With Bathory done(and I do think it was a good first band to do, even if my picks for said band might not be particularly surprising), I decided to move over to Norway for Satyricon. They're one of those bands that were with me since I started dropping into the 2nd wave of black metal, and they've never left my playlists since. A steadfast staple in Azzy's playlists, and a band I'll always play on a DJ night,, too. They're a band that's mostly been a duo; bandleader Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven, who handles vocals, guitar, bass and most of the other instruments on the albums themselves(he also makes wine!) and drummer Kjetil-Vidar "Frost" Haraldstad, who is one of the fastest, most proficient black metal drummers in the scene today, his mark made on many albums as a session drummer back in the 90s and '00s(and he even occasionally appears elsewhere even today, though nowadays he mostly sticks to Satyricon and his other band, 1349, who you will be seeing come up in these Azzy Ranks series at some point for sure.)
I feel like Satyricon I also think they're a great band to do since they're a challenging band to do. Essentially, I love all of Satyricon's albums. This band hasn't put out something that I've disliked, like, ever. Which I think makes the ranking a lot more fun, since I really have to think things over, as well as sometimes even see what my mood is that day. A 'low ranked' Satyricon album is, IMO, still an excellent album in it's way, I might just listen to it a bit less than the higher ranked ones.
Indeed, when doing these rankings, something has to be first, and something has to be last, even when the whole discography is strong. So I'll try my hardest to arrange these albums the best I can.
Without further ado, here's how I'd rank Satyricon's full-length discography(today!)
--
10. Satyricon & Munch(2022)
So, I have this one as the last place, even though it's a masterfully crafted piece of soundtrack music. More ambient and less metal, it has guitars, bass, and drums utilized, but it really is more of a soundscape, set to take you on a journey through Munch's works. It's extremely well done like this, and as someone who loves Munch and loves soundtrack music, I do find myself putting this on every so often. It's definitely a great album to just lay back to. As a bonus, it makes for a great soundtrack piece with the pivotal scene in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, one of my favorite books, which includes a Munch exhibit. All that said, Satyricon & Munch is more of a 'mood album' for me than even some other albums, so that's why it goes here. It's so different that it's hard to rank with the rest.
9. Dark Medieval Times(1993)
And for my first wrench thrown in the gears of most "trve" types, yeah, I have their debut, often put on the Satyricon top 3 pedestal by black metal fans, all the way at number 9. Once again, I do love this album, like I do all their albums, and I listen to something from it on pretty much any playlist I'll make. So this is not me saying the album is bad by any stretch of the imagination. It's still an A to A+-tier album, easily, and absolutely an album I'd suggest for someone to listen to looking for something in this style. But it's also, in its own way, a 'mood' album. When I want to hear barbaric, medieval-tinged type of black metal, soaked in both ice and melody, this album hits the spot. But it's also rough around the edges; which is both good(it has that old 'spirit'), and also lags it behind the well-oiled extreme musicians they became. When I feel like going on a journey to, well, the plague-ridden Dark Medieval Times(the use of the Pesta Kommer from Kittelsen as the art in the booklet of the original, and on the cover of the remaster -- and, well, I might use it too as a banner -- gives me plague-vibes, what can I say), then this is the album that I put on. But I also kinda *need* to be in that mood. (You'll be learning a lot in these write-ups about 'mood albums.') That said, I'll always appreciate a well-timed 'Walk The Path of Sorrow' or 'The Dark Castle in the Deep Forest'(possibly my favorite song on the album and somewhat underrated I think.) Again I reiterate this list is challenging because I am forced to put some albums I like at the end, but that's why it's fun.
8. Satyricon(2013)
Their self-titled album tends to get a little maligned by the underground, given it really did branch out a lot. Despite having some incredibly heavy, dark songs like 'Walker Upon the Wind', and the amazing -- nah, masterpiece of a song 'The Infinity of Time and Space', I think people sorta pushed against the dark rock-tinged offerings like 'Nekrohaven', or 'Phoenix', which featured a guest singer and even clean vocals. What I see is an album that was incredibly experimental in its genre, not afraid to branch out to try other things while still keeping its roots in black metal(which can mean a whole lot more than just like, stuff from the 80s and 90s.) All that said, because this album branches out so much, it's once again another 'mood' thing for me. I need to be in the mood to sit down with an album that goes here and there. Plus, and I can't explain this as it's just a weird 'me' thing, this album is more of an 'autumn-winter' album(especially autumn.) I dunno what it is about the album's sound, but it just hits right around then. When it's perfectly chilly out and I'm around the parks nearby in the morning, its atmosphere makes it great to wake up to, especially since there are some brutally heavy tracks to help with that.
I will also add that from 8 to 5, these spots can shift depending on my mood, the week, the time of day, or even if I heard a song on one of them recently. While I'd say 10/9 are pretty well set in stone, and 4 to 1 are as well, 8 to 5 for Satyricon are 'the mutable ranks', much like how Bathory's viking/folk outings were.
7. Volcano(2002)
I hesitate to keep using the "black 'n roll" term that many like to use, because there's been grooves in extreme metal since the beginning with Bathory and Venom. Are you going to try to tell me "Woman of Dark Desires" isn't a singalong? Come on now. Not to mention the rest of the first wave; Mercyful Fate has such a grounding in classic heavy metal and hard rock that for me it's just a natural thing. I guess people started using the term for...some reason? I always preferred to call it 'black metal with heavy grooves' or something, though I suppose the "black 'n roll" moniker falls off the tongue easier. In any case, while Satyricon were never a stranger to some good grooves in their music before Volcano, they really came to the forefront in this. I will say their '2000s Era albums' where they put out three albums with a whole lot of these heavy grooves do swap spots for me often. Volcano might be my favorite 'summer album' of Satyricon(and one of my fav 'summer albums'), though this is probably because we used to listen to it constantly then(and I played it a ton while DJing over the summer, too.) We also used to listen to it in the receiving department when I still lived in the US and worked at the record store. It's a killer, heavy album and you can't help but love stuff like 'Fuel for Hatred', 'With Ravenous Hunger', 'Angstridden', 'Repined Bastard Nation'...I think the best song might be 'Mental Mercury' which is brutal as hell! But, again, something has to go somewhere, and I do find myself turning toward their other 2000s era albums just a bit more often. So today Volcano gets the 7th spot.
6. Now, Diabolical(2006)
Volcano's follow-up, and for my money, just darker, heavier and groovier enough that it usually sneaks a tiny bit above the album, though with some hesitation. I think it occasionally even swaps with the number 5 spot. Like the rest of Satyricon's discography I adore the album and I don't think it has any skippable tracks. 'K.I.N.G.' is the grooviest black metal song to have ever grooved(and the video is great for this song, too), the title track is an incredible 'get pumped' track, and 'A New Enemy' really hits some sorta brain neurons in my strangely wired brain for some reason. Now, Diabolical is one of the albums I'd hand to someone who says 'gimme something great to listen to from the 2000s.' I feel like another reason I put this a little higher than Volcano was that it kinda sounds ahead of its time; when I listen to it today it's like I'm somehow listening to an album that was made yesterday. It's easy to see why the band leans heavily on this album for live shows, too; these songs translate *very very well* to a live set. All in all when I'm making up playlists and such I find myself revisiting this album enough that it just about scratches the top five, and depending on my mood that day, like I said, can sometimes be IN the top 5. But for now, I've been playing another one just a little more often...
5. The Age of Nero(2008)
Maybe it's because it's the sign of the times, but with Nero meaning both darkness/black and being the famed emperor, I've always just felt like this albums sheer, suffocating darkness and heaviness has spoken to me more and more over the years and it's crept higher after a time and often overtakes the other 2000s era albums. The Age of Nero does have a little bit of an experimental bent from time to time, but whenever I start thinking of ranking these albums, I'll put this on and listen to it open with the vicious drum assault of 'Commando' and this one ends up coming back home to the top 5. 'Black Crow on a Tombstone' is the second-grooviest black metal song ever. To go along with Commando's perfect opening, Den Siste is a dark and nasty closer, and the Sign of the Trident is yet another one of those catchy as fuck tracks. All in all The Age of Nero comes together extremely well and shows I think the growth of their 2000s-era perfectly. It's another album that sounds like it could've come out yesterday(and is just as relevant today as it always was. Their message wasn't straight-up blatant, but it certainly had that air of an observation of the world's darkness.)
4. The Shadowthrone(1994)
Now we're settling into the top 5, and from Satyricon's "old sound"(which is what I consider DMT and ST, Nemesis Divina had sort of evolved past their older, more raw sound), I always preferred the Shadowthrone. This album always has and always does get a lot of play; I feel like they took their barbaric, medieval influence of DMT and evolved it into a harshly cold and melodic, almost epic sounding album, featuring some longer tracks and keyboards that I don't think ever really overtake the album and turn it pompous or anything like that. I rank this album highly because I also feel it shows the band's growth very, very well, even though it was only a year after DMT. Their songwriting and musicianship evolved a whole lot in that year and it comes through in the music. This album is one of 1994's best black metal albums IMHO; up there with Transilvanian Hunger and In The Nightside Eclipse. When it opens with that snarling "Kampen mot Gud og hvitekrist er igang!" you know you're in for a ride. 'Hvite Krist's Død', 'In The Mist By The Hills', 'Vikingland', all so good and with riffs galore. Frost's drums step up pretty much immediately too(even though they were pretty damn good still on their first album.) It's been solidly in my top 5 Satyricon albums since I sank into the realms of black metal, and I'm not sure I see this one leaving anytime soon unless they release two albums in quick succession that warrant it.
3. Deep Calleth Upon Deep(2017)
Yes, yes, I know. I have performed a black metal sin and placed one of the newest albums in the top 3. I of course kid(I mean, many people find Monotheist to be one of Celtic Frost's finest, me included, and that was their last album), but let's face it, the extreme metal community has a big draw to sticking with a band's first albums; as I remember hearing one time "The first demo is always the best." In Satyricon's case, I simply feel like their last full-on metal album was incredible. The musicianship, for one, on this album is absolutely top-notch. You can hear just HOW much they have evolved and just gotten better and better over time. The tracks on this album actually start scratching an almost progressive sound, though it avoids crossing straight over into 'prog'; more of an influence. And Frost sounds like he is having so much fun on the drums on this one, and has put out some of his most impressive bits yet. The drums in 'Blood Cracks Open the Ground' alone are mind-boggling(and try to find a clip of that played live!) The title track I have fond memories of listening to inside while playing some PC games. I feel like this album belongs here because it's a fantastic example of growth and evolution while still keeping an incredibly dark and heavy sounding album.
2. Rebel Extravaganza(1999)
Getting toward the top! I recently wrote a blog gushing about how much I loved this album, and there are times where I sometimes really do think it's their best album, but at the end of the day I think my nostalgia makes number 1 the way it is, but goddamn it's a mere hair's thread. I listen to this album SO much. It's dark, cold, incredibly heavy, thickly produced, with, as I've said a lot, some of the greatest black metal drumming of the 90s found right here. From the beginning of 'Tied in Bronze Chains' to the absolute stamina test of the last three+ minute blastbeat at the end of 'The Scorn Torrent', this album is a masterpiece in what it takes to push against the direction that a genre might be headed and not being afraid to do so. I use the words "game-changer" with this album a lot, and it's because I mean it; I believe this album was one of the biggest game-changers of its time. 'Filthgrinder' is a legendary track to see played live(and is a fond memory of anyone with Kazaa downloading the famous drum check involving that and Forhekset), with one of the coolest buildup and breakdowns ever at the last part of the song.
If you want to read me vomit a lot more words about Rebel Extravaganza than I did here, you can check the blog about it here: https://azaaelfgc.blogspot.com/2025/07/my-ode-to-one-hell-of-game-changing.html . This blog is the only reason why I didn't go on longer about this one.
1. Nemesis Divina(1996)
When I talk about essential albums, I mostly just mean really great albums of any particular genre or sub-genre. They don't have to be peak or legendary(though they often are), but just really spectacular albums. Nemesis Divina, on the other hand, is one of those albums that I straight-up consider 100% essential legendary black metal listening. If you asked me to make a list of the 10 most important black metal albums of the 2nd wave(90s-early 00s basically), Nemesis Divina would absolutely be on this list. From the intro of Dawn of a New Age and the iconic "This is armageddon!" -- ranking up there with best song openings with Angel of Death -- to the finale, Nemesis Divina is a masterclass on how to combine an icy feel, sharp production, blasting, keys, melody, and heaviness all together, never really getting symphonic at any time. Mother North just needs to become Norway's national anthem(especially if it's the live version with the National Opera), and Forhekset's iconic double-bass assault and riffing keeps it one of the best songs on the album. The riffs on this album are absolutely fantastic; I can recognize pretty much any one of them with a listen.
I don't think I need to even mention that there's no filler on this(I don't think there's really filler on Satyricon albums, just songs I listen to a bit less). Interestingly, this was the last album where Satyricon operated as more than a two-piece; Nocturno Culto of Darkthrone had joined on guitar for this and was a part of the band/their live performances this time, as well. These songs have stood the test of time; it's hard to believe, but this album is going to be 30 next year(and I certainly hope they do something for that!) They hold up live, they hold up on album, they hold up everywhere. Despite the band's youth, Satyr and Frost showed a musical maturity already here on this album that seemed to level up severalfold from both Dark Medieval Times and The Shadowthrone. Perhaps it sounds a little rough still compared to the musicians they became decades later, but this album aged so incredibly well it's crazy.
I don't want to turn this into an outright review of Nemesis Divina, but it's my 3rd favorite album of all time for a reason, as well as, once again, an album that I'd consider one of the most important of the 2nd wave.
--
Welp, there we have it. Yeah, I know this is going to look different than a lot since I know a LOT of people put some order of The Shadowthrone or Dark Medieval Times first(occasionally Nemesis Divina), and others yet won't even recognize anything after them -- but you know what, no hate, it's their loss if they won't even give it a try, IMO. I think this band has something for almost everyone in metal, though, and even IF something isn't up your alley, there might be something else.
I'll be back again with more Azzy Ranks in the near future!
No comments:
Post a Comment