Release date: 8th November 2024
It is always a treat to get new music from King Satan. One of the things I like best about the music is being able to dive into the complex lyrics, so that’s one of the things I look forward to most when they release new music.
Following the successful completion of the previous trilogy of albums, The Devil’s Evangelion is a fresh page, so to speak, although in a purely musical fashion it follows on nicely from where previous offering Occult Spiritual Anarchy left off. This album leans towards dualities – to give a small insight, two examples listed include dark and light, and chaos and order – and once again the lyrics are intelligent, thought-provoking pieces of art that add another layer to the already-complex music.
New Aeon Gospel really gets the album moving nicely due to its energy – it definitely feels like it’ll be a good set opener, so I’ll be intrigued to see where it slots into their set at the upcoming live shows. The way it builds up with layers being added until the vocals kick in really hits you hard is absolutely masterful. Similarly I love The Carnivalesque of Dark and Light – the chaotic energy the song has is wild, and you feel like you’re at an insane carnival as the music surrounds you. (Also: side-note, I was clapping with glee at the ‘fuck the rest, Satan is best’ lyrics at the end. They fit PERFECTLY.)
For an old-school fan such as myself, I was quite excited to hear the 2024 version of Destroy The World. King Satan already rerecorded Spiritual Anarchy on their previous album, which gave the track a great new spin, so I had high hopes for the reworked version of Destroy The World as a result. This 2024 version feels darker, somehow, and the more ‘natural’ sound of it opposed to the more synthesised vibes of the original really helped to give it a new spin. Sometimes when a band rerecords their older material, it just feels a bit pointless, but the fact that King Satan have endeavoured to give it a fresh spin really works in the songs favour.
My only complaint about The Devil’s Evangelion, which perhaps isn’t a complaint in this day and age of “hit shuffle and stream your music”, is that the flow feels a little disjointed – all the faster-paced and higher energy songs fall at the start of the album, with the slower songs bringing up the rear. The songs are all great, and personally I don’t feel there are any weak links, but it almost feels like the album loses momentum as it comes to a close. Of course, this could well be a stylistic choice, with the album forming two seperate halves due to its duality theming, but for me it just felt like a low-energy climax.
As a whole, The Devil’s Evangelion is another solid and mighty offering from King Satan – as always, I adore the band’s vision and am intrigued to see the next step for them.
