ALBUM REVIEW
SATANIC WARMASTER - Drachenkreuz
Epic, melodic and dark black metal.
Epic. I really love this word, and I always try to be careful about where I use it. It can mean “grand, powerful, impressive” or simply “epic” in the sense of something legendary. Satanic Warmaster is an all-or-nothing kind of band, and with their eighth studio album, Drachenkreuz, they manage to evoke exactly that feeling in the listener: epic.
One of the most important names in the Finnish black metal scene, Satanic Warmaster was established as a one-man project by Werwolf in 1998. Ever since, the project has frequently made headlines, both for the ideological controversies surrounding it and for its deeply rooted musical style. When I first listened to the band's latest album, Drachenkreuz, I absolutely loved how it blends the traditional raw sound of Finnish black metal with melodic riffs that occasionally flirt with progressive territory. For an incurable atmospheric black metal fan like me, this album came as a major surprise and drew me even further into its world. Of course, this isn't a melodic or atmospheric black metal album. I think you'll only fully understand what I mean once you sit down and give it a proper listen.
If you've been following the band closely for a long time, you'll immediately notice that this album feels like an organic continuation of, or companion piece to, its predecessor, Aamongandr. I'm not calling it a copy or a repetition of that record; however, as someone who loves Aamongandr for similar aesthetic reasons, I think the two works create a remarkably strong conceptual connection when listened to back to back. For that reason, you should definitely give that album a chance as well if you want to get the full picture of the band's discography.
Opening the eight-track record, ‘Rex Typhonis’ is far more than a standard intro. Its instrumental, guitar-driven and progressive approach serves as a taste of the musical surprises waiting for you throughout the album. Next up, ‘Nosferatu's Land’ is a classic Satanic Warmaster track in every sense. With its sound and atmosphere, it truly welcomes you into the album. The “Transylvanian” scream right at the beginning is the kind of lyric I'd love to hear performed live on stage.
Now, let's get to the album's third track and my personal favourite, ‘Battlewolves’. I swear you won't be able to keep your head still or resist moving along with the beat, though I can't prove it. I loved this track so much that I couldn't move on to the others for a while because I kept wanting to hear it again and again. I think this is the first time in quite a while that I've experienced this with an album, which makes it particularly special to me. I also can't go without mentioning how strongly I felt those characteristic early-2000s black metal sounds coming through in this track.
The album's fourth track, ‘Holocaust in Medieval Darkness’, and fifth track, ‘Infernal Armageddon’, stick to the classic Satanic Warmaster school, adopting a harsher, more straightforward approach that I personally find difficult to romanticise. Is this a drawback for the album as a whole? Of course not. On the contrary, these are very deliberate choices that push the album's overall momentum towards its peak. The spoken-word section at the beginning of ‘Christrape’, one of my favourite tracks, is genuinely spine-chilling. I personally love production touches of this kind and see them as elements that reinforce the album's epic character. The seventh track, ‘The Dragon's Cross’, lowers the pulse a little, but prepares us perfectly for the closing stretch. The final track, ‘Winds of Eternal War’, is a real finishing blow, bringing the album to a triumphant close.
I really can't imagine anyone devoted to Finnish black metal, or black metal culture in general, skipping this album. I can confidently say that it's one of the year's most prestigious releases, destined to generate plenty of discussion. Interestingly, its ability to remain epic while also being “easy listening” by the standards of the genre is both surprising and meaningful. In short, Satanic Warmaster tells a story through its dark music, taking you by the hand and leading you into the imaginary realms it creates without frightening you along the way. Whether you choose to become part of this dark tale is entirely up to you.
Stay metal.
