Heard that one about the cult Black Metal band that signed to Roadrunner Records? Well, it’s true, actually. Yeah, and all the fans cried “Bloody murder!” and “High treason!” and all sorts of attacks. The funny thing was that that none of them had even heard the album. So now it’s released and with it one of the crappiest videos ever. Did you hear that? Satyricon recorded a stupid video where they seem to be stuck in a doorframe with some people. And the music? That doesn’t matter, are you deaf (blind in this case...)? THEY RECORDED A STUPID VIDEO.

So yeah, that’s basically what happens when a legendary band signs to a major label, a major and trendy label in this particular case. People forget what’s important, and without even hearing the material, they go crazy and attack the band, speciallt the people that claim to be “their biggest fans”. It happened with Cradle of Filth, it happened to Opeth, and now it’s Satyricon’s turn to be blindly loathed by all time fans, and blindly praised by Hot Topic kiddies.

So I was about to bash them and mainly just talk shit about them, because I’m huge fan and all that, but then I was reminded that I get paid by Metal Reviews to actually LISTEN to the albums I review. So I did... before it was too late and I remembered I don’t get paid at all... fuck.

I would love to tell you that Satyricon have decided to shift from their Volcano “let’s do some Black & Roll” approach to something more complex as well as new and exciting, but I must tell you it’s the exact opposite. Satyricon seem to be comfortable with this new approach of theirs making the album even less Black Metal-ish than their previous effort. At first this made me want to throw my freakin’ stereo out the window, but considering that I love listening to music and that my stereo allows me to do that, I was in no position of losing it, so I managed to just shut it off.

After I accepted Satyricon’s musical decision I was ready to once again listen to the album, but this time from an objective point of view, after all that’s what reviewing is all about.

As said before, Now, Diabolical follows the vein of Satyricon’s previous album mainly recurring to rockin’ riffing, grooves and those kind of hypnotizing sounding riffs used since Rebel Extravaganza. So, long gone are the melodic and epic medieval tremolo picked riffing used originally in Dark Medieval Times or Rebel Extravaganza’s complex, even quasi progressive structures, also, sadly Frost’s drumming is extremely simplistic, although it is as tight as always. Now, I understand that some very elaborate drumming wouldn’t fit with this musical approach, but I believe there was enough room to showcase more of Frost’s amazing ability. Production wise the album sounds crystal clear, making it a quite lacking on atmosphere, but I guess it comes with the "modern" sound territory.

I won’t lie to you. Yes, Now, Diabolical leaves a lot to be desired from such an amazing and legendary band (as all the “huge fans” said), even if it manages to succeed in providing some very (gulp!) catchy moments and some grade A headbanging material.

So, if you hated Volcano, stay away from Now, Diabolical as it is reinforcing everything you despised from that album. If you want a Black Metal album stay away from Now, Diabolical. If you've never heard the old Satyricon or any Satyricon at all, do yourself a god damned favor and run to buy Dark Medieval Times. If you enjoyed Volcano, then listen to Now, Diabolical before buying, because without a doubt this is Satyricon's weakest effort to date, yet not absolute crap... well, maybe a bit crappy.