.

As there is only one guitar on the album, bass is perfectly audible all the time, which is not typical of Metal. It compensates the lack of the second guitar; it is primary instrument of the same priority as drums or guitar. Here you can meet bass solos that back up the guitar leads, independent bass leads (on this album they are as common as guitar solos), sections where bass duels guitar or sections where the main melody/riffs are led by bass guitar. Bass parts are complex and melodic; these characteristics are hard to combine. The bassist has definitely found the solution of this problem. The instrument is usually played at low frets, which makes its sound unusually high. In some certain places “wah” effect is used. Virtuosic execution reminds of Cliff Burton’s solos.

Drums.

Drums on this release sound powerful. Drum parts are not extremely complex like in technical Death Metal (still above average for Power/Thrash) but they are technically and precisely executed. There are many unusual rhythm patterns, changes. In some songs march-like drumming is used. There is no lack in time changes: in some sections drumming is lightning fast while in the other sections it is slower and more complex. The drumming sometimes seems too intense for the songs and reminds of something one could find on Thrash album. The reason for this is the powerful and relentless double bass. Drumming makes this album sound heavier and more aggressive.

Production.

This is the only drawback of the album, and this draw back is serious. Drums and vocals fully dominate the sound. Vocals are the best produced part of the album, while drums despite dominating the production sound muddy. Guitars are often drowned behind the drums; this is especially evident in the Thrash sections of the songs. Due to its setup bass is audible and sounds great despite the generally weak production of the album. Production level is comparable to the one of the decently produced demo. Complex vocals arrangements and the fact that all instruments are relatively audible make me wonder a lot considering the production level.

Lyrics.

Lyrics are well written and can with no doubt be called poetry. For its time they are extremely satanic. Of course there were Possessed with their lyrics about death, hell and evil but the lyrics did not concentrate on hailing and praising Satan, like this album does: “Across the Abyss we fly, protecting the souls in the hands of Belial “, “I swore the oath of Satan: to be forever strong”, “We are - Warriors Of Satan”,” Enlightened by Lucifer” or “We shall serve until the end, as Lucifer's friend “. The lyrics are filled with “magick” and references to Necronomicon: “We dedicate this song, this day, this hour to the ancient ones - who gave us this evil power”, “Do what thou wilt!” and the whole song “Strongest Of The Night”. If Venom did not take them selves and what they sang about seriously, then Satan’s Host seem to be very serious about their material: in their lyrics they have created their own world that is filled with evil, darkness, black magic(k), gods of hell and underworld, spirits etc. In the final song of the album there is a section which is called Proclamation, there the band proclaims them selves as “The Final Race” and in the song Hellfire they call them selves “the dark prophets of the 21st century” this makes lyrics sound pretentious, but does not seem to be a joke as well. The interview with the band (http://www.voicesfromthedarkside.de/interviews/satanshost.htm) also assured me that this is 100% serious.

Comments and highlights of songs.

Prelude: Flaming Host. This is an introduction where Leviathan Thisiren makes a speech in a modified voice that sets the tone for the whole album. Intro sounds pointless, but after analyzing and keeping in mind the general direction of the album and the way the album ends, I came to a conclusion, that it could have been made to give album a feeling of a solid unit (the album begins with spoken words and ends in practically the same way, by “proclamation” which is also a speech).

Black Steele. This mid paced song is on the Thrashy end of the spectrum of the album. Rather standard in the context of this album. Remarkably powerful backing vocals in the chorus.

Into The Veil. The song can boast several time/riff changes and several sections the most remarkable of them are the 1st verse and 4th verse which has interesting riffs beneath the vocals.
This song with melodic guitar and bass work is on the epic/ power metal end of the spectrum.

Metal From Hell. Intense thrashy song that starts with insane scream of Conklin. Interesting choir-like arrangements of back vocals. Several time changes.

King Of Terror. On of the most intense songs on this album with both Thrash and Power Metal sections. Starts as a Thrash song to subsequently turn into melodic Power Metal with melodic guitar work.

Strongest Of The Night. The heaviest and the wildest song on this album. Lots of time changes, unusually chaotic guitar lead break and melodic bass solo that follows it. Song slows up and down several times. By the 4th verse it considerably slows down and complex vocal arrangement (for a detailed description check the part of the review about vocals) comes in. Compared to the rest of the song the rhythm, riffs and drum parts are different. This sections speeds up to return to the initial tempo of the song. Before coming to an end the song tempo changes and it turns to chaotic soling. Finally it ends with a set of fast riffs.

Standing At Death’s Door. Mid paced song with a typical for this album structure (several sections, each has its own tempo and riffs) and time changes. Ends up with a choir-like vocals arrangement executed in an almost classical manner. The song belongs to the epic end of the spectrum.

Hellfire. The song is bass driven, even contains a bass solo. In the starting slow section guitar is in the background playing a lead break. The song is full of time changes and encloses a number of different, fast paced to slow paced sections. In the slow sections bass leads the song and guitar plays one and the same melody in the background. There are two guitar leads in the song ; the first lead is as early as 1:30 and the second one is in the closing section of the song. Hellfire is a demonstration of Conklin’s singing skills, here you can find him both singing in a clean voice
and making long screams demonstrating the power of his lungs. Together with the Souls In Exile song, Hellfire is structurally the most complex song of the album. The song belongs to the epic end of the spectrum.

Souls In Exile. This closing number really sums up the album : it encloses all typical features of this album : epic Power-Metalish and contrasting Thrashy sections, melodic and technical guitar lead breaks, bass solo (at 05:13 bass duels guitars), unexpected changes that are provided through complex song structure, both clean and shrieky singing styles, powerful backing vocals arrangements in choruses and choir like arrangements of lead vocals. The song ends with a part that is entitled “Proclamation”, which is a rather long speech by Leviathan Thisiren. The speech is very pretentious, but in the context of the band it blends with the rest of material perfectly as well as it is a perfectly logical end for this album, considering the way it started.

This album is highly recommended as for the fans of Power Metal and for those who like good-old 80’s Metal, so for the ones who prefer extreme Metal subgenres.

“...welcome to our kingdom of darkness. It won’t be long ‘til you find your place in Hell…”

I first read of this lp while perusing an old (then new) '86 issue of the Danish zine Blackthorn (RIP) where editors Henk and Ebson sarcastically dropkick the band’s uniqueness (i.e. naming the sides ‘evil’ and ‘wicked’, hokey stage names like Lucifer and Belial, the overdone Satanic principle rule on the back cover) as well as basically say the endeavor is as original as ice fishing in the arctic. They also declare Satan’s Host’s sound is ‘very close to Omen, especially the singer’ and applaud the lp’s production. Finally found the damn lp about five years ago. A pretty penny later, Metal From Hell was mine. Looks damn good on my wall, too.

While I can find some similarities, Omen never had an unkempt demeanor and weren’t this untamed even on their most violent day, and if all the controlled metal singers in the void ever had a foot race, J.D. Kimball (RIP) and his traditional tenor would be right in there hoofing it out. Vocalist Leviathan Thisiren a.k.a. Tyrant a.k.a. Harry Conklin diverts his lungs from Jag Panzer for this lp, dispensing volatile, coarse-edged vox that tends to be the dominant force on the lp, but every once in awhile he’ll unleash a very strained and almost laughable scream that sounds like it would be way out of his range even if he could touch the note, but in other instances he’ll somehow deliver the necessary wail. For aural imagery, splice Taking Over-era Bobby Ellsworth and Cyclone’s Guido Gevels and you have something akin to Leviathan. Musically there is nothing disciplined about Satan’s Host, taking a usual, yet rough Maiden influence and ramming it through a thrash shredder, then flattening it with a power metal press.

While not totally forgettable, these eight tracks (not counting the useless intro that Destruction did a hundred-fold better two years earlier) will never leap triumphantly to the top of the powerthrash heap, and though I’m positive there are some fans out there that think this is the greatest thing since the umbrella, I feel this lp doesn’t rise above the ranking of a mere novelty item much like anomalous releases by Lone Rager and Piledriver. “Black Steel” has moments that are nearly epic. It also has some of the most repellent backing vocal action I’ve heard since the ones in Thor’s “Lightning Strikes” sleepily waded into my life. “Into the Veil” formidably prevails with added intensity and a few rhythm shifts just to keep it interesting. It’s at the start of the title track where you can hear just how much distortion soaks the guitars, meanwhile the song’s structure and chorus closely resembles pre-Under the Influence Overkill. “King of Terror” topples off the deep end a bit both musically and vocally, Conklin off time now and then while the rhythm section only wrestles with any cohesiveness.

Even then, the Evil Dead reference that kick off side Wicked was as banal and cold as a crisper drawer, but “Strongest of the Night” survives despite constantly wavering backing vocals and some strange lead vox arrangements. At this point, the album has been a hurricane of havoc, actually making “Standing at Death’s Door” seem like the boring uncle of the family, but that changes with the first of many discordant bawls decorating “Hell Fire”, probably most memorable not for the album’s first taste of melancholy that has a near-minute lifespan, but for Conklin's off-key, guard rail twisting wails that can awaken fossils. The second and last serene phenomenon resides at the start of “Souls in Exile”, a roiling number that finally lays the lp to rest with an extensive, demon-voiced outro declaring something about them being the 'final race'.

Only a collector will want this lp in album form, and then only to gaze at it on the wall, but since it has been released on cd by Virginia’s Old Metal Records (where a song I believe dubbed “King of Hell” erupts as a secret track ten which sounds more like a continuation of “Strongest of the Night” with a chorus repetitiously rammed into your brain), everyone can save about $80 or so (but you’ll be missing out on the red, white, or even rarer black vinyl) to hear this.