{"id":71952,"date":"2018-08-24T00:00:21","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T00:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=71952"},"modified":"2018-08-24T17:30:55","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T17:30:55","slug":"feature-satan-09-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-satan-09-18\/","title":{"rendered":"SATAN – Five Magicians (August 2018) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

SATAN – Five Magicians<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nAugust 2018<\/span><\/p>\n

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Satan (l-r): Sean Taylor, Steve Ramsey, Brian Ross, Graeme English and Russ Tippins<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nNewcastle, England-based metal group Satan returned in 2011, the ranks boasting the same personnel who cut June 1983 debut Court In The Act<\/em><\/a>. Album number three Life Sentence<\/em> arrived in April 2013, roughly 26 years following the release of 1987 jaunt Suspended Sentence<\/em>. A follow-up arrived in quick fashion via October 2015 platter Atom By Atom<\/em>, with September 2018 full-length Cruel Magic<\/em> building upon that momentum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually started working on Cruel Magic<\/em> pretty much as soon as we\u2019d finished recording the last one,\u201d reveals Brian Ross, vocalist of Satan. \u201cRuss (Tippins, guitars) had gotten a few ideas, and there were a couple of ideas that we had been working on for inclusion on the last album. We hadn\u2019t finished them off, though \u2013 there were a couple of things that we needed to do to them. We started working on those; Russ came up with ideas for some riffs, verse patterns, and so on. Once things start to move into the realms of more what you\u2019d recognise as a song structure, then I start with lyrics, and we move things around a little to get the lyrics where I want them to be, and so on. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe process has taken a few years to sort of get it to where we felt we were ready to go into the studio to record. It\u2019s the way we write things, I guess, in Satan. The process in Blitzkrieg is totally different \u2013 we do it from a different angle \u2013 but this is the way we do it in Satan. It\u2019s different, and it\u2019s probably the way most people write. It kind of suits the way we like to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

The longevity with respect to the writing process is what separates the two acts. \u201cFor instance, Blitzkrieg have just had an album released, and we won\u2019t even start thinking about writing new songs until probably sometime next year,\u201d the frontman cites. \u201cThen we\u2019ll start working on songs. We\u2019ll write them as we go, in-between gigs and things, like if we\u2019ve got a weekend off or whatever. Then once we\u2019re ready, we\u2019ll go into the studio and start recording ideas just to see how it sounds really. When the record company wants us to go into the studio, we\u2019ll be ready to go. We take a lot less time over it in Blitzkrieg than Satan does, but it\u2019s just the way that it works I guess. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes I\u2019ll come up with a lyric, and then I\u2019ll give it to Ken (Johnson, guitars) and I\u2019ll say \u2018There it is. This is the basic idea.\u2019 He\u2019ll write a piece of music to it, and sometimes I\u2019ll do the same thing in Satan with Russ. I\u2019ll give him some lyrics, and he\u2019ll see what he can do with them. There are similarities, but I think it\u2019s the longevity of the process that\u2019s predominantly different.\u201d<\/p>\n

The issuance of full-length offerings in 2013, 2015 and 2018 arguably establishes a steady pace. \u201cThe gap in-between product with Satan and with Blitzkrieg is probably longer than we\u2019d like, and I think the days of a band doing an album in a year are well and truly gone,\u201d Brian notes. \u201cAt the same time though, I think anything more than five years is probably not a great idea, and so you\u2019ve got to get a happy medium I guess. For me personally, if it was up to me, I think I would like to do an album every two years. So, you finish off writing and recording an album, and then tour the next, and then back to writing the following year. That\u2019s how I\u2019d like to do it, I think. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think maybe we\u2019ll see things slightly differently now with both Blitzkrieg and Satan. We\u2019ve got new record companies of course, and we need to see what their schedules are and how often they want a product. I think the idea is two years though, to be fair. A year would be too much pressure on the band, I think. Back in the day when that used to happen, a lot of bands would get pressurised into doing an album every year, and I think the result of that in a lot of cases was bands splitting up and doing other things. That is not a road that either band wants to go down. I think we need to take a little time over it, but at the same time, not too much time.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was revealed on April 9th that Satan had signed an album contract with Metal Blade Records, having previously plied their trade under the Listenable Records banner for a pair of outings. \u201cWe had a great time with Listenable Records; they\u2019re a great bunch of people, and it\u2019s a great record label,\u201d the singer compliments. \u201cWe were looking at the offers though, because there were a few record companies that had gotten in touch with us and offered us new deals. With the first two or three labels that got in touch and the first offers that we had, Listenable said \u2018Well, I can match that,\u2019 and so it went on really. Metal Blade came in and made an offer that we couldn\u2019t refuse. As it says in the old phrase, in terms of ladders I guess, they\u2019re the next rung up the ladder. <\/p>\n

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Brian Ross<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cI think that\u2019s where Satan needs to be, and that\u2019s no disrespect to Listenable Records at all. As I said, they\u2019re a wonderful bunch of people. Without their help, the last couple of Satan albums wouldn\u2019t have happened. We\u2019re eternally grateful to them, but at the same time we need to sort of move on, and move up as well if possible \u2013 get the band a higher profile, bigger and better gigs, and so on. That is the reason why, and it\u2019s the same reason for Blitzkrieg, really. We were offered a much better deal, and one that we couldn\u2019t refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Satan caught the attention of Metal Blade as the result of recent happenings. \u201cMetal Blade had heard the albums, and they\u2019d seen our work ethic,\u201d Brian reckons. \u201cThey\u2019d seen we\u2019d been out there; we\u2019ve played in Japan, we\u2019ve played in the States, we\u2019ve played in South America, and across Europe and so on. They liked what we were doing, and it helps when they\u2019re actually sort of fans of the band as well if you like. It was a good move I think for us to do that, and we\u2019re hoping things are really gonna sort of move for us now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Metal Blade are an established, professional label, with a hefty amount of experience in breaking and promoting metal acts. \u201cThey\u2019ve been great with every part of the process so far \u2013 they\u2019ve been very supportive,\u201d the lyricist enthuses. \u201cWe said \u2018We need some photographs done,\u2019 and so we got photographs done. We needed a video, so they sent a production company to us to do a video. Everything\u2019s coming together really, really well, and I think the guys in the band are really happy with what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s moving in the direction that we need to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each effort a musical concern releases will inevitably be critiqued against past releases, with Satan being no exception. \u201cThat\u2019s a difficult one, really,\u201d Brian considers. \u201cIt\u2019s down to personal opinions, I guess. If you asked ten Satan fans what their opinions were and asked the same question, you\u2019d get ten different answers. For me, from the band\u2019s perspective, I think I have to say that we\u2019re focused a lot more with this album. We\u2019ve kind of moved up a gear, and we\u2019re moving into areas we\u2019ve not touched before. It\u2019s still very much the Satan thing, although the title isn\u2019t anything to do with the courtroom or anything like the previous albums have been. There\u2019s only so far you can go with the courtroom thing before the album titles to become a bit predictive. You sort of think \u2018Yeah, this one\u2019s going to be called this…\u2019 or \u2018\u2026 It\u2019s gonna be called that…\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve kind of moved from it. We still use the Judge of course, because he\u2019s our figurehead if you like. He will feature in whatever we do, and so never say never. I\u2019m not saying that there will never be another courtroom-type title, but we\u2019ve kind of moved on from that a little bit, although the songs are predominantly about injustice and things that are done that shouldn\u2019t be done and so on. It\u2019s a more realistic view of the world in which we live, I guess, and that really isn\u2019t that different from any other album that we\u2019ve done in that respect. Musically though, we\u2019re moving on. What pleases me very much is that if I play at home a track from say Court In The Act<\/em> and then I play a track from the new album, the same sort of energy is still there. We\u2019ve not lost that energy, I don\u2019t think. I think we\u2019ve not gone sort of commercial for the sake of it. We\u2019ve not thought \u2018Oh, that\u2019s too complicated \u2013 take that away.\u2019 We just do what we do, and that\u2019s what Satan is about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such comments lead individuals to wonder what \u2018very much the Satan thing\u2019 is, in a nutshell. \u201cIn a nutshell?,\u201d the performer chuckles. \u201cHow would you describe Satan? I don\u2019t know. All I can say… The best way I can describe Satan is to basically take you back in time a little. We did Court In The Act<\/em>, and then we couldn\u2019t agree on where we needed to go after that. The band wanted to change the name of the band. I didn\u2019t; I wanted to remain as Satan. They felt that they wanted to move the band in one direction, and I wanted to move the band in a different direction. We decided that perhaps we should go our separate ways, and that\u2019s exactly what happened. The interesting thing is that 28 years later, we got together in a rehearsal room and started playing. Honestly, it felt like we had only just rehearsed the week before, and that is Satan. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you put the five of us together, something happens. It\u2019s kind of a… I\u2019m reluctant to use the word \u2018magic,\u2019 but it\u2019s kind of like that. You put the five of us in a room together, and it just happens. It just is, and there\u2019s something special when the five of us are together. That really is all I can say about what sums up Satan. It makes no difference how long we\u2019ve been apart; when we get together and start working together, it just gels immediately, and it works. If I could bottle it and sell it to other bands, I would be an extremely rich man, but I can\u2019t even put my finger on it and say what it is that makes that happen. It is just something that we all don\u2019t take for granted, though. All five of us are amazed by it, so in a nutshell, how do you sum that up? I don\u2019t know. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe get together, and it works. There are a few bands throughout history who probably feel the same way, like Led Zeppelin maybe, and the classic line-up of Deep Purple. It just works, and you can\u2019t question it. To sum it up, I would just say it\u2019s a happy accident.\u201d<\/p>\n

Satan\u2019s line-up since their 2011 return has boasted the same line-up that recorded 1983 magnum opus Court In The Act<\/em>, as referenced during the inaugural paragraph of this feature. Fellow veteran bands, meanwhile, seem to only include one or two members among their line-up from their respective heyday. \u201cLike Blitzkrieg, you mean?,\u201d Brian laughs. \u201cGenerally, it\u2019s hard when you look at it. Bands like Blitzkrieg and Satan have been around forever, and it\u2019s really, really hard to keep people focused for that amount of time. People lost interest over the years. They might want to try something new and then they move on, and that is the story of Blitzkrieg. With Satan, we kind of moved on apart, and then got back together again when we realised that maybe we shouldn\u2019t have split up in the first place. Maybe we should\u2019ve stuck together, but it\u2019s great to be able to say… Although if you\u2019re going to be purist, it\u2019s not the original line-up. <\/p>\n

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Satan (l-r): Graeme English, Steve Ramsey, Brian Ross, Russ Tippins and Sean
Taylor<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s the line-up that most people say matters, though; it\u2019s the original line-up from the Court In The Act<\/em> album, and it\u2019s still the same line-up so many years later. Not many bands can actually say that. Bands do have people that move on; they get fired, someone else comes in, and things hopefully don\u2019t change too much. You try to keep the core of what\u2019s going on, though. With Satan, we don\u2019t need to do that. I think you\u2019re probably absolutely right. That\u2019s possibly what part of the magic is, that it is the original people who are still together after all this time. That probably is kind of enviable to a lot of other bands, I guess (laughs). I\u2019m absolutely delighted with it, that we\u2019re still together.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the magic entails for Satan in 2018 is open to debate, the quintet often being lumped together alongside the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement \u2013 something which is arguably too limiting. \u201cTo be perfectly honest, I don\u2019t know,\u201d the vocalist muses. \u201cJudas Priest get lumped in with the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, as does Mot\u00f6rhead. Are these bands New Wave? I\u2019m not sure, because Judas Priest were around, and the very phrase New Wave Of British Heavy Metal would suggest that there was something before that, and of course we all know that there was. We had bands like Judas Priest for instance, who were around way before that, as were Black Sabbath. You look at that, and you think \u2018Are they really New Wave?\u2019 Maybe they are, or maybe they aren\u2019t. They were the guys that the guys in New Wave looked back on, and said \u2018We wanna be like that.\u2019 So, I guess maybe. <\/p>\n

\u201cPersonally though, from the point of view of Satan and Blitzkrieg, I\u2019ve never, ever considered either of the two bands to be New Wave bands. Both bands were sort of around… I personally prefer to call both bands classic British metal, really. New Wave is kind of a style; it\u2019s a lifestyle, I guess, rather than the actual bands themselves. Under the umbrella of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal, there are many different styles. Blitzkrieg is totally different to Satan; it\u2019s totally different to Raven and it\u2019s totally different to Venom, and yet we\u2019re all together under the same banner if you like. I\u2019m not gonna knock the New Wave, because it\u2019s been good to me. I was proud to be part of it back in the day, but I think now, are we still New Wave? I don\u2019t know. That\u2019s for other people to answer, I think, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Wave Of British Heavy Metal term arguably never helped bands on a long-term basis. \u201cI know,\u201d Brian concurs. \u201cThe problem is, I think once you put a title on something, it\u2019s not exactly a kiss of death, but it\u2019s limiting. If you say you\u2019re outside of the movement, people go \u2018Yeah, yeah. They\u2019re just a new wave band.\u2019 Does that kind of consign you for an eternity \u2013 in football terms \u2013 to being a Championship band and not in the Premiership? I think, maybe, in some cases, that is true and that is the case. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of bands, as I\u2019m sure you are well aware, fell by the wayside along the way. There were an awful lot of bands back in the 80s. Some were good, some were awful, and at varying stages. A lot of them basically died out when the American invasion happened, and hair metal came in. The thing is, as long as people… If somebody wants to say that Satan are a New Wave band, I\u2019m fine with that. I\u2019m happy with that; if that means something to them, then that\u2019s cool, but I don\u2019t think that we ever were, to be honest. I think we were just your classic British metal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although many fell by the wayside, Satan included, Satan eventually weathered the storm and returned, Cruel Magic<\/em> increasing the discography\u2019s tally. Cruel Magic<\/em> ventures into areas, the singer submits. \u201cFrom me, predominantly, because of the kind of lyrics that I\u2019m writing,\u201d he clarifies. \u201cI couldn\u2019t use the lyrics from Blitzkrieg in Satan, and vice versa. I write specifically for the projects, and it was kind of hard sometimes, when we were recording the two albums. I was in the recording studio in the afternoon with Blitzkrieg recording songs, and then I\u2019d jump in the car and go across to the other side of Newcastle to a different recording studio, and record with Satan. At times it was kind of hard, because after a few days, you start to think \u2018Which band am I with right now?\u2019 It\u2019s hard. <\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at writing, there is a definite difference between the two bands. Not only that, the kind of stuff that Satan writes is say totally different to what Raven does, and obviously Venom would be another example. With a name like Satan, you\u2019d expect that we\u2019d write lyrics like Venom do, but that would be way too obvious. I think that\u2019s the reason we\u2019re called Satan, but we don\u2019t actually write satanic songs.\u201d<\/p>\n

As compared to predecessor Atom By Atom<\/em>, to select one basis for comparison, Cruel Magic<\/em> happens to be different \u201cacross the board,\u201d Brian argues. \u201cThey\u2019re different songs and different albums, although the overriding theme throughout every Satan album is injustice or evil. Not evil as in Satan the demi-god, but more evil as in, like Iron Maiden put it, the evil that men do. We wrote a song on the last album about suicide bombers, which is a bit of a touchy subject. It got me a death threat. On the same album, we wrote a song called \u2018My Own God\u2019, and then people started saying \u2018Brian Ross believes he\u2019s God now.\u2019 I\u2019m not claiming to be God (laughs).<\/p>\n

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\u201cOn the new album, we\u2019re writing songs about varying themes. In another interview, I was asked whether \u2018Death Knell For A King\u2019 is a poke at the monarchy. Not at all. Actually, I\u2019m pro-monarchy; I\u2019m a royalist through and through. It\u2019s more a poke at the governing bodies of any country, whether it\u2019s a king, a prime minister \u2013 whatever it is. I think they\u2019ve made an awful mess of the different countries. I won\u2019t say too much about it, but these people really need to take a step back. They need to think \u2018Am I doing this right? Am I doing this for the good of the country? Is this good for the people in this country?\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what that song\u2019s about. It\u2019s basically saying \u2018You\u2019re getting all this wrong, and we can remove you just as easy as we put you there,\u2019 and that\u2019s what \u2018Death Knell For A King\u2019 is about. It\u2019s not about the death of a king; it\u2019s about the death of a ruler, or the end of that ruler\u2019s job, basically. You can\u2019t take it as a literal thing. Everything we write has a hidden meaning behind it, really, and you have to sort of do a little bit of work to get into what it\u2019s about, which is what makes the subject slightly different. The theme running through all of Satan\u2019s songs is the same, though. That\u2019s something that I\u2019m really quite proud of, to be fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fellow track alongside the likes of \u2018Death Knell For A King\u2019, \u2018Doomsday Clock\u2019 marks the inaugural composition to be highlighted from Cruel Magic<\/em>. \u201cI\u2019m a massive Doctor Who<\/em> fan,\u201d the wordsmith confesses. \u201cI would like to think that if I had a T.A.R.D.I.S., then I could travel back in time and go to a point where everything went wrong, and try to do something to change it. The thing is, with time travel comes the responsibility of \u2018Can you really do this? Can you change the course of history?\u2019 Of course, we don\u2019t know. None of us have time machines, but that is what the song is about. It\u2019s about a guy who travels from way in the future back to a point where everything got screwed up; he tries to do one cataclysmic thing that changes everything, and basically stops the world in its tracks so we don\u2019t make the same mistakes again. That\u2019s what \u2018Doomsday Clock\u2019 is about. It even says in there \u2018\u2026 Time after time \/ Lord, we\u2019ve tried.\u2019 It\u2019s a little pun, if you like.\u201d<\/p>\n

And then bolstering the cuts is the title track, of course. \u201cI would say particularly over the last ten or 15 years, there\u2019ve been so many TV series and movies about this kind of thing \u2013 about practical magic, and all of this stuff about witches, and so on,\u201d Brian observes. \u201cA lot of people have got interested in magic and the supernatural, and so on, because of these TV programs. My wife is actually a pagan, and she practices witchcraft. I\u2019m not a pagan myself. I\u2019m actually Christian, but we kind of work on it. We believe in different things, but it works. I know a lot about the Pagan religion. As it says in the song, once you invoke it, one must pay. You can\u2019t just use magic, and there is a price to pay if you do \u2013 if you use it for selfish ends. For instance, if you use magic to… I don\u2019t know… influence the numbers coming out in the weekend lottery, or whatever, then there is a price to pay. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf my wife was here, she would tell you. If you use magic for bad purposes, it comes back on you three-fold. Once you invoke it, someone must pay. It\u2019s a warning, basically. I\u2019m just saying to be very careful. It\u2019s also saying to be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it. It\u2019s all based around that idea, but today\u2019s society… I\u2019m not a Bible basher \u2013 far from it \u2013 but I think a lot of people in today\u2019s society only think about magic, or God, or Satan, or whatever gods that you pray to, when they want something. It\u2019s a very dangerous road to go down. It\u2019s kind of cool is magic, but that\u2019s it. It has a bad side, it has an awful side, and it can be very cruel, hence the title Cruel Magic<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the entertainer identifies as a Christian while his wife identifies as a pagan, you\u2019d be forgiven for believing that certain subjects are taboo within their household. \u201c(Laughs) She doesn\u2019t believe in God, for a start, so she\u2019ll say \u2018Your god, blah blah blah,\u2019\u201d he tells. \u201cI am a Christian, but I class myself as a true Christian. I don\u2019t agree with what the churches tell you, and so on \u2013 I\u2019ve got a totally different slant on it. I wouldn\u2019t bore you or anybody else with it. It\u2019s my particular thing, but let\u2019s put it this way: I believe personally that true Christianity \u2013 what Christ actually said himself \u2013 is much nearer than Paganism than you\u2019d actually first believe, so there is a lot of grey area between Christianity and Paganism than you\u2019d believe, quite honestly. That\u2019s how it works. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t diss Mandy\u2019s religion at all. She\u2019s a lovely person; she wouldn\u2019t hurt anybody, although she\u2019s a witch. People have said to her \u2018Do you use black magic or white magic?\u2019 Magic\u2019s magic, but how you use it makes the difference. Anyway, I\u2019ve bored you enough with that. It\u2019s just to say that we manage to sort of muddle along with it, and for the most part, we actually agree. Let\u2019s be honest: Christianity did steal a lot from the pagans, anyway. Christmas isn\u2019t actually in December, at all. Christ was born in October. What we celebrate is Yuletide, and not the birth of Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording sessions took place at First Avenue Studio in Satan\u2019s hometown of Newcastle, with engineers Dave Curle and Dario Mollo handling mixing. \u201cIt\u2019s been a work in progress,\u201d Brian states. \u201cSean (Taylor, drums) went in, and Russ had basically recorded all of the verse patterns and all of the structures of the songs at his home studio. Without any lyrics on or anything like that, but just the music. Sean had learnt them all; he went into rehearsal rooms, played them through the PA system, and played along with them. When Sean went into the recording studio, Russ went in with him, just did a guide guitar, and we got the drums down. We just built it up as you do, putting bits and pieces on. When it was time to do lyrics, I had all of the music. I worked on bits and pieces of lyric throughout the last couple of years, really. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe went into the studio with ideas of how I was gonna do them, and basically what I\u2019d be doing. Russ would be shouting at the same time through it all \u2018Why don\u2019t you try this?,\u2019 or Steve would say \u2018Try that\u2019 or whatever, which we do. We all look at each other\u2019s work, and say \u2018Can you try this?,\u2019 \u2018How about a lead guitar solo with a bit of tremolo on there?,\u2019 or whatever. They\u2019d say \u2018Can you do one of your screams here?\u2019 \u2018Well, yeah. I can.\u2019 We worked through. By the time we finished, we\u2019d have something recorded, but then I\u2019d go away, listen to what I\u2019d done, go back into the studio, and pretty much redo everything. That\u2019s kind of why the bonus tracks for this album have alternative versions available. They\u2019re gonna be in the box set, I think. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those situations where I went in, recorded the vocals, went away, listened to them, and said \u2018I want to do this,\u2019 or \u2018I want to take the vocal a bit higher there,\u2019 or \u2019\u2026 a bit lower there.\u2019 Then when I\u2019ve gone back into the studio, I\u2019ve done what you\u2019ll hear on the actual finished product. This time, what we\u2019ve done is we\u2019ve given you kind of an insight into that kind of work process it goes through. There\u2019s several; I think there\u2019s four or five tracks where when I first when in and did them. Things are slightly different, and so it makes just a little bit of an interesting view, I think, and a bit of an interesting process to see how things have changed slightly or whatever. That\u2019s the kind of process that we work to though, and it does take quite a while, but we like to work like that. <\/p>\n

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Brian Ross<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\u201cIt works the same for everybody else. Steve (Ramsey) will put a lead guitar solo down, and Russ will do the same. They\u2019ll take them home, listen to them for a bit, and they\u2019ll come back and say \u2018Man, I don\u2019t like that. I wanna do this.\u2019 It gives you the opportunity to sort of review what you\u2019ve done, go back, and record a little bit more. I think that\u2019s pretty much it, really. That\u2019s how we work.\u201d<\/p>\n

How the vocalist works in opting how to lend vocal parts to Satan\u2019s compositions is up to him. \u201cThe guys come up with decisions, but then it\u2019s kind of up to me how I\u2019m gonna go,\u201d he confirms. \u201cI listen to what they say, and I incorporate as much of their ideas into what I wanna do as possible. Sometimes they\u2019ll say \u2018Why don\u2019t you do this?,\u2019 and then I\u2019ll give them a very good reason why I\u2019m not gonna do it (laughs). Sometimes Russ might say \u2018Why don\u2019t you do this?,\u2019 and I\u2019ll think \u2018I never thought of that.\u2019 So, we give it a shot. It\u2019s great. We all work together in that respect, and nobody says \u2018No, bugger off. I\u2019m not doing that,\u2019 or \u2018What do you know? I\u2019m not doing what you tell me to do.\u2019 There\u2019s none of that. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe work together, and Russ does a fair bit of vocals on the album as well. He waits to see what I\u2019ve done, and then he\u2019ll come up with harmony parts to what I\u2019ve done, and it\u2019s great. When you hear the final thing, it\u2019s great to hear that because I love the sound of mine and Russ\u2019 voice together. I think it sounds really good; they compliment each other. It\u2019s just a nice working environment, I think, where we can all work together, and we\u2019re still good friends after all these years (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Cutting vocals are \u201calways a challenge,\u201d Brian feels. \u201cWhen you start out with just a piece of music, you\u2019ve got to find a pattern that you can write a lyric to, first of all. Predominantly, you\u2019re writing poetry basically, so you\u2019ve got to take a piece of poetry and fit it into a piece of music. Not only have you got to do that, you\u2019ve then got to come up with some music. That is different to what the band is playing for your melody line. I find that a challenge every time, and I love it. I just love that challenge because the creative process is so demanding, but it\u2019s so rewarding at the same time. Once you\u2019ve finished, you say to the rest of the guys \u2018What do you think?\u2019 and they go \u2018That sounds great,\u2019 and then it\u2019s the way it is. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe temptation to scream your head off, where it\u2019s like \u2018Why don\u2019t you put a scream there?\u2019 or \u2018Why don\u2019t you put a scream here?\u2019? Yeah, it would be great to fill the record up with screams all over the place, but what\u2019s the point in that? Just because I can doesn\u2019t mean I have to do it. I like to be more sparing with the screams now; I\u2019m getting older, and the more screams I put in the record, the more screams I\u2019m gonna have to do live. I\u2019m trying to look after my voice; I\u2019d like for it to last a lot longer, and screaming your head off all of the time isn\u2019t necessarily a great way of doing that (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

Cover artwork duties fell to Eliran Kantor, once again. \u201cHe\u2019s done all of the recent covers, and he does such an amazing job,\u201d the singer praises. \u201cWhat we do is we just give him all of the lyric sheets for every song on the album, and we\u2019ll say \u2018Okay, off you go. There it is; paint us a picture that fits in there.\u2019 Sometimes he might come up with an idea that\u2019s based off of one particular song, or he might take one idea from that song and mix it with another idea, and so on. What he finishes up with is a piece of artwork that just totally fits the album, really, because it\u2019s a visual theme of the songs that you\u2019re listening to. It\u2019s your snapshot, if you like, if you can sum up the album. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s done an absolutely incredible job on every album that\u2019s he done with us so far \u2013 I can\u2019t say that he\u2019s done a bad job on any of them. For \u2018Doomsday Clock\u2019, he came up with a different idea \u2013 just using the Judge\u2019s hand. It\u2019s there. What he said when he did that with the hand was that the Judge was basically holding the future of the world in his hand, and I was thinking \u2018Okay (laughs). Whatever.\u2019 I think it\u2019s a fantastic piece, and he\u2019s such a great artist, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruel Magic<\/em> is one long-player you\u2019d arguably give a second look towards on the basis of its cover artwork, if scouring through vinyl at a record store. \u201cThat\u2019s really the idea,\u201d Brian explains. \u201cAs I was growing up, as a kid back then, you may have only had a certain amount of pocket money. I\u2019m talking a long, long time ago here, when an album was \u00a32.50. It was a long time ago, but if you only had \u00a33 or \u00a34 in your pocket, you\u2019re going to be very selective about what you buy. I would always go to my local record store, and I would flick through the records \u2013 as you do. You\u2019d flick, flick, flick, and then something would catch your eye and you\u2019d stop. You would pull that album out, and you\u2019d look at it. That really is your attention hooked already, just by simply stopping at that album and looking at it. You\u2019ve already almost subconsciously made the decision \u2018This is the album that I\u2019m going to buy,\u2019 because it has attracted your attention. Throughout the years, I\u2019m sure that there have been albums that have had great covers, but when you\u2019ve listened to them, you\u2019ve thought \u2018Shit, what have I bought here? It\u2019s rubbish.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that while that may be the case though, we would like to think that we\u2019re still doing that. It appeals to the teenage me, and I would like to think that somewhere, somebody is in a record store flicking through all of the different vinyls or CDs that are available, and he stops at the Satan product and thinks \u2018I\u2019m gonna buy this, because I like the look of this cover. This looks really good.\u2019 Then when he gets it home, I would love to think that he goes \u2018I love this album. I\u2019m glad I bought it.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the point. If you put a crap cover on your album, people are not gonna look at it. They\u2019re not even gonna give it a second glance, and the only way that that album is then gonna sell is if you go to your friend\u2019s house, and your friend says \u2018Have you listened to this?\u2019 Then they play you some of it, and you think \u2018That is good. I\u2019m gonna go and buy that. It\u2019s got a shit cover, but it\u2019s a great album.\u2019 This is why both Satan and Blitzkrieg take a lot of time over their covers; we want people to notice what we\u2019ve done, and that is really it.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame that not all musical groups take as great a care in commissioning cover artwork. \u201cI can think of a few, but I won\u2019t tell you,\u201d the lyricist replies. \u201cI can think of a few where I\u2019ve thought \u2018What an awful album sleeve that is.\u2019 I think that it\u2019s a big thing, really. It\u2019s a promise; it\u2019s an initial promise. Just by having someone stop to look at it, that album cover is promising that what you\u2019re gonna hear on the inside is just as good as what you\u2019re looking at on the outside. I would like to think that that\u2019s what Satan has got, and I would like to think that Blitzkrieg is the same. So yeah, I agree 100% with you. I wish that more bands would take a little bit of time over their covers, just to make sure that what they\u2019ve got is something worth looking at. Then again, if everybody did it, then you\u2019d have a record store full of great covers, and then you\u2019d go \u2019What am I gonna do now (laughs)?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Further music videos to promote Cruel Magic<\/em> will likely be made. \u201cI\u2019m guessing there probably will be, yeah,\u201d Brian affirms. \u201cI think that what the record company is looking at is how popular this one is. We have a lot of views on \u2018Doomsday Clock\u2019, so I\u2019m guessing that they\u2019re gonna be very pleased with it. I\u2019m hoping that there may well be more videos to follow. It\u2019s not an area that Blitzkrieg or Satan have been in before, really, and so it\u2019s nice to be finally able to do a video. Hopefully people like what we do, really.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2019 will mark 40 years since Satan\u2019s formation. \u201cWas it \u201979 that Satan originally formed?,\u201d the performer asks. \u201cI think it was, actually. I\u2019m pretty sure that it was. Yeah, next year, you\u2019re right. That would be an anniversary. I\u2019m sure that we\u2019ll plan something for that, if that is the case, and I suspect that it is to be honest. So yeah, we\u2019ll probably do something for that. We\u2019ve already got the album coming out and so on, so it\u2019s probably more likely to be maybe a gig in our hometown of Newcastle. I don\u2019t know; I don\u2019t know what we would plan. I would certainly hope that we wouldn\u2019t let it pass without doing something. I like to do these things, and it\u2019s nice when you can. So yeah, I\u2019m sure that we\u2019ll do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

April 2018 had marked the 35th anniversary of Court In The Act<\/em>\u2019s release. \u201cCourt In The Act<\/em> was my first album, really,\u201d Brian remembers. \u201cIt was the first album that I recorded. For me, it\u2019s a special album. I guess a lot of people look with great fondness on that album, because it\u2019s a great album. Funnily enough, we\u2019re going out on tour shortly, and for one of the gigs that we play, we\u2019re doing only the Court In The Act<\/em> album \u2013 which is quite odd. They asked us \u2018Would you come and just play Court In The Act<\/em>?\u2019 We said \u2018Yeah, but it\u2019s gonna be a fairly short gig (laughs).\u2019 The idea I think is to play Court In The Act<\/em> in its entirety, and then finish off the set with some stuff off of the new album probably. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s held with a lot of affection, and that makes me very happy, really – to think that something that I did all that time ago, people still love now. When I look down off of the stage into the audience, I see people in the audience that can\u2019t have even been born when Court In The Act<\/em> was first released, and yet they\u2019re still there, they\u2019re loving every song, they know the lyrics to every song. I think that that is a fabulous place to be. Court In The Act<\/em> is kind of special.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subjects of 35th and 40th anniversary milestones being reached inevitably leads to the topic of how much longer Satan will exist for. \u201cI\u2019m 64 this year, and I think \u2018Well, how much longer can I keep doing this?,\u2019\u201d the vocalist admits. \u201cThe answer to that is I really don\u2019t know. Nobody knows. Next week, I might get a phone call where one of the guys says \u2018Let\u2019s get together, because we need to talk,\u2019 and then we sit in a room together and go \u2018I think this is the end.\u2019 Hopefully, it\u2019s not gonna happen. I can\u2019t see it happening, because we\u2019re all so very happy with what we\u2019re achieving right now. I think as long as people out there still appreciate what we do, they still come to see us, and they still get the albums and so on? As long as that continues and as long as we\u2019re healthy enough to carry on, I can see us going on for quite a bit longer, to be honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cruel Magic<\/em> will be released on September 7th, 2018 via Metal Blade Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in August 2018. All promotional photographs by Stefan Rosic.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SATAN – Five Magicians Anthony Morgan August 2018 Satan (l-r): Sean Taylor, Steve Ramsey, Brian Ross, Graeme English and Russ Tippins Newcastle, England-based metal group Satan returned in 2011, the ranks boasting the same personnel who cut June 1983 debut Court In The Act. Album number three Life Sentence arrived in April 2013, roughly 26 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71952","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71952"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72359,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71952\/revisions\/72359"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}