Perhaps those Swedish bands like to sing about Satan in hopes that he'll visit their country during the winter and warm things up a tad. Satanic Slaughter certainly seems to be focused on one main theme throughout the twenty-five songs presented here on The Early Years: Dawn of Darkness and that, of course, is Mr. Lucifer. This release compiles together the band's two mid-nineties releases, a self titled effort and Land of Unholy Souls, giving interested fans a huge wallop of their brand of thrashy, blackened metal. Since some of these members have ended up in the better known Witchery, this CD might be serve as a little history lesson for those curious to the formative years of those musicians. The majority of it is speedy and junior grade, low end blackish metal with the obligatory raspy vocals and breakneck riffing. The main drawback to a lot of it is the very thin production, which renders the band's impact to that of jello colliding with a bus. Moreover, the sheer amount of songs packed onto this disc (running time is just under seventy minutes) makes the overall effect that of exhaustion as Satanic Slaughter wasn't particularly one to mix things up with their musical approaches. Unlike the later Witchery releases, the riffs do come aplenty but they lack much of the effectiveness Witchery shows in stringing together metal riffing.

However, putting the band's two early records together on disc does at least give interested listeners one destination at the record store. I wouldn't call The Early Years: Dawn of Darkness essential, but it certainly is economical.

Review by John Chedsey

Review date: 11/2001

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