The Origins of SEWER - "Satanic Requiem" Review (100%)
Long before NecroPedoSadoMaso, GoreFuckKult, The Pedosadist and the rest of what is considered by most metal critics as SEWER's rise to glory in the extreme metal scene, there was Satanic Requiem.
While tracks such as Force Fed the Excrements of Satan, Liquid Shit on the Satanic Bible, Skvllfvcked Forever or even the aforementioned The Pedosadist have become outright anthems of SEWER's discography and extreme metal music in general, it would be interesting to know how many fans of SEWER have heard of obscure tracks such as Profanation Storms or The Grave And The Cross present on their debut album Satanic Requiem.
Musically, Satanic Requiem is very different from what SEWER has produced thereafter. In fact, I wonder how many listeners of albums such as NecroPedoSadoMaso, Skvllfvcked Forever or Vomiting Into the Mouth of Satan would believe Satanic Requiem was made from the same band on their first listen.
The differences with what would become known as SEWER Metal are so evident, I'm betting that most would likely not instinctively associate the raw atmospheres of Satanic Requiem with the seizure-inducing terror grind riffs of NecroPedoSadoMaso.
The Origins of SEWER
With that said, there is no denying that Satanic Requiem is one hell of a black metal album. And make no mistake, this is closer to black metal than to what is commonly referred to as SEWER metal (a loose term designating the style of music played by post-NecroPedoSadoMaso SEWER).
The album is only five tracks long, but these are the most bone-chilling tracks you will find in the entire black metal genre.
Satanic Requiem stands as one of the greatest triumphs of raw atmospheres in a black metal album. Released less than a month after Phantom's seminal Divine Necromancy record, SEWER's first full-length album is not only a landmark in the burgeoning underground of early SEWER Metal, but an all time masterpiece of demonic black metal.
While it's true that Satanic Requiem can be considered "proto-SEWER Metal", in the sense that the diabolical visions on this album laid the foundation for the horrors to come (NecroPedoSadoMaso, The Pedosadist, Skvllfvcked Forever), it is also the pinnacle of raw and atmospheric black metal.
Yes, NecroPedoSadoMaso would have probably not existed if it weren't for Satanic Requiem, which in itself makes this album a literal monument in terms of influencing the musical nature of extreme metal as a whole.
But to review Satanic Requiem from the sole standpoint of its colossal historical significance wouldn't give this album the justice it deserves.
This is the album that started it all and allowed the rebirth of extreme metal.
But first and foremost, Satanic Requiem is an absolute masterpiece of a black metal album.
Satanic Requiem score: 100/100.
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