1977 saw a group of young men come together with a passion for music and a drive to put their own into the world. Well, some 45 years later (excluding a 6 year hiatus from '88 - '94) SATAN'S HOST are back once again with their own personal brand of Blackened Occult Heavy Metal for the masses to indulge in. The title "This Legacy Will Never Die" is a bold statement, and one that I hope is true, as the album promises to be full of high energy hard hitting music; and if the artwork is anything to go off, then we are in for a hell of a ride.

Opening the record is "Deadmans Walk" and the atmospherics are incredible. The rolling forboding guitar building with each passing bar, the vocals invoking otherworldly illusions as it seemingly comes from the shadows. It builds into an aggressive piece, but something that I felt was missing was a second's guitar, just something to support the fantastic melodic runs that Patrick offers with some really hefty chords to, well give it some bollocks. This continues through the album, and please do not get me wrong the music is absolutely solid, "Minuet - Vampyre En Amor" and "From The Dark" both offering some superb listening, I just felt at times that there was a little meat missing.

"Malediction" is probably my favourite from the record, offering a delicate and tasteful blend of styles, with Leviathan's superb vocals rolling through stylings to deliver a different emotion / atmosphere with every note. The guitar running away and really steering the track as it ebbs and flows, picking up speed and then dying off into a new section. Honestly, the structure is fantastic.

When "Astarte" kicked in I thought I was listening to a more traditional Black Metal track, the guitar line could really have built into something maybe BEHEMOTHesque with the right mixing and effects added. But again, this track is slightly different to those that have come before and it just allows the listener that diversity within the record, something which sometimes goes amiss in some releases. The final track I want to focus on is the titular "This Legacy Will Never Die", and it is as bold a statement as I had hoped it would be. Coming across almost like an anthem, I can see throngs of fans coming together to scream this together. Musically it is very in keeping with the overarching SATAN'S HOST style, and that is very individual (really, I've never heard anything like it before!). It offers up layered vocals, a relentless guitar line and an untiring drum track that really just shores everything up.

Overall, I really enjoyed this record. It is its own thing, and that is something I can sometimes see as a rarity nowadays. SATAN'S HOST know exactly who they are, what their sound is and how they want to deliver their music. Fans of MERCYFUL FATE be sure to get "This Legacy Will Never Die" on your radar today.