Heritage of Satan

Long-time Czech black metal veterans Root deliver the album Heritage of Satan. This album is continuing their long streak of albums in a similar style blending black, doom, and heavy metal. The mix has, in the past, led to an imposing and ominous sound with low chants and operatic compositions that set them far apart from most other bands in this genre. Heritage of Satan seeks to continue this style with a slew of new songs delivering it in a stripped-down fashion. However, what was delivered feels very bare-bones and weak without much punch. Heritage of Satan is a disappointing album released by an otherwise great band.

Heritage of Satan does open on a strong note with the intro giving off a very evil and dungeon-esque atmosphere, with ominous piano playing, Big Boss groaning in a low voice, spelling out your impending doom and just overall making you feel chills down your spine. This then thrusts us into the song In Nomine Sathanas which starts with a riff that swings like a corpse hung from a tree in the wind, and with all the gloom and doom of such an image to boot. Big Boss leads the invocation with might and delivers the chants later in the song that energize the listener and let you know that your demise is imminent with a driving beat to tie it all together. In Nomine Sathanas is a hell of a song to start this album off and makes you think your going to be in for a wild and murky ride through the depths of the underworld. However, this does not last as pretty much every other song falls far behind on terms of quality.

Just about every other track on Heritage of Satan suffers from weaknesses that end up making this release sound limp and boring. Big Boss sounds much more hoarse in every other song. His voice sounds stressed out, uninterested, weak, and as if he is coming down hard off of a nasty flu. The songs are far more simple and often consist of one-note black metal tremolos you've heard a million times before done better while Big Boss croaks out the title, sounding even older than he really is. The guitar tuning also begins to sound very flat and lacks impact in many of the songs after In Nomine Sathanas and this hurts especially on songs like Revenge of Hell and Son of Satan which rely mostly on one riff to carry the song; and the one, lonely riff often doesn't even do much to engage anyone who might be listening because it just sits there and stagnates while Big Boss coughs out his lyrics in a sickly fashion. This is true for just about every song past the first two. It all sounds weak, sickly, and confused.

If I were to give any kind of verdict on this album, I recommend you pass. There is better material from Root that people can find on just about all of their earlier releases. I would not advise you play this if you planned on showing this band to someone as they would get a much weaker and more unenthusiastic experience than if you had played one of their stronger and better known albums such as The Book. Heritage of Satan is an embarrassing sign that this band's age might be catching up to them. While In Nomine Sathanas is a good song, there isn't anything else here to really hold you. Heritage of Satan is hardly demonic, more like strung out, this isn't worth your time.

Widely regarded as leaders of the eastern European black metal scene, Czech underground legends Root certainly take their subject extremely seriously, with founder member Jiri 'BigBoss' Valter not only regarded as one of the leading (dark) lights of the movement over the past quarter of a century, but also the founder of the Church Of Satan in his native land.

As if he needed to add to his credentials, Valter has recruited what he describes as 'The Unholy Trinity' - former Mayhem mainman Blasphemer, the equally legendary Nergal (in his first recordings since his recent brush with near-death) and Watain frontman Erik - to help out on vocal duties for this, Root's ninth studio album and first in four years (and also their debut for Poland's Agonia label).

Sounds like a recipe for a thoroughly evil album...

It starts with the appropriately named 'Introprincipio', a five-plus invocation of the evil spirits of the underworld, chanted in low tones over a down-tuned piano: the effect is creepy but not convincing (although I was listening to it with the lights on and the Champions League on mute in the corner - well, one doesn't want to take too many chances?!). First track proper, 'In Nomine Sathanas' is a short, sharp shock of classic death metal, with an almost bluesy guitar interlude, while 'Legacy Of Ancestors' veers very firmly into rabble-rousing punk territory, but built over a thrash riff (and not the most original ones at that). 'Revenge Of Hell' starting with a mock-cartoon character Dracula voiceover and continues with a guttural chant over a chugging guitar that is virtually lost in the awful production: however, it ends beautifully, with an atmospheric acoustic guitar piece, on which the scraped strings actually succeed in sounding just that little bit scary.

'Darksome Prophet' finally provides something worth listening to - a brutal death metal riff built over a breakneck beatdown of blastbeats, topped off with some thoroughly foul vocals, while 'Fiery Message' has some nice ethereal touches and 'Son Of Satan' doesn't know if it wants to be a second-rate death metal tune or a satanic tea party polka (although, again, the third quarter of the song is the strongest section). 'His Coming' is just plain awful, 'Greetings From The Abyss' starts well, and is almost reminiscent of Slayer in its opening riff, but then just disappears back in the crack of doom from whence it cames, as does closer 'The Apocalypse' - a title which just about serves to sum up the entire album.

There are some nice touches on this album, but overall there's a feeling of emptiness and unfulfilled promise, with the entire opus hampered by an awful production which places far too much emphasis on the tinny drum sound and often buries the guitar in a mire of muddiness (it isn't until the last track that we get a decent solo), while the vocals are often comedic, always deriviative and about as evil as the baddies in a Scooby Doo episode... mind you, I'll still be looking over my shoulder the next time I walk down a dark alleyway in Prague!

This review was first published at www.uberrock.co.uk

If you've never heard of Root, you're missing out. Big time. These Czech warlords have traveled a vast path across the musical spectrum, starting out as a prototypical black metal band before eventually coming to this weird nexus of 'dark' metal with a transcendental gloss. "Heritage of Satan" vaguely retreats to the uncolored texture of heavy goodness that is simpler and with a go-for-the-jugular attitude. Compared to the group's discography, the album sort of falls short, but that's no reason for panic. Big Boss and crew are often known for releasing material that is exceptionally magnificent, and although that standard seems a bit improbable for "Heritage of Satan," the Czech kings of metal still walk away with another fun, consistent release.

There's definitely more of a jam-orientated essence, what with the magnitude of simple, nodding guitar work and the balanced percussion working to make Root's ninth album a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kind of record. Despite the initial lack of variety between tracks, there's overall little to truly complain about as the songwriting remains addictive and the musicality never seems to run out of interesting pieces. Granted, there are only a few truly outstanding numbers, mainly "Darksome Prophet" and its blast beats, tremolo riffs, and awesome structuring. "Greetings From the Abyss" is a total festival of metallic bliss, and Nergal's vocal cameo ends up being very appropriate and spellbinding. Two very, very stellar tunes. A portion of the album also has a lot of mid-paced numbers that don’t match the sky-high expectations, but Root still keeps the factor of reliability at the forefront of their ritualistic voyage.

Can't say I'm really crazy about "Heritage of Satan" like I am Root's other releases, however. The album isn't bad at all, and it's actually very impressive a band like Root can continue to cram so much relevancy into their material after such a brooding biography, but the craft seems rather weak compared to "The Book" or "The Temple of the Underworld," two seminal records from this legendary group. Still nothing I’m crying about though, and "Heritage of Satan" might make a nice starting point for the newly-converted Root prophets and the occasional metalhead looking for something deep, dark, and maybe a little on the retrogressive side as well.

This review was written for: www.Thrashpit.com

Four years have passed since Czech masters Root unleashed their last sermon Daemon Viam Invenient, which saw a broadening of their sound into a more melodic clime, and met with very mixed reactions from a niche audience weaned on occult black metal classics Hell Symphony, Kärgeräs, & The Temple in the Underworld. These gentlemen are no strangers to adventure or experimentation, of course, with the charismatic front man Jirí 'Big Boss' himself involved in a solo project that spans from Root's black fundamentals to Gothic folk/pop, but I had the distinct impression that a 'return to the basics' might be in action, and in part, this sums up Heritage of Satan in a nutshell. The Czechs haven't abandoned their broader vision, per se, but a lot of the material here seems quite ritualistic and straightforward, more 'evil' if you will than the last album.

That said, they still really know how to draw a listener into the album. Opener "Introprincipio" features Jirí's deep, spoken word whispers over the sounds of winds and a solitary piano. The ensuing "In Nomime Sathanas" lurches forward with the band's traditional hybrid of black and doom metal riffing, while a pair of layered vocals escalate into the namesake chorus. There are still some traditional metal moments here, especially in the bridge riffing and lead here, and the underlying speed/thrash metal motif of the "Legacy of Ancestors", which follows. Unfortunately, there are a number of tracks on the album with pretty dud guitars. It has always been the case that Big Boss tends to overshadow the instruments of the band, since he's one of the more unique and distinct individuals in the business, but seriously...the heavier riffs in "Revenge of Hell" or "Son of Satan" are downright boring, and would be useless without him...

All is not lost though, and Root pull this record out of the potential gutter with a handful of faster, blasted tunes that rank among the most accelerated they've ever created, like the thrashing "Darksome Prophet" or the more even more intense "Greetings from the Abyss". Here, even though the writing on the guitars isn't that great, everything seems to gel more strongly, and Jirí has nearly met his match. Hell, the thrash bridge of "Greetings..." is pretty damn phenomenal and the strongest riff on the album, with the closer "The Apocalypse" placing a silver second; "Fiery Message" winning the award for being the most atmospheric and engrossing.

Despite the few strong tunes and the overall, clear and punchy production of Heritage of Satan, it's a little difficult to consider the album that much of a victory. Root are thankfully reluctant to relinquish those traits that make them one of the more innovative and unusual acts in their genre...hell, there are really no other black metal outfits that sound quite the same; and yet, the album doesn't feel so fresh or powerful as their whole 1990-96 period when they seemed so damned unstoppable. It's got variation aplomb, and makes good use of its living weapon, but even at its best it seems to trail behind at least 6-7 of their previous outings.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com