Satan's Satyrs

Album Title: 
Wild Beyond Belief!
Release Date: 
Monday, September 23, 2013
Distribution: 
Review Type: 

This wacky Fuzz-Doom act was founded during the summer of 2009, when Clayton ClaytanasBurgess (whom you might also know from Electric Wizard and Terraset) and a mysterious guitarist known only as The Ghoul indulged themselves on '60s Rolling Stones, Black Flag, Electric Wizard, Black Sabbath, the first High Tide LP, numerous B-type horror movies, and an undisclosed quantity of weed, to come up with music which incorporated both the supper-fuzz sensibilities of the '65 Detroit scene, and the heaviness of contemporary Doom.

Together, the duo first self-released a self-titled 3-track demo in February 2010, with Claythanas taking care of drums, bass and vocals. For the ensuing 3-track EP Lucifer Lives! (released in November of the same year) however, he is cited as the sole member, The Ghoul having decamped for parts unknown. During 2010, a drummer by the name of AJ briefly joined the project, but I am uncertain whether he was present on the next release, the 7-track live recording Undead At WMUC (including an interview track, the album was released in January 2011 by Taphephobia Productions). What I àm certain of, is that Claythanas was the sole member for the ensuing full-length album Wild Beyond Belief!, which was originally released in limited edition vinyl LP, cassette, and CD (one of which at least through Trash King Productions) from July 2012 on. And that, in fact, is kinda funny, as Claythanas' comrade in Terraset, guitarist Jarrett Nettnin, is cited as having already joined the project somewhere in 2011. In fact, he's already present on the 2-track EP Live At The Black Cat, issued through Trash King Productions in April 2013. Since then, Satan's Satyrs has contributed 2 tracks to a split release with Ohmwar (released through At War With False Noise in August 2013), and around the same time signed a deal with UK's Bad Omen Records, whose first act of confidence was to give Satan's Satyrs first full-length the commercial UK/ Europe release it surely deserved.

Well, as mentioned above, the music is a high-energy heavy hybrid of Fuzz and Doom, and lyrics are “blasphemous” to say the least, but rather meant as a joke against Satanism, I guess! The vocals are a wacky mixture of a shout with something of a screech in it...well, it's real tough to explain properly, see, and so perhaps you'd better go listen to some of the band's music yourselves! In order to do that, surf to (http://) satanssatyrs.bandcamp.com, where you'll not only find the full-length posted, but also the 2010 demo, and the band's most current single Black Souls, issued through Bad Omen. Small oddity : there's a different b-side for the UK and US version of the little gottahave! Those b-sides are exclusive to each of those releases, and will apparently not be featured on the band's upcoming full-length album Die Screaming, which is to be released in the second part of April. Oh...and by the way...meanwhile Satan's Satyrs has become a threesome, with Nettnin in place as guitarist, one Stephen Fairchild handling the drums, and Claytanas taking care of the overdrive bass and vocals.

87/100