It might not surprise our readership that as a blogger and musician, and all that which comes with it (like the aversion to leave the house or the unbearable stench), I am quite fond of cats. I myself keep two as pets and despite Instagram’s continuous efforts to populate my feed with half naked alt-girls, I follow mainly metal bands and cats, as these things tend to make the world a little more bearable. This extended preamble should make it clear: I did select Saturday Night Satan for review purely because of the black house cat that adorns the cover and who reminds me of my oldest feline familiar. The tags are promising enough, and the promise of being dark, gloomy occult rock ain’t half bad either. I am willing to give the occult rock descriptor to Saturday Night Satan, at least, but the gloomy is more than debatable. All Things Black is more early Ghost than The Devil’s Blood and more Scooby Doo than it is The Omen. There is an upbeat quality to the material and very little doom can even be found. If I had to come up with an elevator pitch for this album, it comes closest to the songs that play over the credits of an 80s slasher, with only the slightest attempt being made to present anything dark or scary.
That is not to say that Saturday Night Satan aren’t a good amount of fun, though. The band clearly seems to enjoy 80s horror and sleazy movies as much as they do populistic 80s hard rock. The material at times leans into heavier territory and at rare times even slows down, but never qualifies as doom. Remnants of the doom sound can maybe only be found in the guitar tone, which is maybe a tad fuzzier than your average hard rock act and some additional instrumentation, like the flute in the last track that might recall Blood Ceremony as much as the proggers of Aphrodite’s Child—although I might be imposing expectations on the band here, as both Aphrodite’s Child and Saturday Night Satan are Greek. None of this is particularly new, and the band doesn’t serve up exceptional quality either. Particularly the vocals can at times be a bit one note, even though I enjoy Kate Soulthorn‘s tone quite a bit. Still, it’s not like her voice particularly screams horror, either.
Having said all that, All Things Black might be good for a few revisits. Something about the songs can be quite catchy and a lot of it sits in guilty pleasure territory. Ironically, this is quite similar to the movies the band seems to be inspired by. All Things Black might be at its best when it’s on in the background at a Halloween party—having Halloween III: Season of the Witch on muted on your TV can’t hurt, either.
