Satariel - Chifra cover artwork

Rating: 6.5

Country: Sweden

Release Date: 2007

Track list:
1.   Hogtied Angel   04:33
2.   Slithering   03:51
3.   Chifra   03:16
4.   Flies Halo   04:00

Total playing time   15:40

Band Website: Satariel

Satariel - Chifra

Pär Johansson - vocals
Robert Sundelin - drums
Magnus Alakangas - guitar/keyboard
Mikael Granquist - guitar
Mikael Granbacke - bass

First, a brief rant: although I scoff at the majority of what gets passed off as melodic death metal these days, I could never relate to the passionate odium it arouses within some people. I mean, yeah, I could probably count the number of good melodeath albums I've heard with my fingers if eight of them were bitten off by a starving Slovenian refugee, but I believe the core of the hatred "serious" metalheads harbor for the genre is the result of labels being taken too seriously. For example, if you took the average Gothenburg release, replaced the rasping with castrated faux-operatics, you'd be left with an unspectacular speed metal album no one would give a shit about. But because some daft journalists penned the term melodic death metal after hearing harsh vocals featured in At The Gates, late Carcass, and other metal hooky enough for them to understand, getting some equally brainless kids to drift between whichever Soilwork album is currently hyped as "the future of metal" by Mouthbreathing Hipster Monthly, suddenly everyone thinks the Swedes are conspiring to rape the sanctity of death metal. In retrospect, I feel I must apologize for that statement; it was uncalled for to insinuate that a fine publication like Mouthbreathing Hipster Monthly would promote Soilwork. But anyway, if you distance yourself from all the petty scene bickering and tension placed on labels, and approach with fairly standard rock expectations, some "melodeath" is actually quite tolerable.

Which brings us to Satariel, who fall somewhere between Dark Tranquillity and Illdisposed, while not quite as synthy as the former, nor as retardedly groove-laden and shreddy as the latter. (Yes, I realize I'm probably going to literary hell for subjecting my readers to words like "synthy" and "shreddy.") I imagine Satariel will get a lot of In Flames references, but bands like Disarmonia Mundi would be a more apt comparison; while the former clowns tend to write songs around an array of inoffensive lead melodies, the guitar's role in Chifra is relegated to staccato counterpoints to the insufferably catchy vocal lines. Occasionally crisp keys swell idly behind the riffs and some discordant strumming is introduced to the mix, but anything beyond the rhythm guitar and vocals is strictly ornamentation. Be warned: at times this formula has Chifra wandering disconcertingly close to metalcore territory, as verses full of E string-bashing chug chug swagger and fancy fret trills segue into infectious, practically rifflessly vocal-oriented choruses that sound ripe for radio play.

Much like their commercial Swedish peers, Satariel treat anything that's not a catchy chorus as baggage; as such, there's not a solo present on the recording. I don't really give a shit about solos, as they're rarely more than the sonic manifestation of phallic ego-stroking, but their inclusion might have helped endow depth to an EP with so little harmonic diversity in the riffing and so many endless prechorus/chorus repetitions. And I do mean endless; after about the 100th time the singer wails lines like "thus it goes on, and on, and on" and "we are walking in circles" in the last couple songs, I couldn't agree with him more. However, Pär Johansson is quite talented, and he'd better be, being the most prominent musical presence on the disc. Occasionally he'll sustain a note too long and you'll want to slap him and tell him to use vibrato or something (see the monotonous climax of the chorus in "Hogtied Angel"), but his performance is still more flexible than the moody crooning dominating the band's last full-length. His harsh vocals fluctuate between deep growls and a disarmingly emotive high register rasp, but as with most metal bands who begin indulging in clean vocals, they're sort of an afterthought.

As you probably expect, the production's warm and polished beyond belief, but with enough crunch in the guitar tone to save it from total depletion. It's a pity the bass is foggy and mixed out, as I recall the bassist supplying the most interesting moments of Hydra.

The final product is likeable in a superficial, empty sort of way, like that girl who always smiled and laughed at your jokes in high school, but couldn't maintain a discussion about art or politics for over two minutes. Perhaps you were too narcissistic to burn bridges, but you were well aware that she was boring company. Perhaps one day you let her get too close, but out of pity rather than desire, and then you felt trapped; deep down you knew that if you continued down this path of sanctified Western mediocrity, you'd end up like that couple that argues about the nutritional value of yogurt brands in the middle of Wal*Mart aisles. That is not fucking happiness, goddammit. Err, what was I talking about again? Oh, right, Satariel. On the other hand, as a band whose objective is replayability, they have mastered the art of hooks. As much as the snobbish elitist in you will want to hate songs this warm and accessible, they can get stuck in your head for hours at a time.

This cup of tea has a bit too much sugar for its own good -- or my stomach's, for that matter -- but if you're not scared off by the taboo of unapologetically commercial melodeath, Chifra delivers just that.

March 24th, 2008