Consuming the Tangible

Everything about Suspended Sentence, the sophomore album from the UK NWOBHM pioneers Satan is a little rougher than their stellar debut four years earlier. The artwork feels a little rushed, the logo almost an afterthought. The production sounds muted, compressed and thin in sections, maybe overcompensating for songs that didn’t quite catch the fire Court In The Act did. And perhaps the most glaring change if you’re a fan: Brian Ross is missing on vocals, replaced for this one album by Michael Jackson (not “that” Michael Jackson) of Pariah. It overall makes for a more rough and tumble album, but though it doesn’t come up for listens that often, I still find moments of excitement in the way Satan build out their riffs and songs, so to kick off 80s metal week and close out March 2025 let’s dig in and see what’s behind the bones.

This is crazy, but I’m only just noticing now that they actually embedded their logo in the clouds next to the judge’s head…does that mean I ‘m part of the problem that contributed to whoever decided to just put the band and album name in the left hand corner? In that font? Unknown, but I only have this on cassette and didn’t look that closely. Regardless, the album opens with the brief intro “92nd Symphony” before getting to business with the proper opener, “Who Dies Wins”. The music is there; Steve Ramsey and Russ Tippins’s guitars are right up front either galloping in a chugging attack or blazing some twin lead lines. But Jackson’s vocals are a little screechy, taking on a more histrionic delivery than Ross’s smooth, powerful bellow.

It does work in places; tracks like the wicked (and way too prescient) “Suicidal Justice” and the more street tough “Vandal (Hostile Youth)” which recalls an amped up Dianno-era Iron Maiden make make good use of him, and Suspended Sentence takes on a little more of a proto-progressive metal hue with its extended song lengths and intricate riffing. But I still find songs that lack a real identity or commitment: “11th Commandment” tries to inject some slap bass and a tough grit that rings hollow, and the socially ambiguous lyrics of “S.C.U.M. (Socially Condemned Undesirable Misfits)” hints at a poor-man’s Anthrax. Neither song is a highlight, and fail to capture those distinct moments that make the band undeniably Satan.

There’s a stab at epic balladry (in a distinct NWOBHM way) in “Avalanche of a Million Hearts” that would have been better served by Ross before the band returns to furious storytelling with the closing “Calculated Execution (Driller Killer) that features more bass showcase and Jackson trying to fit way too many words into his verses. One band I key coming back to was John Arch-era Fates Warning – this could in a slightly shifted world sit right alongside that. In the end this is an enjoyable enough slice of nostalgia that the band would blast through when they reunited and started their run of truly exceptional metal starting with 2013’s Life Sentence. That’s the sweet spot for me with this band.

Oh, and the honky-tonk ending is something we’ll agree never to discuss, huh?