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Song

Turn The Tide

Artist

Satan

Satan backstory

Sprouting from the same soil that gave us Venom, Raven, Tygers of Pan Tang et al, North Easterners Satan describe their career as “44 years of prolonged mayhem with a 20-year lunch break”.

Singer Brian Ross, sticksman Sean Taylor, bassist Graeme English and guitarists Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins gave us the majestic Court In The Act album in ’83 – a NWOBHM classic.

Ross, however, departed in 1984 and made a slew of albums with Blitzkrieg. He was replaced by Lou Taylor and Satan then changed their name to Blind Fury, releasing Out Of Reach in 1985.  

A second opus under the Satan moniker – Suspended Sentence – dropped in 1987, with Michael Jackson behind the mic, before another name change and the emergence of Pariah in 1988.

Confusing, isn’t it?

Two Pariah albums followed, but the ‘Satan’ line-up then dissipated… and Ramsey and English went on to found folk metallers Skyclad.

The story, however, didn’t end there.

The Court In The Act line-up was resurrected in 2011 and since then, Satan have won over a new generation of NWOBHM-loving metalheads, with albums such as Life Sentence, Atom By Atom, and 2022’s incendiary Earth Infernal.

 And now they’re preparing to unleash Songs In Crimson, their seventh studio opus.

Turn The Tide is our first taste of that record…

In guitarist Russ Tippins’ own words

“Turn The Tide is the classic ‘King Canute’ scenario – the deluded head of state who believes himself to be divine and sets out to prove it by standing in front of the sea and ordering the waves to retreat. They don’t of course. We are kind of using that as an allegory to illustrate the ridiculous standpoint of certain Jingoistic Brits who believe that foreigners have no place in our country. It’s the shortest song on the album. And also the fastest!”

The verdict on Turn The Tide

Satan’s hot streak shows no sign of cooling off.

Turn The Tide is another example of their ability to blend slick, imaginative fretwork with the huge choruses Ross makes his own.

And anyone concerned that the quintet would be running low of creative juices, five albums into their reunion, needn’t have worried.

Right from the off, there’s a sense of urgency about Turn The Tide – Tippins and Ramsey’s fretboards must have been steaming when they recorded this. The track’s rapid fire riffery and intricate leadwork, however, are anchored by Satan’s sublime songcraft, which seems to get better and better as the years roll on.

Very few NWOBHM era bands sound this good in 2024.

What’s next for Satan?

Songs In Crimson is set for release on September 13 via Metal Blade Records and the band will be touring extensively across Europe in September.

Their jaunt starts at The Bread Shed in Manchester on September 4, and includes a home town show at The Cluny in Newcastle on September 5.

They’ll also be hitting the Pyrenean Warriors Open Air festival in Torreilles, France on September 14 and the Metalitalia Festival on September 15, as well as a slew of shows across the continent with Haunt and Hellfire.

Photo by Stefan Rosic of Conundrum Images.