All roads lead to Rome. In this case all roads lead to SATANIKA, a Thrash / Black piece from Rome. They incorporate the fast fullness of thrash metal with the satanic lyrics and grimness of black metal. These guys certainly nailed it too. The band was formed in 2009 and to this point have put out a number of EP's, full length albums, and a compilation. "Nightmare" is the latest and 3^rd full length album from the band. Theirs is a style that will keep the head banging throughout the whole album. It is complete with quite the nice variety of vocals, fast drums, and intricate screaming guitar work.

The album opens with the spoken words, "I am the devil, and I am here to do the devil's work." Then it breaks into a heavy Black / Thrash combination that just makes you want to slam. The vocals throughout the whole album, go from harsh Black Metal growls, to the half n half thrash vocals, to even some strait clean vocals. The guitar work likewise goes back and forth between the Black / Death styles to the thrash styles. The guitarist pulls it off perfectly to. The drum work is just great. There are lots of blast beats, double bass, and thrash gallops. The drums are fast and intricate. They like their spoken song intros and all are something evil and twisted. As the sounds flow smoothly from Black to Thrash and back, the vocals are just as versatile. Pervertor has a wonderful range of vocals to him.

So if you like heavy fast Thrash and/or Black Metal these guys really know how to do it. They're blatantly satanic, so if that turns you off you may not like them. As far as music quality, SATANIKA get an A. The music is definitely full of energy and up tempo. As far as the flow goes, they go all over the place and put it together perfectly. Honestly I'd love to catch these guys live, I can imagine it's a hell of a show. The Thrash Metal is something I'm opening more and more to and these guy help that along. Absolutely awesome band.