Sathamel
Sathamel
•
January 5, 2015

The UK Black Metal scene is perhaps at the strongest it has been in a long time. There are many great bands coming from across the country that are putting out great records. And, as I've stated before, West Yorkshire is one of the hotspots of the scene at the moment, with bands like SLAUGHTER THRONE and GOATCHRIST playing some really great music in local venues around the region. But SATHAMEL is the first Black Metal band that came out of the area that I really paid attention to, back when they were playing venues like the Black Swan under the name SHEOL. After putting out the awesome "Live Demo MMXIII" in 2013, and ultimately changing their name to SATHAMEL, the band are now on the verge of releasing their first EP under that name, a self-titled, six song slab of brilliant Blackened-Death Metal. This features new tracks, as well as re-recorded tracks from the SHEOL demo.
After the atmospheric intro "Rise" fades away, this EP begins on its first proper track, "Wingless", which is a great song. Like all the songs on this record, it has a strong BEHEMOTH influence, but manages to avoid falling into the trap of copying the band. The other new track on this EP, "Abaddon" is likewise great, and it's clear that they are starting to carve out their own sound on the tried and tested Blackened-Death sound. It has a really great groove to it, and is really catchy; I can see this going down well live. The three songs, which feature from the "Live Demo MMXIII" release, have definitely benefited from being re-recorded. This is not to say that the songs weren't great to start with, but the new versions have really done justice to some of the parts of their sound that are really awesome. "Eternal Hunters" in particular sounds better with the improved production. "Scorch Blind Faith" and "Venus, Morning Star" are still great songs, and it is really cool listening to these newer versions of songs that I really love. Fans of the Raw Black Metal production will be disappointed; this doesn't sound like it was recorded in a rusty metal bucket. But neither does it sound like it has been produced within an inch of its life either. This band, like SLAUGHTER THRONE, have managed to get just the right amount of work done on the mixing, so it's not close to un-listenable like some Raw Black Metal is, but there's still that rawness there for those who like it. This, along with the fact that all these songs are fantastic, will likely be a big draw for fans from across the scene.
Although I loved this band when they went as SHEOL, I think that this band have come on massively as songwriters since the release of the first demo. They're ready to take on the Blackened-Death Metal scene head on, and they've got a great record to do it with. If you want to catch this band live soon (which I highly recommend, because they're brilliant live), then you can catch them on the "Spreading the Sodomy Tour" in February, which is coming to cities like Leeds, Liverpool and Swansea. Also, they have a gig in London on April 18th at the Boston Music Rooms. Check them out while you can, because if they keep putting out records like this, they won't be playing small venues for very long.<
9 / 10
Almost Perfect

"Sathamel" Track-listing:
1. Rise
2. Wingless
3. Scorch Blind Faith
4. Venus, Morning Star
5. Abaddon
6. Eternal Hunters
Sathamel Lineup:
Kruk - Vocals
Baal - Guitars
KVN - Guitars
Deimos - Bass
Valdr - Drums
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