Releases like The Satanik Magiik always serve to underscore the differences in my mind between the American and European heavy rock markets. Where in the current American scene, the thing is heavy hipster swagger or post-rock-influenced psychedelia, the Night Tripper Records debut full-length from Swedish rockers El Camino reminds just how metal Europe can get and still be commercially relevant. El Camino don’t have much going for them in terms of originality; the double-guitar/stand-alone vocal five-piece hinge back and forth between straightforward stoner metal and screamy sludge, but what’s important to remember is that’s enough. That’s all they need to be doing. Cuts like “We are the Dark” and “Hail the Horns” are familiar in both theme and methodology almost to the point of cliché, but you can do that in Sweden and still offer a viable product. It must be amazing to witness, but that doesn’t help my American ears adjust to the record, the crux of which feels lost in translation (not literally, the songs are in English). To me, The Satanik Magiik – aside from reveling in its metallic imagery of snakes, horns, the devil, etc. – sits somewhere between its overly clean production and stoner rock influences. The songs follow a classic pop structure and vary the pacing enough, and will be easy for anyone who’s had even limited experience in the genre to grasp, but apart perhaps from the innuendo-riffic “Rise of the Snake” and the near-Weedeatery of “Family Values” which follows, they come in a wash of elemental riffing and rhythms.

The important distinction to make, though, is that they’re metal, which most (no rule is absolute) American heavy rock is not. El Camino – who keep their personal info limited to initials only; JS and NH on guitar, T on bass, M on drums and D on vocals – are a metal band, and The Satanik Magiik follows a metallic course immediately from the instrumental opener “Prelude to the Horns.” Perhaps to the album’s credit, it doesn’t get locked musically in the doomly tropes of modern occult metal, instead presenting Satan more as the dark overlord you want to have a beer with than who you want to overtake humanity in some grainy ‘70s horror film. That stylistic choice also speaks to the central issue with the album though, because although El Camino don’t worship Electric Wizard or Pagan Altar (at least not outwardly in their music), the clear-cut musical path they follow is one well if not overly trodden by other bands before them. Even the band’s name, which evokes images of Californian sands, Fu Manchu and party rock, runs in conflict with what the band is actually doing. Along with the burl of songs like “Mountain Man,” it’s an example of how El Camino are trying almost to do too much at the same time they’re trying to keep everything simple, which makes The Satanik Magiik even more confusing. Even as I groove out to that song, I can’t help but wonder what the hell is going on. Couple that with the fact that even at their most rocking – on that song, on “Rise of the Snake,” and on “Family Values” – the songs aren’t really about anything discernible (the chorus to “Rise of the Snake” is “Hellbound/Rise up” repeated), and it seems almost like El Camino have all the rock and none of the aesthetic.

On the flipside of this argument, however, is it’s this very confusion that makes The Satanik Magiik so intriguing. Trying to understand where the band is coming from and where they sit in both the larger culture of their native country and of the heavy rock underground is a fascinating challenge, and one could probably sit and opine for hours back and forth on what it is that makes a band like El Camino come about. As it is, though, the heavier parts of The Satanik Magiik are the strongest. Where some of the more rock-based stuff feels a bit like postured, the more metal they get, the more convincing the material is. Even so, they lock in a few solid grooves thanks to nodding riffs and smooth bass lines, and the “hail Satan and rock out” ethic almost never lacks in charm, so El Camino have plenty going for them. Whatever confusion I have about this release I genuinely chalk up to cultural differences in creating an understanding of where they’re coming from, though part of me also can’t help but wonder if I’m overthinking it, if maybe I should just put on a vest, crush a beer can on the side of my head and stop trying to look for the hidden puzzle piece. The music’s generic, but if I was drunk off my ass at some festival and saw these dudes on stage, I’m relatively certain I’d be all about it, fist in the air, beverage spilled all down my front, because, hey, sometimes being metal is enough. I think El Camino, who originally formed in 2003, still have some growing to do, but there are flashes of memorability to The Satatnik Magiik that go beyond a catchy chorus here and there, and far be it from me to try and hold keeping it simple against a band. It’s an awkward fit at times, but there’s a core of capable songwriting on their debut that can only serve El Camino well going forward.

El Camino’s website

Night Tripper Records on ReverbNation

Tags: El Camino, Night Tripper Records, Sweden

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 12:35 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.