Satan new album Songs In Crimson out September

 Songs in Crimson’ – available September 13, 2024

 Bio by: Katherine Turman

 

 

Satan’s history is storied, their albums and incendiary live shows, iconic. The Newcastle, England-bred lineup may quip that their career has been “44 years of prolonged mayhem with a 20-year lunch break”—forming in 1980, eventually pausing before reuniting in 2011—but circa 2024 finds the band thriving, writing, recording, and touring at the top of their game. Proof positive is their seventh studio album, and third for Metal Blade, Songs in Crimson. 

 

If 2022’s Earth Infernal album was brutal, up-tempo and with loud guitars, guitarist Russ Tippins calls Songs in Crimson “concise. It’s more to the point and gets there quicker. One of the reasons behind the title Songs in Crimson is that this record is very ‘song’ focused. There’s more punch this time around. Each chorus speaks for itself.” An eminently relatable song is “Era (The Day Will Come).” “There is nobody on this planet who is not familiar with the feeling of loss. When you get to the age we are at in this band, it becomes a weekly occurrence. If there is a message in the lyric, it is pretty much ‘do not take anything for granted.’ Especially people. You just don’t know what is around the corner that you can’t see coming.”

 

While Songs in Crimson features lyrics including “a once-great nation is going down” and “this is the end of an era,” Satan offers no quick fix. “There is always hope; solutions are not for us musicians to proclaim,” Tippins believes. “Each song has its own different theme. While there is no title track as such, the song ‘Deadly Crimson,’ which is an anti-capitalism narrative, is as close as it gets to that. As a concept, making money from money is fatally flawed in that it depends on constant growth,” Tippins says. “But constant growth is obviously impossible; a conveyor belt of sacrificial lambs.”

 

In a world where technology can make anything “perfect,” that’s not Satan’s sonic goal. “I DO want a world of choice, the possibility for something to happen that is not a part of any system or grid,” says Tippins. “I want unpredictability in music, both as a consumer and creator. I want music to be a wild animal with no leash. Carefree. Reckless. I’m happy to accept any collateral damage that may occur such as missed notes or wandering tempo. I want to hear people trying, even if not always succeeding. It is the trying that’s important. To my ears, that is music. The touch of a human hand.”

 

The band hands alongside Tippins on Songs in Crimson—vocalist Brian Ross, guitarist Steve Ramsey, bassist Graeme English and drummer Sean Taylor—were joined by (as always) Dave Curle of First Avenue studios for the record. On Earth Infernal, Tippins and Ramsey worked leads in unison, and again on “Sacramental Rites” on Songs in Crimson. “Even though there are more riffs per song, we don’t dwell overly long on any of them, the changes happen pretty quickly,” they say. “More bang for your buck. Style-wise, we doubled down on the notation ‘gender’ we’ve used for the last few albums,” says Tippins. “Meaning that we don’t really play in conventional major or minor keys. There’s always a note in a riff or a lead line that somehow seems ‘wrong’ or unexpected. Those curveballs are planned, and the idea is that the more we do that, the more we’ll come to be defined by it. I suppose it’s a mode of some kind, but we don’t even have a name for it!”

 

Satan rail against characterless, metronomic and “cut and paste music on a digital dog leash. Recording in the 21^st century has become no more than a series of binary code. Call me reactionary,” says Tippins, “and maybe I am, but every bone in my body wants to rebel against the incoming tide of ones & zeros.” With influences from King Crimson to Mercyful Fate, Satan’s own stylings remain unique, the band’s NWOBHM origins a springboard for musical and lyrical creativity, commentary and non-conformity.

 

If 1983’s Court in the Act started Satan’s aural journey, and 2018’s Cruel Magic was a game-changer, where does Songs in Crimson stand in Satan’s heavy discography? “The goal is to further consolidate the style we’ve established, the pathway we’ve been on since the reunion,” the band says. “Part of that style is that each release must have something that sets it apart from its predecessors.”   

 

Satan’s chemistry, honed by years of collaboration, brotherhood and love, is unbreakable. “We played at a metal festival where the headlining band had zero original members,” Tippins says. “I cannot get my head around that, though I admire their bravery. We are the genuine article.” To be clear: “We did not reunite just to trade on past glory,” he concludes. “If you want nostalgia, this is not the band for you. We look only ahead and always will.”    

 
Songs in Crimson track-listing:
01 Frantic Zero 04:34
02 Era (The Day Will Come) 04:40
03 Whore of Babylon 03:58
04 Sacramental Rites 04:44
05 Martyrdom 03:55
06 Turn the Tide 04:06
07 Captives 03:51
08 Curse in Disguise 04:46
09 Truth Bullet 04:55
10 Deadly Crimson 04:54

  

Also catch SATAN on tour soon SATAN + Seven Sisters   September 2024   4th      MANCHESTER - The Bred Shed 5th      NEWCASTLE - The Cluny 6th      GLASGOW - The Flying Duck  7th      BELFAST - Voodoo  8th      DUBLIN - Grand Social  11th    LONDON - Boston Music Room  12th    BRIGHTON - Daltons

Satan line-up:
 Brian Ross – Vocals
 Russ Tippins – Guitars
 Steve Ramsey – Guitars
 Graeme English – Bass
 Sean Taylor – Drums
 
 Satan online:
 http://www.satanmusic.com/    
 https://www.facebook.com/officialsatanpage  
https://www.instagram.com/officialsatanpage 
 https://twitter.com/SatanUK