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Nov 3, 20223 min read

Satyricon - The Age of Nero (2008)

FROM THE CRYPTS - CELEBRATING PAST ALBUM RELEASES in the HISTORY of HARD ROCK & HEAVY METAL…


Celebrating its 14th anniversary this week, is the album The Age of Nero by legendary Black Metallers Satyricon.



On November 3, 2008, Satyricon released their seventh full length studio album, The Age of Nero via Indie Recordings (Norway) and Roadrunner Records (Europe). The release was backed by a full European headlining tour opening in Stavanger, Norway on November 12 and ending in Hamburg, Germany on December 20.


On October 6, 2008, the first single, Black Crow on a Tombstone, was released for online streaming at Roadrunner Records' UK website.


Background & Overview:

The Age of Nero was largely written in a remote cabin deep in the Norwegian woods by Satyr in collaboration with longtime friend Snorre Ruch (of Thorns). It features eight of the heaviest songs in Satyricon's history. The Age of Nero is driven by the dominating weight of the songs. From the unyielding tenacity symbolizing Black Crow On A Tombstone to the utter madness of Die By My Hand or the desolate anarchy of Den Siste - each title commands maximum auditory potency. Satyricon set out to achieve their goal with masterful song writing, individual performances and the albums production. It was recorded in part at Sound City Studios in Van Nuys, California (where Metallica had recorded Death Magnetic, where Slayer recorded drums and most famously, where Nirvana had recorded Nevermind), with Satyr acting as producer and Joe Baresi (Tool, Queens of the Stone Age) at the helm. The Age of Nero is a daring departure from their previous releases, with down-tuned guitars adding heft to the sheer magnitude of the albums sound. The album features Industrial elements along with basic Rock structures along with the bands traditional Black Metal stylings. And, drummer Frost is methodical in his use of fundamental meters, adding a sustained aggression and intensity against Satyr's articulated guitar work. Combined, all of the elements were key to not only commanding the listeners attention, but also holding on to them tightly with the grip of a constrictor. In conclusion, Satyricon’s ultimate goal of aural supremacy was a successful campaign worthy of Nero Claudius Cæsar.


Critical Reception:

In his review, AllMusic’s Eduardo Rivadavia stated;

“Paying little heed to the polarized opinions ever emanating from their headstrong fan base -- many of whom refuse to accept the group's already long-term evolution away from Trve Black Metal Cvlt-dom -- Norwegian legends Satyricon continued to press forward inexorably and stubbornly, as guided by their own creative muse, on their seventh long-player, The Age of Nero. Released towards the tail-end of 2008, the album was Satyr and Frost's first through new label Koch Records (for the US), and continued to expand upon the desolately glacial sonic approach to modern Black Metal explored on recent releases, while incorporating more evident links to both traditional Rock structures and Industrial music's tight disciplinary execution. Even as they infused surprisingly accessible, genre-crossing appeal into the groove-laden robot march of The Wolfpack (reminiscent of “Now, Diabolical's” groundbreaking single, K.I.N.G.), the foreboding grind of Last Man Standing, and the hypnotically advancing swing of The Sign of the Trident, however, the duo also manipulated those foreign elements to bring their lingering Black Metal hallmarks (including blazing blastbeats, nefarious melodies, and Satyr's cruel rasp, of course) into sharper relief.
As a result, hybrid offerings like Commando, Black Crow on a Tombstone, and My Skin Is Cold struck an unlikely balance between Extreme Metal convention and adventure; and even short-sighted Black Metal purists surely had no leg to stand on where the mostly "traditional" and multi-faceted Norwegian Black Metal masterpiece Die By My Hand was concerned. If anything, implacable speed freaks with a taste for Extreme Metal savagery had to put up with several slower paced passages here and there (and throughout closing epic Den Siste), while accepting the hard truth that Satyricon will probably never revert to the uncivilized rawness of their youth. Instead, the band's carefully considered songwriting process likewise held sway over The Age of Nero's interconnected lyrics, which invariably delved into some aspect of mankind's self-destructive habits and the imminent threat of cataclysmic downfall (and, to be fair, remained as blackened and downright evil as one could ever hope for). In sum, although it was never going to please everyone who has followed some aspect of the group's long and risk-filled career, The Age of Nero was a Satyricon album through and through: daring, surprising, inventive, and controversial.”

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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