The writers with years of experience on their shoulders show a strange feature: to see a band's name is to have the right idea of what its music is. Obviously it's not a perfect sense, but in the greater part of times it happens, it's easy to foresee. And in the case of the Finnish quintet SATAN'S FALL, there's no mistake at all. The music shown on "Final Day" is what I foresaw myself: Old School Metal.

It's a melodic and heavy form of Speed/Heavy Metal used by European bands (especially from Germany, Belgium and Holland) between 1982 and 1985. The main musical influence of this quintet can be traced to JUDAS PRIEST and ACCEPT (due the musical proximity to traditional German Heavy Metal from those days), but with influences from NWOBHM as well. Ok, the quintet uses those old clichés of the genre, but in a way that is personal, and their music is filled a massive energy and a great melodic appeal that is full of hooks. It's not perfect (it's just a matter of evolution after all), but it's very good.

Lassi Tiainen (one of the band's guitarist) is the producer, and worked on the recording and mixing as well, with the mastering done by Mika Jussila. As the band prefers something organic and simple, the sonority has similarities with those independent releases from 1982 to 1985. It's sounding clean and defined, but in a way that is acceptable for now. In the future, the band must look for someone to make something better (a tip: try to hire V. O. Pulver, because his works with BURNING WITCHES, MESSIAH and NERVOSA show how he could be a great help for them).

As written above, the band has potential and must evolve a bit more to get in the right point. For now, "Forever Blind" (a massive energy with fast tempos, and a great work from bass guitar and drums), "Madness (Finds a Way)" (a heavy crushing weight flows from the catchy melodies, and a very good work from the guitars is clear for the ears), "Juggernaut" (a massive and hooking energy flows from this one, with fine vocals and good chorus), "There Will be Blood" (the melodic appeal is amazing, but abrasive as well), and "Final Day" are great songs, and examples of a great talent that deserves to be followed, and sharpened in the right way.

Obviously, "Final Day" is a very good release, but SATAN'S FALL can do better than that, it's clear to all.