So, Pop meets Metal? How many people do you think tried to make that combo work and failed miserably? Probably more than you think. I would know because I'm actually on that list (don't ask, it was a god-awful failure). I'm happy to report that somebody finally got it right; with superb results no less. That would be SEMARGL.

I saw this title on the list and thought "Satanic Pop Metal" sounded like something I needed to hear. Ultimately, It was a case of "I can't believe I didn't know about this band until now!". To summarize in it one sentence: "Satanic Pop Metal" is fucking BOSS! I know there will be a mob of folks who will hate it because of all the keyboards, and it being "too dancy and stuff", but if you're an open-minded kind of Metalhead; you should dig this.

Basically the music is a uniformly distributed blend of Black Metal, Dance Pop, and whatever you decide to call bands like EVANESCENCE and LACUNA COIL. It may sound goofy on paper, but man, I dig it. They have two singers; One Black Metal type screamer, and a clean, female singer (who happens to be devastatingly hot, for whatever it's worth). The whole band flows together about as well as any I've heard before, and with such an offbeat fusion of styles; that's pretty damn good.

My favourite tracks on the record are "Drag Me To Hell", "Suck My Dick" and "Join In Fire". The whole thing kicks ass though. My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that it does get a little monotonous after a while. The music is so fresh though that it doesn't really bother me that much. Besides, the album cover is probably my favourite album cover in a long time, so that has to count for something. I'm definitely a SEMARGL fan after hearing this album, and I'm happy to give this record my stamp of approval.

"Satanic Pop Metal" doesn't come out until February 17^th according to their Facebook page, but you can download the album's first single "Tak, Kurwa" off of their website for free (although you are encouraged to donate some beer money to the band if you like it, that's your call). From what I can see; they are charging 10 Euros ($13.22) for their records, so I imagine that will be no different for the new one. I say that's a good price. Grab this sucker and enjoy!