SATANIC NORTH - Satanic North LP

A new satanic panic is upon us! Satanic North is what happens when you let two well-known Finnish metal artists stare into the abyss for too long. Enter Petri Lindroos (Ensiferum, Warmen) and Janne Parviainen (Ensiferum), far-travelled, well-versed musicians who have been staring into said abyss long enough for the abyss to stare back. And it liked what it saw: Behold the black metal brotherhood Satanic North, the sons of a new northern darkness, delivering a self-titled debut basking in ravishing grimness.

With Satanic North, a new power arises, a relentless yet sublime black metal cult ready to reign in blood over the desolate and wintry landscape that is Finnish black metal. Executed with ferocity, pitch-black passion and a weakness for the mythical forbearers of this most haunting and cathartic of all metal subgenres, Satanic North are ready to take on the world horns first, a new cult born under a funeral moon. And it happened because it had to happen. Eventually. Both Petri and Janne felt the urgent wish and dire need to express themselves in a new band for quite some time now. A band that sounded unlike all these international phenomenons the two friends have been cooking up in the past decades – Ensiferum, Warmen, Norther, just to name a few. Those are and were all great bands, to be sure. But they were missing something: None of them was a black metal band! None of them was a ferocious, freezing cold, blistering blizzard of traditional, grim, northern darkness. None of them, in short, was possessed enough.

“I never had a black metal band before. Simple as that”, Petri states. So when his mate Janne and some of his friends met up in a bar listened to some grim and ultra fast Immortal stuff and spontaneously decided to start a black metal band a few pints down the road, Petri was all eagerness. “As soon as I heard the name I was in”, he laughs. “It was just something that was missing from my life.” It’s not that both aren’t fully occupied as it is. Ensiferum is an internationally touring beast, Warmen are just gearing up to become the next contender for the festivals’ top spots. It’s just that what they needed in their loves was an ice-cold blaze in their northern hearts, a meeting of thorns and horns, their very own reign on the shadowthrone.

Don’t expect their black metal to be a watered down version of all those glory deeds of old, though: Their first offering “Satanic North” shows no remorse! Their debut is both tribute to what once was and a demonstration of their very own strange old brew of black metal. “Everybody loves the old school black metal stuff, the spellbinding early nineties era”, bassist and vocalist Petri states. “That was when the magic happened. Most of our inspiration comes from that time, yet we didn’t shy away from putting in some of our other influences and antics.” That’s what black metal is all about, anyway. Petri nods: “Playing this music just feels different. It does something to your very soul, it touches you on an altogether different level. Above all, black metal gives us total artistic freedom.” Do what thou wilt and all that. An important satanic cornerstone of their nocturnal opus.

“Satanic North” came together quickly and effortlessly, exorcised and recording during one unholy summer. “We all kept it very raw and hands-on as we didn’t want to waste too many takes to guarantee the harshness of the material”, Petri says. “Mixing was finished at the heart of winter, and now this beast lies in waiting, ready to be unleashed.” April 2024 will see the release of a remarkable album, setting sail under the sign of hell, delivering a non-relenting, extreme approach to a genre that’s recently become a bit soft and tender-hearted. “We all have the same vision of black metal, and that vision is: enough with the midtempo, let’s bring back the blast beats!”, Petri exclaims. He’s damn right, too: A blast beat heavy black metal album isn’t something that’s happening too often these days. And it wasn’t even intended originally: “Our album became faster and more brutal that we originally intended. We just went with the flow and let the energy of the music take over.” Black metal does that.

On their ten satanic dirges to the nightside eclipse, the black flame is burning uncannily bright. The spirits of old are with Satanic North, helping to spread their grim gospel around the globe. “We hope there’s something for everybody who’s a true believer of this music”, Petri says. There is. And then some. Forget the magnetic north. All hail Satanic North.

BLACK vinyl - REAPER ENTERTAINMENT 2024