In Satan We Trust

In Satan We Trust is the culmination of everything I've ever wanted out of any of the prior Baphomet's Blood records, to the point that even if some of them are decent, I doubt I'd ever even listen to them again now that I have this in my possession. The Lords of Salem sample inaugurating this speed metal ritual is used more effectively here than it probably was in the movie, and though it might feel like bait for a lawsuit, the orchestration rolls right into the mid-paced, field leveling mosh rhythms before mutating back into the lethal genetics of Venom, Tank, Exciter and Motörhead that were clearly seeded into these members' brains at a vital age. With the obvious caveat that there is little to nothing among these riffs and lyrics that hasn't been done a thousand times in the past, this is thus far the Italians' opus of high speed, angry dirt.

Forceful rhythm guitar patterns here add a lot of meat to the bones of bluesy fills and leads, none of which are super exemplary or incendiary on their own, but all contribute to this roadworthy crusade of hellfire which simply sates that inner, pissed off teenager I was back in the 80s, listening to what tapes I could scrounge up and watching the horror selections available to me on my parents' cable when they thought I was in bed. Baphomet's Blood doesn't fuck around with a huge variety of tempos, in fact the majority of the songs seem to move at the same velocity entirely, so telling them apart becomes a tedious chore, but the pacing and flow of the music itself just becomes an addiction I want sated after the dust from each previous track clears. The rhythm tone is pretty much perfect, potent and fiery, but crisp clear enough to pick out the various tracks and slight nuances in each of their playing. Bass is bombing here, a good tone that is better fitted and more audible than what you'd hear on a lot of their older records. Drums are driven and passionate, and while Necrovomiterror's vocals certainly haven't 'evolved' over time, they just sound continuously more gruff and nasty and honest here...not giving a fuck. And that is to their benefit.

There are, to be honest, a number of generic riffing progressions on this album that are lifted from a gestalt of their influences, and occasionally they flirt with slightly more boring speed/punk phrases that should be thrown in a locker with no combination. But even these, when placed in the fingers of hands that want nothing more than to give the listener and honest, faux-Satanic drubbing which puts them into a sense of nostalgic unconsciousness, are effective enough to contribute. You have to be at rest with the fact that this is not the music of progression or new levels of extremity, but more or less a twisted mirror of the past, so many of these younger acts inserting themselves into a history that they only belonged to as spectators, and offering windows to very specific cross-blends of their forefathers that, frankly, I don't mind existing. I have a soft spot for this sort of unapologetic, grimy speed metal when performed properly, and even though these Italians don't count themselves among the most atmospherically throwback or inspired of the lot, they have continually improved upon each record to the point that I feel they're rock solid reliable and know what they're doing.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Total Slayer worship. To put it more precisely, total "Hell Awaits" worship. The Italians of Baphomet's Blood offer an opener whose first instrumental part reveals its influence in a blatantly obvious manner. One might call it rip-off, copy, homage - I describe this beginning with the term "ingenious". Admittedly, "Hell Awaits" is my sonic paradise, the unreachable monument of a time gone by. However, I am sure that the vast majority of thrash fans will also immediately fall in love with the here presented album, as soon as the first guitar sounds show up. And by the way, the part after the intro is also heading for devastation. It is pointless arguing whether this is speed metal or thrash. As you know, the boundaries between these genres are often blurry. Anyway, Baphomet's Blood have written a fascinating opener, titanic and intense, straight and catchy.

But Baphomet's Blood are no Slayer clones. Unlike their compatriots of Insane, who released the Italian version of "Show No Mercy", the here presented band offers diverse inspirations. Ingenious riffs like the bolts throwing main riff of "Underground Demons" have been offered hundreds of times before, but Baphomet's Blood perform them with enthusiasm. Authentic and infected by the most intense metal virus, they show their entire force in a spirited manner. The exhibited attitude of the four demons borders on parody, but they definitely do not intend to caricature the genre. This is not Spinal Tap, these ruffians take their music very seriously. That's fine. Men and women of conviction are always welcome.

Baphomet's Blood rely on the abilities of their only songwriter. A man with the empathetic pseudonym Necrovomiterror has composed the songs and he seems to be of the opinion that the world needs more straight up-tempo tracks with efficient riffs. I agree. One finds the wildest moments of Motörhead as well as some Bulldozer vibes ("Whiskey Rocker"). Okay, I admit that almost every Italian band reminds me of Bulldozer, only Necrodeath mark an exception. Nevertheless, our unwashed friend Necrovomiterror has created a homogeneous full-length and the highly original cover version works as well. Thank God, it is not the fiftieth variation of "Bomber" or "13 Candles", but a rocking underground hit from Hungary with - and this is a novelty in this context - English lyrics. All in all, I am impressed by Necro's fine music taste and his compositional clarity. This guy does not belong to the best vocalists in the metal universe, but his boozy voice fits the here presented songs. Each of them impresses by its robustness and inner strength. Fickle guitars or slack rhythms is given no place. Thus, all eight songs make me smile contently and, among other things, I recommend to experience how galloping background riffs form an alliance with the solo guitar ("Infernal Overdrive").

Before you check the further, equally sophisticated, names of the further band members in the line-up section, let me talk about the production. Dense and dirty, neither amateurish nor polished, it screams "make way for Baphomet's Blood". I hate to obey, but in the case of a competent domina or bands such as the here presented I make an exception. (Well, the first case only exists in theory.) The greatest advantage of the Italians is that the aforementioned homogeneity of the album is not based on an unvarying song approach, but on the filthy mentality of the four-piece. From this follows that the combination of thrash, speed and dirty traditional metal works in a very convincing way. Of course, to ask for innovation would be stupid. Just take a look at the cover motif. Guess we all have seen it before a lot of times. The lyrics also fail to deliver new aspects ("Pounding iron, thrashing attack, metallic sparks, fast as a shark" or, even better, "Legions of Satan are looking for souls, speed metal destroys the book of lies"). Yet to be innovative is no value in itself. Integrity beats innovation.

Baphomet's Blood is a completely new band to me. Prior to this release, I knew nothing of them and since I haven't listened to any of their other stuff this review is done in complete isolation to their previous efforts. Normally, I try to compare later albums bands to their earlier albums just because it makes reviewing the album easier and gives readers a little more to latch onto. In this case, this album stands so well on its own that I didn't really feel compelled to go back and listen to their other albums. So whether this one in particular is better or worse, I can't say. But I can say that if this album is not as good as the others, I will definitely need to get their earlier stuff.

The album begins with a spoken word section and comprises what is possibly one of the campiest and cringiest portions of any album I have ever heard. It is supposed to be depicting some sort of bizarre occult ceremony, but is so unintentionally hilarious you just have to hear the melodrama for yourself to appreciate it. This is followed by some heavy and deep vocal harmonies accompanied by a set of kettle drums resulting in a piece of music strongly resembling the Romantic works of Carl Orff or Richard Strauss. After all that silliness finally ends, we are finally greeted by the first of many fantastically speedy riffs, which pretty much go on to dominate rest of the entire album.

To sum up their sound on this album is pretty easy: this is classic speed metal. They have a striking resemblance to a lot of eighties speed metal outfits, though they have with a little more density in the rhythm section and the vocals are a wee bit more on the aggressive side, like Motörhead or Venom. More recent comparisons would be to Razor and Bulldozer, but they really don't have a sound that is strongly similar to either of those. They are a good bit more accessible than Razor, and their songs don't have nearly the depth as Bulldozer. But even then, they have all the speedy riffs you would find in both of those bands, and all the snare drum you can fit into a 4/4 measure without going straight into a drum roll.

I rarely if ever review lyrics, and I'm not going to review or analyse these in any depth, but I will say that Baphomet's Blood do have a certain endearing quality to their songwriting and it basically boils down to what I could call “the Sarcófago effect”. The lyrics aren't as hilarious as Sarcófago's, mostly because they appear at least to have a level of knowledge beyond fourth grade grammar. But the lyrics are still laughably bad. So bad, in fact, that they're good in their own way. And that's not even including their refined pronunciation of Her Majesty's English, which includes the use of the long i when pronouncing the word triple in the song “Triple Six”. It comes out like “Tribal Sex”. It's nothing short of glorious.

I wouldn't say that the album is monotonous in any sense, but some of the songs do tend to run together a bit. Even so, it's still an enjoyable experience and there isn't a bad cut on the entire thing. Like most speed metal albums, the relentless tremolo riffs and jackhammer percussion can take a toll and it's the kind of thing some people can only take in small doses. So the length is basically perfect, clocking in at just under forty minutes, provided you ignore the absurd introduction. Given how comparatively rare speed metal is nowadays, if that happens to be something you're into, you really shouldn't pass up this release.

Originally written for fetiddead.wordpress.com.

Baphomet's Blood is a speed metal band out of Italy and has released their latest album via Iron Bonehead Productions titled "In Satan We Trust". Released on January 25th, 2016, this album marks their 4th full-length with a couple of EPs and demos sprinkled in along the way. Baphomet's Blood has been on the scene for just over ten years and this release proves their veteran status. There isn't an unpolished track on the release in my opinion.

There has been a big upswing in speed metal bands over the last several years and Baphomet's Blood has been lurking in the shadows without a full-length in over 6 years. In those 6 years, Baphomet's Blood has been refining their speed metal skills. They still pack that fast punch to the face attack but with a bit more low end saturation. The low end does a great job in contrasting the blistering riffs and solos. The line-up has changed slightly with new drummer, S.R. Bestial Hammer pounding the skins. Necrovomiterror is the vocalist and has a delivery and sound much like the late great Lemmy (rest in peace).

There are many influences that I notice from the very first track just as with their previous releases like Motörhead, Venom, Exciter among many other legends of the underworld. Baphomet's Blood definitely pay homage to these bands with the utmost respect and professionalism. I do want to mention that this band is unique in their own respect and not a cheap imitation by any means.

As I mentioned before, there isn't a bad track on the album. With 8 tracks coming in about 40 minutes in length I was surprised at how quickly the tracks sped by. I was ready for more once the album ended. The tracks that really were a stand out for me were "Command of the Inverted Cross", "Triple Six" and "Infernal Overdrive". They have a cover song at the end by Hungarian band, Farao titled "Eleg". I never heard the original so I couldn't immediately compare B.B.'s version but I did since give it a listen and I really think they did a great job with their interpretation. If you are an old fan of speed metal or even a newcomer to the scene, Baphomet's Blood will easily appeal to all.

- Sadistic1