It has been quite a while since I heard something from the combination of death and thrash metal, and ever since I came to such realization I’ve had a craving for the style. So tonight, I sat down determined to find something tasty, and it led to me having to do a bit of digging all the way back to this time last year which I typically don’t like doing but I made an exception for tonight, and I’m very happy I did as I found the Canadian act of Satanic quite tasty to the very end.

With such an obligatory name, cover art, and theme, one wouldn’t expect from this band based out of Quebec to really be anything special. And while I can’t sit here and tell you that Satanic is one of the greatest thrashy death albums I’ve ever heard, there’s no denying that “Architecture of Chaos” does its job of raising hell and damning all that there is incredibly well. While still keeping true to the tropes that death and thrash metal have set for themselves over the years, Satanic manages to incorporate their own special flavor into their music that really makes “Architecture of Chaos” so much more bearable than the millionth cookie cutter record of death/thrash that we get so wearily often. All eight of these tracks show that Satanic isn’t as stale as many bands that populate the style as these Canadians could easily break their sound apart to where they can stand proud as either a death or thrash record and they’d still nail it which makes the overall result of “Architecture of Chaos” that much more of a personality that actually fucking works! It takes real attention to detail to really take such a played out style that has seen all sorts of unimaginative bands comes through (as with all metal), yet Satanic managed to bring a real breath of familiar and fresh air to the mix that really pays off in the end.

Speed, power, and pure rage are all it takes to make a solid death/thrash album, and Satanic has got that in absolute fucking spades with this album. “Architecture of Chaos” is an album that has many stereotypes of this particular style, but the way that this band played the cards made it so that not only is this an enjoyable album regardless but also the kind of thing that shows definite potential that can help this band blossom into something truly special.

LISTEN to “Architecture of Chaos” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Satanic on Facebook here.