Band: Satanochio
Title: From Beyond
Label: Diachell Musik
Distribution:
Release date: 01/12/2008
Review: CD

Satanochio hail from Romania, one of the most underestimated yet most interesting countries when it comes to grim, occult Black Metal, and are a mysterious band. The members’ identity isn’t known - they act under the monikers of S (v, g, lyrics), Grui Sanger (g, b) and Nimenea (d) - and they label their eccentric Metal as ‘Evil Metal’. The band was formed in winter 2004-2005 and since then the members created a pretty ‘weird’ mixture of different Metal-genres, yet with a leading role for Black Metal. Throughout the years, the band recorded several demos and EP’s, and even a DVD that got received with very positive response at an international underground movie festival in Rotterdam, Holland. 2007 saw the light of the mini-album Vagrant Matter Heritage (review posted 17/04/2008), which was nominated at the Metalhead Awards for best Romanian Metal record that very same year. Last year, the trio worked with Marius Costache again to create a strong and worthy successor of Vagrant …, an album I liked a lot. From Beyond lasts for forty one minutes and is comparable to the former release(s). The songs are very varying, with progressive, avant-garde, technical and aggressive moments, lots of tempo-changes (including extreme Blast-eruptions, yet also pounding-slow parts) and breaks, black humour, a mysterious-occult atmosphere, intelligent lyrics (in English), and a somewhat old schoolish touch of metaphoric horror. The sound is pretty dry but not too flat, and Kvohst (from Dødheimsgard / DHG / Void / Code / Decrepit Spectre-fame) appears on one track, I’m Not Me But Tomorrow I Can Be, as guest vocalist. From Beyond isn’t an ‘easy’ album, like any former Satanochio-recording, but this sort of geniality in combination with an oppressing darkness a sinister feeling must please open-minded Black Metal-fans who like to undergo experiment without exaggeration.

88/100

Ivan Tibos.