Mephiskapheles – God Bless Satan
welcome back to the Skaject folks! this week, we’re returning to Mephiskapheles for their debut record, God Bless Satan!
aight as with any record that has an EP pre-release, i def went into this wirh Expectations, given how much i enjoyed The DEMOn. i feel like those comparisons are almost invited here, as the demo versions are included as bonus tracks, haha. on the whole – Doomsday and Dance Me Not absolutely hold up and shine on the album. of the two, i think i prefer the changes to Doomsday, but Dance Me Not’s slow intensifying in the back half is really really good. Eskamo’s more tight musically from the EP, but i think still doesnt stick the landing.
i deeply appreciate how they go hard on the “satanic angle”, but i also like the way the album balances its tone – the first half is more of the tracks like Satanic Debris that play up the demonic angle, and the back half plays more into the jokey angle and is filled with tracks like Saba and The Bumble Bee Tuna Song. its not a hard split – Bad John is the third song on the record, but i do appreciate it. im not always super into this style of musical humor, but i do appreciate what theyre doing and i think the tracks work well together here.
i really dig the instrumental or mostly instrumental songs on here – the opening song, Mephiskapheles, is a fantastic way to kick off the record.The Ballad of Admiral Stockdale has some fantastic trumpet and sax work. Rank & File’s got some ENERGY to it, and Hard Times has some BLISTERING brass. i was pretty uninterested in the lyrical content, but MAN do they have me wanting more instrumentally.
faves – Mephiskapheles, Doomsday, The Ballad of Admiral Stockdale, Dance Me Not
dislikes –
God Bless Satan – 6/10
next up is Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra’s Fantasia!
previous: Sing Along With Skankin’ Pickle | next: Fantasia
previous Mephiskapheles release: The DEMOn | next: Maximum Perversion
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