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SATURDAY NIGHT SATAN
All Things Black

Made Of Stone Recordings (2024)
Rating: 7.5/10

The quality of the Greek heavy metal scene shows no signs of waning as female-fronted Saturday Night Satan embark upon their journey through dimly lit corridors into musty temples inhabited by ancient forces. Let’s be clear, this Athens-based band offers nothing new and you’ll hear the occult driven 70s rock vibe throughout, influenced by the likes of Black Sabbath, Coven (I noticed in the band notes that Jinx Dawson gets a mention for the sigil) and Blue Öyster Cult, while also tapping into the contemporary devil doom of acts like Lucifer.

This is reasonably basic yet bewitching metal led by the wistful croons of Kate Soulthorn who has a straightforward style of vocal that we’ve all become accustomed to with this sort of vibe. The band logo was designed by Tas Danazoglou (Satan’s Wrath / Friends Of Hell / Mirror), so this adds further mystique to this affair. Cue then black leather catsuit, crucifix necklace and smoke machine as Soulthorn moodily sways to the blood red chords of ‘Devil In Disguise’. It’s rather formulaic as is ‘Lurking In The Shadows’ and ‘Rule With Fire’ as the band provides crisp Dennis Wheatley imagery with its spookily designed drums that thud like a churchyard bell muffled by a storm. Jim Kotsis (Black Soul Horde) provides all guitars, bass and backing vocals to add further atmosphere.

Now, if Saturday Night Satan had emerged a decade or so ago then they may have been more worthy of your time, and while this opus is easy on the ears its shelf life is limited in my opinion. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of solid moments on the album with personal favourites being ‘Of Love And The Void’, which includes some nice flute work courtesy of Joel Sempere, and CD bonus cut ‘Witches’ Dance’, which features good use of a theremin by Andrea Marras.

Even so, with all of its cultish connections and satanic signals, All Things Black parades as a harmless take on Blood Ceremony with the look, but less blood of doo-woppers Twin Temple. Hammer House Of Horror heavy metal then that draws heavily from the generically ghoulish.

Neil Arnold

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