Band: Satyricon
Title: The Age Of Nero
Label: Roadrunner Records
Distribution: CNR - Concreteweb Promotion Office
Release date: 03/11/2008
Review: Deluxe-DCD

The duo Satyr Wongraven - Frost has always been one of the most successful ones. As from the beginning of the band, I’ve been admiring their craftsmanship, the superb song writing and their skilled performance. The sonic art they create has evolved a lot throughout the years, yet still every single release did have that satyriconian approach: from Nordic underground Black Metal into pounding Post-Black Metal. When it comes to the latter, Satyricon still undergo a form of natural process. The Age Of Nero, with duration of forty three minutes, is the next step and kind of perfecting their somewhat industrialised Post-Black sound. As it is inevitable, the production is dry and cold, and as we’re used to, the tempo is pretty slow and hammering. A few pieces, however, are up-tempo and more energetic (like Die By My Hand) and the balance sounds correct. Yet each time, that certain ‘Nordic’ spirit, which defines the band since the very beginning, covers the whole. Every single track exhales a grim, darkening and oppressing atmosphere and this makes The Age Of Nero another superior Satyricon-monument!
There’s also a limited ‘Deluxe Collector’s Edition Double CD’ version, which includes a bonus-CD with additional tracks and videos. This CD opens with the EP-version of My Skin Is Cold, released a few months ago on MCD and EP. Also Live Through Me and Existential Fear-Questions were featured on that MCD (originally released on the vinyl-version of Volcano), and the same goes for the live versions of Repined Bastard Nation and Mother North. Next is the ‘radio edit’ of The Pentagram Burns (from Now, Diabolical), the so-called ‘guitar wall mix’ of Last Man Standing, one of the tracks on The Age Of Nero, and the ‘analog mix’ of Den Siste. Finally, the bonus disc also contains two video tracks, K.I.N.G. and The Pentagram Burns.
It might be evident that this Deluxe-version is recommended to every Satyricon-fan!

90+/100

Ivan Tibos.