Review Summary: In every literal translation, this is the soundtrack to hell
Satanic Blood, or Von in general is in all seriousness nothing more than a group of guardians of hell that have been sent to Earth to show us what it would sound like if we were sentenced to eternal torment. After having given this album a shot, I can't quite tell if it would all be worth it to get stakes in my dick hole or not. This is most certainly not your typical black metal album, and if you haven’t had the finest experience with entry-level material, then all I can really say is that this probably isn’t going to be your cup o' tea. It really is a simple concept: m/ or no. But seriously, this album will make your head roll, and might cause the town's lighting to flicker a bit, and you might hear some high pitched screams coming from outside your window. Yes, this much is true.
The album starts off rather quickly, giving very little lead as to what's coming. Of course, that can't necessarily be allowed, seeing as how the album, or demo really, is only about 20 minutes long, with most of the track barely surpassing 2 minutes in length. Unfortunately this gives the album a rushed feel for the beginning, and might repel a bit. There is also very little to find in the first half of this album, as every song sounds the same: rushed and incomplete. Of course, if you enjoy the sound of sonic demonic worship coming from a steel trash bin in the back of a dark alley at quarter after midnight while being chased by Cerberus, then perhaps this won't matter much to you. But I personally enjoy a little variety in my music, so let's skip down to the latter half of this frenetic production.
Most of what occurs from "Lamb" and down is going to show a little more eclecticism. The song "Veadtuck" shows an increase in song length, and has a little more variety in the guitars. But in all honesty, this album really not about the standard black metal instrumentation, because as I already said, this album is not your typical BM production. There are plenty of sonic blast beats and power chords, and the vocalist is the highlight of the album. Unlike the typical Scandinavian BM style, "Goat" (as we call him) actually resembles a more death metallish vocal style. Backed by repetitive blast beats, and simplistic power chords, "Veadtuck" is one of the best songs on the album. Really, all songs on this demo follow this same simplistic formula, but "Veadtuck" just has more variety to it, and uses more than just 1 or 2 power chords for the whole thing. It ranges in the 3-4 region (getting fancy today aren't we?).
To conclude, this album is a production of the most simplistic quality. There is very little variety to be found here (with the exception of "Veadtuck"), and at most there is maybe 4 power chords here. This album lives off of blast beats, and the vocalist is certainly not average by any means. I'll give the band credit for at least making a hellish record for the ages, but I can't ignore how much this demo relies of blast beats alone. For "Devil Pig", all the way through "Lamb", you will find what is basically one song. The entire first half of this demo really can be skipped. It's the second half that this intriguing threesome starts to show some content worth looking at. This album also needs time to grow. It is not the most accessible demo in metal, but once the cringe-worthy simplicity is surpassed, this demo will show some credible music.
