Funeral Rain Press Corps

Finnish black metal band Satanic Warmaster has been removed from the French Hellfest festival (held in Clisson, France in July 2011) because of pressure from other artists performing at the festival. Satanic Warmaster has made the following statement due to the decision of the Hellfest organizers:
 
          “It has been brough to my attention, that the organizers of the festival cannot hold on to our agreement to have Satanic Warmaster perform at the 2011 Hellfest. This was because of pressure put to the organizers by other artists booked on the festival.
          It is a disappointment (despite being totally expected) to see such mentality still present in the ’individualist’ and ’free-thinking’ metal community that any musical act can still be boycotted because of false preconceptions and arbitrary political motivations of other, ’bigger’ artists. It is also more than amusing to see that the censorship and boycott some of the French authorities tried to push on the festival earlier are now excercised by the festival organization itself.
          Obviously because I have never upheld any modern taboos or lived my life as an apologetic dabbler, it makes me also a target for politically motivated artists to keep us from playing        because of their self-righteous reasons. Any artist can be put on a mock trial by taking words out of their context without thinking of the actual message, and Satanic Warmaster once again hangs crucified by hysterics driven by the love for a world and values I feel no oneness with.
          Everyone who has even slightest interest in this musical style knows what black metal is about, and in that light only a moralist or someone with a very extreme double standard can say that Satanic Warmaster is in some manner different from other artists of the genre. 
          It makes me want to puke for making a statement like this, which is almost something that a politician would do, but to clear some things, it was mandatory to bite the bullet this time.
         Just to make sure everyone has their labels right, Satanic Warmaster‘s ideology is Satanism and music style black metal. Whoever claims otherwise does so only because of personal feelings and/or resentment.”
 
                                                               -Werwolf / Satanic Warmaster
 
Satanic Warmaster is a Finnish black metal musical project started in 1998 with tens of thousands of sold albums worldwide without the support of any major distribution companies or record labels. The band reflects a Satanist’s world view and is known for its unapologetic, arrogant and amoral stance.
 
For more information, contact Werewolf Records:
 
e-mail: werwolf@blackmetal.fi

Genre: Black Metal
Label: Independent

Finnish black metal with a bit of a rocky influence, Astride Over the Grave is a wicked demo.
The guitars and bass are touched by Bathory, the drums have a very snappy snare going on, and the whole comes together into a very cohesive slab of evil black metal.
My only major qualm is Raivo, the vocalist. His voice is great most of the time, and the way he uses it is awesome all of the time, but the sound of it occasionally grates on me. I should note, however, that Raivo is no longer in the band, replaced by Raato, so I wonder what they will sound like now. The minor qualm I have is the demo’s length – it’s only five songs. I wish it were longer.
In all, this is a very promising look into a band I think can become quite well known in Finnish black metal circles, and I hope to hell they can become known outside of their home country more too. I also hope they send me their next release too.
7.5 out of 10.

Graveborne on MySpace.