Satan's Fall: Destination Destruction

Satan's Fall is a newer 5-piece speed metal band that follows in the wake of other 80's revival acts such as Enforcer or White Wizzard by delivering all the tasty riffs and soaring melodies one could ask for. For the most part, anyways. There's quite a glut of bands like this around these days, but Satan's Fall sophomore album Destination Destruction still has plenty going for it even if originality isn't one of them.

As stated previously, this is a five-piece metal band in the tradition of Priest or Maiden, but with more breakneck speed and double bass drumming than either of those bands are dishing out these days. This is Metal with a capital "M", and "Destination Destruction" has no shame in displaying its influence from the genre's legends and forbearers. I would say the band's closest audio equivalent would be one of the newer acts like Enforcer or Haunt, as there are little touches such as tremolo-picked riffs and gang vocals that distinguish it from the old guard. Honestly though, you pretty much know what you are gonna get with this one after one glance at the album art and a photo of the band. And there's nothing wrong with that. All of the tropes and cliches of Metal's past were popular for a reason; because they were awesome.

Now that the originality stuff is addressed, what we are left with here are a bunch of (mostly) high-energy melodic speed metal tracks that should please most fans of the genre pretty well. While undeniably being a Metal album, there is a smidge of that 80's party metal vibe that lends Destination Destruction a little grit and dirtiness. It must be the gang vocals and soaring choruses. Songs like "Garden of Fire" and "Afterglow" are brisk, fun, and leave no room for fluff or filler. This is when the band is at their best, (although the surprisingly epic "Dark Star" is a highlight as well) and I wish the entire album featured nothing but tracks that suit the band's strengths like these. There's a weaker song or two (the 6+ minute Monster's Ball chief among them) that just don't have the same heft and gravitas that sadly bring the album down a notch or two, but I wouldn't say they are terrible; more like forgettable which is almost as bad, I suppose. Aside from a boring track or two, my other major gripe is the vocals, which at times are pretty good, but during most of the choruses they devolve into a bizarre weak screech that just doesn't sound great at all. It's a shame because better vocals here would have done a lot to power up the sing-a-long hooks of the band.

There are two bonus covers here, and both are actually pretty damn good. The first is from a Finnish soap opera (I'm not kidding), the other from the popular 90's kids show "Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers (also not kidding), and I'll be damned if they aren't fun as hell. As a kid who did most of his growing up in the 90's that opening riff from MMPR will forever be lodged deep in my psyche, so that was an easy win, but the soap opera track was an honest-to-goodness surprise, so high fives all around for that one, boys.

Destination Destruction is a fun listen and I can't imagine anyone who is into the speed/trad metal revival disliking it, but there's not a ton of meat on the bone here. A little forgettable and with some questionable vocals to boot, it's probably not gonna change your life, but you'll have a blast with it while it's screaming from your speakers. I'd imagine it goes great with some cheap beer and a terrible cheesy horror movie.

Tracklist:
1. Lead the Way
2. Garden of Fire
3. Swines for Slaughter
4. Monster's Ball
5. Afterglow 0
6. No Gods, No Masters
7. Kill the Machine
8. Dark Star
9. Es wird viel passieren (Marien-Hof cover)
10. Go Go Power Rangers (Power Rangers cover)

Added: January 6th 2024
Reviewer: Brandon Miles
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 400
Language: english

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