Prowling Death Records - 1983
7/10
Right before Hellhammer’s infamous Apocalyptic Raids, they dropped their third, and what I call most memorable demo known as Satanic Rites (some of these songs would appear there anyway). As a band, I’ve always found them, along with Celtic Frost, very spotty and hit-or-miss regarding song construction. But, it reflects some of the earliest black metal ideas that would mold into the first-wave, and for that, I can’t not call them important.
With that in mind, Satanic Rites is easily where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. No other release has a better balance between the slow and doomy trudging fueled by hate and torment with aggressive galloping tunes. Tom G. Warrior spits vocals with the most attitude here; “The Third Of The Storms” is an obvious favorite, molding buzzsaw speeds and piercingly tense rhythms next to grunting vocals in the nicest fashion. It’s a rather uninspiring approach, but when done well it can be tons of fun.
Part of this balance is due to the fact that there isn’t as much of the doomy, gloomy, moody numbers. Tracks like “Manic” are beefy and tend to display some of the best percussion, however I do think this approach from a songwriting perspective has always been overdone by the band, crossing into what feels like drony territory before that was even thought of. Again, there isn’t too much of that here anyway, but trimming the parts that lie on this foundation could have been helpful. Hell, the echo effects seem to hurt these more, while they enhance the speed frenzy of other tracks into something meaner and cloudier. Thankfully it’s also broken up by faster, bright leads that sneak into the atmosphere. The non-linear flow overall can also be a bit overwhelming at times, but I suppose that adds to the magic in a way. For the best taste of this band and what they’re all about, here’s where I recommend lending an ear.
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