Long-running heavy metal legends, Satan, recently announced their upcoming new full-length, Songs In Crimson, set for release on September 13th via Metal Blade Records. Today, they are pleased to launch the record’s preorders.

Satan’s history is storied, their albums and incendiary live shows, iconic. The Newcastle, England-bred lineup may quip that their career has been “forty-four years of prolonged mayhem with a twenty-year lunch break” — forming in 1980, eventually pausing before reuniting in 2011 — but circa 2024 finds the band thriving, writing, recording, and touring at the top of their game.

Proof positive is their seventh studio album, and third for Metal Blade, Songs In Crimson. If 2022’s Earth Infernal album was brutal, up-tempo and with loud guitars, guitarist Russ Tippins calls Songs In Crimson “concise. It’s more to-the-point and gets there quicker. One of the reasons behind the album title is that this record is very ‘song’ focused. There’s more punch this time around. Each chorus speaks for itself.”

Satan rails against characterless, metronomic, and “cut and paste music on a digital dog leash. Recording in the 21st century has become no more than a series of binary code. Call me reactionary,” says Tippins, “and maybe I am, but every bone in my body wants to rebel against the incoming tide of ones and zeros.” With influences from King Crimson to Mercyful Fate, Satan’s own stylings remain unique, the band’s NWOBHM origins a springboard for musical and lyrical creativity, commentary, and nonconformity.

While Songs In Crimson features lyrics including “a once-great nation is going down” and “this is the end of an era,” Satan offers no quick fix. “There is always hope; solutions are not for us musicians to proclaim,” Tippins believes. “Each song has its own different theme. While there is no title track as such, the song ‘Deadly Crimson,’ which is an anti-capitalism narrative, is as close as it gets to that. As a concept, making money from money is fatally flawed in that it depends on constant growth,” Tippins says. “But constant growth is obviously impossible; a conveyor belt of sacrificial lambs.”

Honed by years of collaboration, brotherhood and love, Satan’s chemistry is unbreakable. “We played at a metal festival where the headlining band had zero original members,” Tippins says. “I cannot get my head around that, though I admire their bravery. We are the genuine article. We did not reunite just to trade on past glory,” he concludes. “If you want nostalgia, this is not the band for you. We look only ahead and always will.”

If 1983’s Court In The Act started Satan’s aural journey, and 2018’s Cruel Magic was a game-changer, where does Songs in Crimson stand in Satan’s heavy discography? “The goal is to further consolidate the style we’ve established, the pathway we’ve been on since the reunion,” Tippins says. “Part of that style is that each release must have something that sets it apart from its predecessors.”

Songs In Crimson was produced by the band and Dave Curle of First Avenue Studios who also engineered, mixed, and mastered the record.

Songs In Crimson will be released on jewelcase CD (USA), digipak CD (EU) and digital formats as well as spined sleeve vinyl with insert, poster, and download card in the following color variants:

Transparent Pigeon Blue Marbled (US)
180g Black (EU)
Dark Crimson Red Marbled (EU)
Steel Grey Marbled (EU - Ltd. 500)
Pale Yellow Marbled (EU - Ltd. 300)
Clear w/ Red & White Splatter (EU - Ltd. 300)
Clear w/ Black, Red & Gold Splatter (Ltd. 200 – Excl. Band Edition)

Preorder at metalblade.com/satan.

Artwork by Eliran Kantor:

Tracklisting:

“Frantic Zero”
“Era (The Day Will Come)”
“Whore Of Babylon”
“Sacramental Rites”
“Martyrdom”
“Turn The Tide”
“Captives”
“Curse In Disguise”
“Truth Bullet”
“Deadly Crimson”

Satan will spend September roadbound on a month-long European tour. The journey begins with seven dates through the UK and Ireland with special guests, Seven Sisters followed by a stop at Pyrenean Warriors Open Air Fest in Torreilles, France. From there, the band will wind their way through sixteen more cities throughout Europe alongside Haunt and Hellfire. Tickets are on sale now.

Dates:

September (with Seven Sisters)
4 - Manchester, UK - The Bred Shed
5 - Newcastle, UK - The Cluny
6 - Glasgow, Scotland - The Flying Duck
7 - Belfast, Ireland - Voodoo
8 - Dublin, Ireland - Grand Social
11 - London, England - Boston Music Room
12 - Brighton, England - Daltons

September
14 - Torreilles, France - Pyrenean Warriors Open Air
 
September (with Haunt and Hell Fire)
15 - Milan, Italy - Metalitalia Festival
16 - Munchen, Germany - Backstage
17 - Zagreb, Croatia - Klub Mocvara
18 - Wien, Austria - Escape
19 - Linz, Austria - Steel City Sorcery
20 - Selb, Germany - Rockclub Nordbayern
21 - Warsaw, Poland - Odessa
22 - Ostrava, Czech Republic - Barrak
23 - Nurnberg, Germany - Der Hirsch
24 - Bochum, Germany - Trompete
25 - Oldenburg, Germany - MTS
26 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Beta
27 - Hamburg, Germany - Bambi Galore
28 - Bielefeld, Germany - JZ Stricker
29 - Gent, Belgium - Asgaard
30 - Tilburg, Netherlands - Little Devil

Satan are:

Brian Ross - vocals
Russ Tippins - guitars
Steve Ramsey - guitars
Graeme English - bass
Sean Taylor - drums

(Photo - Stefan Rosic)