Album Reviews

Is ‘Back From Hell,’ Satanic Surfers’ first new album in 13 years, as much of an ‘what the fuck just happened’ experience as ‘Hero Of Our Time’ was back in 1995? No, it is not. But that was only to be expected. After all, I’m no longer 16 years old and this is not my first Satanic Surfers release.

What you do get on the aptly titled ‘Back From Hell’ are nine fast-as-fuck skatepunk songs with plenty of shredding, big hooks, Rodrigo Alfaro’s trademark vocals and an overall sense that these guys were having a blast being Satanic Surfers again.

The one-two combo that is the previously released ‘The Usurper’ and the furious ‘Catch My Breath’ makes for a solid opening act. Meanwhile, ‘Self-Medication’ has a Pennywise thing going on in the verses while the backup aah’s in the chorus have Bad Religion written all over them. That’s not meant as a diss. It’s a great song. As is ‘Going Nowhere Fast’, which sounds like the complete opposite of what the song title promises. The only songs that feel a bit out of place, are ‘Paying Tribute’ and closer ‘Pato Loco’. They just don’t hit as hard as the other tracks on here and especially ‘Pato Loco’ doesn’t have a lot to offer.

Overall though, ‘Back From Hell’ is a helluva lot of fun to listen to and not even the Friday the 13^th release is going to be able to jinx this one.

Track listing:

1. The Usurper
2. Catch My Breath
3. Self-Medication
4. All Gone To Shit
5. Ain't No Ripper
6. Madhouse
7. Going Nowhere Fast
8. Paying Tribute
9. Pato Loco
10. Back From Hell