Satyricon
Live At The Opera
Napalm Records
Release Date: Out Now
Review by Matthew Clewley
The metal genre hasn’t been a stranger to the introduction of an orchestral department accompanying it to create something beyond spectacular. It’s worked for Metallica as well as other bands like Deep Purple and The Scorpions, however, Satyricon are quite fresh to this during a live performance. The Norwegian Black Metallers aren’t strangers at all for experimentation, and on the 8th September 2013, this live performance was a milestone in their glorious career, and it showed why they’re one of the most pioneering bands in metal with this performance with the Norwegian National Opera chorus.
Live At The Opera is blend of opera and black metal that somehow creates a beautifully unique sound that works in most ways. With the glooming introduction of Voice of Shadows gives you the taster you’d anticipate as it moves into Now, Diabolical. Throughout the album this provides a strange feeling to the sound, something that is quite welcoming. The sound is heavy with the great edition of the operatic vocals, adding this dark ambient feeling, especially in Our World, It Rumbles Tonight. The backing vocals from the 55 choir singers became more interesting to listen to when Die By My Hand crops up.
Sivert Høyem sounds to be a controversial guest appearance since day one for the song Phoenix; however he sounds excellent on this recording following from the great heavy ambience that this album has constructed. Clean vocals are pushed aside for Den Siste. For the next 16 minutes, two crowd pleasers are played right before the first encore, with To The Mountains finishing it off with its fantastic riff and the great atmosphere coming from the choir. The first encore consists of Satyricon‘s masterpiece songwriting with The Pentagram Burns and Mother North, both sounding as fantastic and vicious as they have ever been. The second encore gives the crowd a swift kick up the arse on this recording, with everyone joining in with clapping. It’s another fantastic song that fits in well with Live At The Opera’s evil ambience.
The album is slow paced. It takes a lot of patience to full enjoy this album. The drums sound a little too quiet on this recording, even if the choir are one of the fundamental focuses this album is pointing out. Besides that, Live At The Opera is another reason why Satyr and Frost are one of the finest Black Metal bands around, their ballsy experimentation with different genres and styles is the reason why I will always keep listening to them.
