SARATAN is a Thrash/Death Metal trio from Poland that have just recently released their second full length album entitled "Antireligion". Their debut album "The Cult Of Vermin", which was released in 2008, was an average attempt showing a band that had potential but also needed a lot of work in order to do something really interesting and worthy. However, "Antireligion" is here to prove to us that the band has improved much, their sound is more mature and they have the ability to evolve even more in the future.

Let's start with the easiest part, which is the lyrics. The themes they use are mostly in the anti-politics and anti-religion region and as it is also obvious from the title of the album you will pretty much know what to expect. Now let's go to the most interesting part; their music. Despite being categorized as a Thrash/Death Metal band in their music, SARATAN is favoring much more the Thrash elements while adding some Death Metal touches here and then. As a basis we have got many blastbeats in the drums, well-built solid aggressive pure Thrash Metal riffs and harsh vocals but we can also find many other and more melodic influences. In the opening track "Extinguishing the Hope" and in "Antireligion Pt. 2" they have blended successfully some Eastern music elements into their sound with the use of clean guitars or sitar, giving a really interesting result. In "Dead Inside" and "My Demise" things are slowing down a little bit, with catchier riffs and some clean vocals. But of course aggression still rules in the album with "Pray For The Rest" and "Destroy Yourself" (for which a video clip was made), with these two songs being among the highlights of the record and a very good example of their style. Some very good work has also been done in the solos which are more melodic and technical, rather than fast and aggressive which is the primary characteristic of their main riffs.

"Antireligion" is not a masterpiece, probably it won't become one of your favorites, but it is really enjoyable in its entity, it has many good riffs built for headbanging and good ideas. All of the songs are around the same good quality level with a few standing out as highlights or great songs. It is a well-balanced record that core and not only fans of the genre will appreciate.