Satanic Rites - No Use Crying (1987)

By 1987, there is no question that the world was moving on from the style of music performed by a band like Satanic Rites, melodic hard rock & heavy metal with very simplistic, driving guitars, clean as a whistle vocals and keyboard strikes used not unlike the softer rock on the radio. Judging by the slight decline in quality here from their debut Which Way the Wind Blows, it might be that Satanic Rites themselves were moving on, but don't let that dissuade you from tracking this down if you're a collector of NWOBHM, because there are still a number of quality songs here that number among the best they'd ever write.

There was just one lineup change here, the band picking up guitarist a new keyboard player Graham Dyson, and he has a slightly different set of sounds that don't come off as so optimistically proggish like some 70s reject. Then again, that's sort of what I liked about the debut, so it's a trade-off here for a more accessible set of radio ready pads. "Never So Easy" is one of the best of the lot here, with a driving, Priest-like fix in the guitars, and a catchy two-part chorus with some escalating vocals. "Borderline" should also get the blood flowing, as if it were some female alternative to Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger", and "Changling" sounds uncannily similar in places to the title track from the amazing 80s teen comedy Better Off Dead, though the lyrics are obviously covering different ground. Other scorchers include the Scorpions styled power ballad "Here Comes the War" and cruiser "Cast My Spell".

Unfortunately, there are a few notably weaker entries here that hold the album back from the joyous consistency of its predecessor. "Song for Stuart" sounds like a Rick Springfield reject, and the airy keyboard/vocal duo "Pain of Confusion" seems way out of place here, as cheesy as its environs might already feel. It also doesn't start off on its best foot, though "Good Times Now" is not necessarily the worst song here. Like Which Way the Winds Blow, the album has seen a re-issue in 2010 through Cult Metal Classics, with a pair of bonus tracks: demo version of "Never So Easy" and "No Use Crying", so those of you that have been searching forever for the vinyl, or any semblance of the original recording can now acquire it with relative ease. Satanic Rites would not continue beyond this album, which is unfortunate, because it might have been fantastic to hear the band develop into a heavier format in the late 80s/90s. As it stands, this record is a passable alternative for fans of Rock Goddess, Girlschool, Lita Ford and so on.

Verdict: Win [7.25/10]

Satanic Rites - Which Way the Wind Blows (1985)

Female fronted NWOBHM bands were not entirely unheard of, what with Rock Goddess and the more famous Girlschool covering the more blunt edge of the genre, both having some fine records. But Satanic Rites should also be counted among such legends, with a sound that might best be described as a Girlschool with keyboards, giving them a slight 70s/80s prog element that set them apart. The band were also similar to Wichfynde in that they possessed a rather sinister name that didn't have a lot to do with their actual music, which some might consider unfortunate, as the prospect of a devil worshiping female British metal band in the early 80s is pure untapped awesome...

No, Which Way the Wind Blows is not quite so dark as their name or cover art might imply, but it's still a very catchy debut record which could easily have won them more attention alongside the explosive success of, say, a Def Leppard, one of the few bands in the scene to reap enormous rewards due to their accessibility. Satanic Rites were more of a one trick pony in that they wrote mostly steady, mid-paced rockers like "Burn in Hell" with its snappy descending guitar fills, or "Fear of the Night", which would likely thrill fans of Lita Ford, Pat Benatar and so forth, if they could imagine the assertion of future wavy keyboards. Deborah Webster certainly had a comparable voice, which she flexes here across the pumping "Law of the Land", the sailing "Slam the Door", the Jefferson metal Airplane of "Turn Around", and the closing title track, a power ballad with a spacious, bluesy atmosphere that would be perfect for hauling out the old Zippo.

Perhaps at the time of its arrival, the use of these keyboards might have felt slightly out of date or place, but in retrospect, they offer the material a beautiful flight of fancy that has evolved into a certain timelessness, impossible to really capture outside of these old recordings. The guitar riffs were pretty standard fare ala Def Leppard, Judas Priest and Saxon, and not really a highlight of the band without the vocals and keys to accompany them, but all combined, it makes for a magical trip that should have you stalking the used car markets to find that van you always wanted to airbrush, or growing a fucking mustache, which you should already have done. This is no trashy faux glam like the dreadful American counterparts like Vixen; it's fun but hard hitting NWOBHM with effective chorus sections, and since it is now available through a recent re-issue on Cult Metal Classics which includes their "Live to Ride/Hit and Run" single, there is no excuse for the collector to be skipping out on it. Yeah, the cover art is awesome.

Verdict: Win [7.75/10]