Prisoners of the Solar System

Recently, along with some other releases, I received Prisoners of the Solar System. This is the split release of Satanath and Striborg. If the name Satanath remind you something, you remember correctly. This is the personal project of the owner of Satanath Records. So, Satanath is a one-man ambient project from Russia which has released two full lengths and four split albums since 2011 when it was created. Striborg, the second participant of this split, is a well-known band from Australia, starting their musical journey as a Black Metal / ambient band but after a while they were transformed into an electronic version of Black Metal. They have too many releases to mention here since 1997 that they became Striborg. Prisoners of the Solar System contains eleven tracks, five tracks from Satanath and six from Striborg, all of them are older compositions but the last track of Striborg, “We Are All Prisoners” which is a new one. Satanath’s material comes from various demos, some of them previously unreleased while others were released in the self-titled album of 2013. On the other hand, Striborg may have chosen to include their best five tracks created during 2019 and released in their full lengths along with the new one.

Let’s start with the part of Satanath. The band plays dark and atmospheric ambient music inspired by space. You may feel like floating, moving free of gravity restrictions but there are the dangers of the unexpected lurking in the dark and you will face them alone. The tracks are chosen well, so that you will feel a continuity and a smooth transition from one to the other. The tracks are not so big, if you compare them with other ambient releases, but there are times that scenery becomes repetitive, the atmosphere tedious and there are some parts, like the childish melody of “Uncivilizacio”, that will distract you and land you abruptly to earth. The sound is clean, so you will be able listen to every sound presented in the tracks.

The other part of the album, Striborg, presents a blend of electronic, ambient and Black Metal music, regarding the atmosphere and the feeling, set in a dark, drowning scenery, giving a journey in space feeling too. The music is depending mainly into the atmosphere created by the keyboards as also by the tempo of the drum machine, dark, other times chaotic, other times drowning, sometimes violent and depressing. The artist wants to present the inner emptiness, the personal struggles, the journey into an inner vast, dark and empty space through an intense journey with a lot of ups and downs. The vocals are harsh Black Metal vocals in most of the tracks while in some parts they become clean, deep ones, revealing some gothic influences. In general, they are monotonous but very suitable for the atmosphere of the tracks, giving an eerie and dangerous dimension to the album. The sound is clean with a hint of harshness, making the result colder, something that fits to the style of the music. The lyrics are contained in the cd and they speak about dreams, space and personal feelings.

I have to admit that I am not a fan of ambient music, but I have tried hard to get into the music of Satanath without any success. There are some moments that I liked but generally they didn’t manage to take me into their journey, nor did they present me successfully, the images they wanted to create. On the other hand, I am more familiar with the style of Striborg and their material succeed in transmitting all the feelings, the atmosphere and the images created. I guess a Black Metal fan will appreciate the Striborg part, as Striborg was born into Black Metal and their mentality is still into Black Metal. In conclusion, the split is not as successful as it could be as the second part is much more interesting than the first one, so if you would like to experiment with a different style of music or get to know Striborg, prefer to get another of their releases.