Long live King Satan!
The Finnish demon led by King Seth Aleister Satan (vocals), EF-13 (guitar), Hekate “Kate” Boss (keyboards/vocals), Jerry Rock’n’Roll (bass) and Pete Hellraiser (drums) returns in 2024 with the support of Noble Demon and announces the release of its fourth album, The Devil’s Evangelion.
The album kicks off with the rousing New Aeon Gospel, a previously revealed composition that blends joyful sounds with pure violence to create a most effective contrast, particularly when the vocalist intervenes over the jerky rhythm. The acceleration carries us through to the final chorus, then on to the darker Abyss of the Souls, where the electronic touches become more disturbing, and which sees the appearance of a few vocal parts from Hekate, creating an interesting duet with King Seth Aleister Satan. The riffs remain solid, and even feature a furious solo borrowed from Thrash, before returning to a communicative fervor on Chaos Forever Now, where the atmosphere is even more energetic, offering waves of raw rage with Thomas Rainer (Nachtmahr). There’s a contrast between the powerful screams and soaring keyboards of the break, then the track returns to more aggressive tones before returning to its eerie roots with Once Upon A Shadow, featuring keyboards and other aerial sounds as the vocalist screams. The band slows down with A Death Before Death, recreating heaviness and oppression in an almost horrific way with a few brief bursts of violence, then we find ourselves in the middle of a battlefield when The Carnivalesque of Dark and Light kicks in, bringing alarm and explosions before the rhythmics ignite. Heady keyboards add their part to the unbridled chaos that surrounds us, but it comes to an end with the gentle introduction of Destroy the World, letting a melancholic piano accompany the simple riffs where the two vocalists join forces. The track acts as a power ballad, with heavier but still relatively melancholy passages, then we witness the dialogue between a priest and a demon on The Devils and Saints, while the musicians offer us regular waves of rage. The rhythm gradually builds, adapting to each character, but the pressure comes down again with Satanas Rex Mundi and its soothing climate, disturbed by growls, which finally reveals itself to be almost religious and majestic. The heady occult mix is relatively long in relation to the other tracks, but eventually allows The Devil’s Evangelion to revive the livelier elements and steamy keyboards, reviving the ferocious approach the band has been developing, led by a devastating blast. The album draws to a close with Epilogue (The Phoenix Song), a short track that uses soothing Blues influences to accompany the saturated vocals, feeding the ongoing duality that reigns within the band.
King Satan‘s recipe hasn’t changed, and it’s as effective as ever! The Devil’s Evangelion will shake us up, amaze us, make us want to dance and make us frantically shake our head with its distinctive compositions.
90/100