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At War With Satan Lyrics
A dark silhouette of creature, poised, crouched on
the corner of a cliffs edge, waits eagerly, eyes glare
patiently, red eyes filled with fire and torment gleam
with a frenzied brightness across the shadowed valleys below
A crack of thunder breaks the deafening silence which once ruled
the plains. The creature is unmoved by the commotion of the
noise, and the blinding fork of lightning which strikes only a few
yards from where it lays - in wait - for something
[SATAN LAUGHS]
Wings spread in a magnificent fullness the creature stands in
full glory, inhaling deeply, the ice cold air, each fendon and muscle
ripping in an almighty stance of the great dimensional deify
[LUCIFER SMILES]
From the far far west a chariot of fire emerges traveling at a
fremendous speed forwards the creature
[THE CREATURE LAUGHS]
As if in a maddened state of farina the creature leaps up
off the ridge and hovers with dignity, in the now cloudless sky,
it's long red hair blowing freely in the wind.
The chariot emerges and with a sharp swift movement, the
creature takes the reins then flies off into the night, howling
out immortal cries of predication and war.
"AT WAR WITH SATAN"
Warriors gather slowly round the sacred city hell
Satan screams a vengeance on the land his angels fell
Tyrants pray disaster for the land of love and trust
Demons plot a way to turn the heaven into dust....
the corner of a cliffs edge, waits eagerly, eyes glare
patiently, red eyes filled with fire and torment gleam
with a frenzied brightness across the shadowed valleys below
the plains. The creature is unmoved by the commotion of the
noise, and the blinding fork of lightning which strikes only a few
yards from where it lays - in wait - for something
full glory, inhaling deeply, the ice cold air, each fendon and muscle
ripping in an almighty stance of the great dimensional deify
fremendous speed forwards the creature
off the ridge and hovers with dignity, in the now cloudless sky,
it's long red hair blowing freely in the wind.
The chariot emerges and with a sharp swift movement, the
creature takes the reins then flies off into the night, howling
out immortal cries of predication and war.
Satan screams a vengeance on the land his angels fell
Tyrants pray disaster for the land of love and trust
Demons plot a way to turn the heaven into dust....
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On lots of coke.
The Hell...? These don't look like the lyrics to me.
The inspiration for writing a track comprising an entire side of the album came from Rush's 2112, one of bassist Conrad Lant's favourite albums of all time. The epic title track was actually never played live until bassist Conrad Lant rearranged it, shortening it by more than half, for his solo project Cronos. It has since then been played live several times by the reformed Venom.
It's a monster of a track which moves from rumbling thrash to doomed-sounding slower riffs almost reminiscent of 'Heaven & Hell', and is a case of Cronos' bass sounding great throughout. He does pretty much the whole thing all the way through, a simple chug that colours the bottom end of the song, but the mix was good enough on this album that it really adds to the elegant carnage of Mantas' riffs. During the first half of the song Venom constantly switch up the tempo, racing at one moment before going back to slower sections with a better approximation of epic than is to be found possibly anywhere else in their catalogue, while the indulgent series of solos get the heart racing as if Satan himself was inside it. Of course, what with Piece of Mind and Holy Diver, epic, layered sounds were all the rage that year, but 'At War With Satan' can stand toe to toe with any of it and still look mean as shit. It does pretty much everything it possibly good in the runtime, atmospheric and sharp as nails at the same time.
"At War With Satan" is an epic metal masterpiece of hellish proportions, a gore-soaked take of war between demons and angels. From the thunderous intro and gritty thrash riffs that intriduce the song, the feeling of tension begins to build. The frist scream emitted from the lungs of Cronos is like a murderous release. This is absolutely the most ambitious work ever composed by this blasphemous band. The lyrics could not be any more perfect and read like a fantastic story:
"The warriors gather slowly around The sacred city, Hell Satan screams a vengance On the land as the angels fell"
The atmosphere of the song becomes even more hellish and dark as things slow down and Cronos screams in demonic fury:
"Lucifer's demonic laughter Assist our quest, Belial prays Free from Hell who serves the master Sound the charge on Sabbaths day"
The song speeds up to a chaotic pace for some time, yet there is a definite structure present here that shows a band that has matured (to some degree) since Welcome To Hell. Cronos sounds absolutely possessed here and his bass is filled with doom and plague. As the song progresses, the fury of Hell is unleashed as Cronos screams, "Take to the skies!" The guitars are thrashy and unrestrained, yet with focus and determination toward a single goal: total and complete destruction. There are so many changes in riff and tempo that the song truly feels like a lengthy journey through the mists of the past. Venom really put everything that they had into this epic song and it shows. Sadly, there are a couple of brief moments where it seems like a riff is building and then never quite gets unleashed in the most satisfying way, but this is a minor concern for something so monstrous. The melodies and solos near the middle, right before the evil spoken word part, really show the NWOBHM sound at its finest, as much as Venom may have wanted to deconstruct this style. After about thirteen minutes, things get very quiet and eerie, leaving only an acoustic guitar and a bit of somber wailing in the distance before the guitars return to crush and kill all signs of life... as if, on a miserable journey through desolate wastelands, a sign of hidden beauty was found in the middle of this emptiness... You see something strange and foreign, so you gaze upon it with curiosity for a few brief moments before determining that it is utterly useless and stamping it out forever. Life, light and beauty have no place here. As the song continues, the instruments seem to be emitting random sounds as they burn at the fiery depths, while Cronos, demonically, tells the grim tale and a funeral bell chimes in the background. This is the culmination of the darkness and evil that Venom wished to convey and it is something that really has to be heard to be understood. No mere review could ever do this justice as this isn't just something to listen to; rather, it must be experienced. It cannot be unheard and the subconscious changes can never be undone.