I will write a bit about the band today as a continuation into my bands who are not appreciated as much as they should be - although Satanics did get a huge underground following.
Myself and my clicks discovered Satanic Surfers in the mid-90s. As far as our musical tastes had gone, the early 90s had brought us grunge, which had it's roots and crosses in punk but never fulfilled it's purpose as it was quickly flooded into the mainstream and after that posed no interest for us whatsoever. When punk started to gain attention again in the music world it suffered a lot of the same pitfalls as grunge did. For example Green Day...we all know what happened there.
Satanics had released "Skate To Hell" which came to our attention. We were punks, and to boot we were skaters so this gave us pretty much exactly what we wanted. By 1996 they had released their first full album "Hero Of Our Time" which we all got pretty much the second it was released.
It was different from the earlier stuff, due in no small part to a line up change, drummer Rodrigo taking over vocal duties gave the band the perfect sound they had needed. The album was just perfect. My band I played for at the time (Mr.Zippy) idolised the band. We were from different backgrounds and liked slightly different things and this album filled every blank.
It was fast and thrashy, yet poppy. The lyrics were sometimes funny, sometimes political and sometimes social. When but up against other "punk" albums of the time it's a winner and still sounds amazing today.
This also turned our attention to Burning Heart records and the Swedish bands that were on that label. It was like a journey to Mecca for me when many years later I drove past the Burning Heart offices in Örebro.
Later down the line Satanics developed a more mature sound and style with their next two albums "666 Motor Inn" and "Going Nowhere Fast". But, with the release of Going Nowhere Fast, Burning Heart joined forces with the overlord of punk labels, Epitaph. Due to major label ties the band did something that would earn our eternal respect and left the label, going back to Bad Taste Records.
For the next album they once again changed line ups, getting a new bassist and drummer, moving Rodrigo to the front for vocal duties only. The band were pretty much everything we loved over their next few albums, Fragments & Fractions and Unconsciously Confined.
Now, the reason I mention Satanics in my list of bands that didn't get their full respect is that a lot of people were unfamiliar with their true nature. Due to the popularity of their first album (and people not listening to it properly) they were sometimes considered a punk-pop band, even here in Sweden a lot of people I spoke to about them didn't know that they were a Swedish band and instead thought that they were American. Scandal.
The truth was that by now they were deeply rooted in the more underground punk scene, just playing more accessable music. Lyrics were deeply socio-political and outside of the band members were involved in much more extreme projects. For example the band INTENSITY and PUTRID FILTH CONSPIRACY RECORDS.
I only got to see Satanics live once but it was a pure experience. It must have been around 2002 and my old band (Mr.Zippy - who not only covered a Satanic Surfers tune live but also considered playing entire sets as a Satanics cover-band) heard a whisper of a rumour that they were playing at the venue TJ's in Wales, about an hour or so away from us. So we jumped into our van and drove of, all the time trying to find information on the gig. When we got to Newport, TJ's was closed. We spoke to the owner (the dearly missed John) and he told us that they were meant to play but the show was cancelled, and maybe it was somewhere else tonight.
At least we knew that they might be in the country....it was worth the search. We drove off, ringing every one we knew within a 50-mile radius. Eventually we heard another rumour that it was in the town Bridgend, about an other hour away - so off we drove, looking round all the time for any evidence of a gig in town. After a search...we found it. At the small pub, The Tollhouse, they it was...Satanic Surfers, live!
We ran in and all of us stood up front for the whole show - a magical experience. This was also the gig (and band) that made me decide to grow my dreadlocks back. Glad I did!
Satanics final album "Taste The Poison" was released 2005 with yet another line up, although actually, the best in my opinion. They actually made a video...here it is!
Just listen to that drum and bass work (that was the new members) - it's awesome!
When the band toured in support of the album they played in Bristol, UK and Mr.Zippy was the obvious choice to support them. Sadly, I had left the band in 2004 and was living in Sweden so didn't get to be part of the experience.
In 2007 they called it a day. Just feeling that they had done all that they could do - the best way to go out. But there is a wake of fantastic albums left behind - I suggest that you all go out and buy them and listen to them in order and afterwards you can throw all your other records away as you won't need them.
Ex-Members are still playing - get your Googles on and look up the following:
ATLAS LOSING GRIP
SISTA SEKUNDEN
WE LIVE IN TRENCHES
ENEMY ALLIANCE
Any more? Leave a comment!
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