Audiopile Review: Following last month’s reissue of Meat Beat Manifesto’s Subliminal Sandwich, we finally have Satyricon, which is now considered the peak of the group prior to Jack Dangers taking sole custody. Breaking away from the hard-hitting and post-industrial pop of 1990’s 99%, Satyricon slipped into a somewhat pop-forward mode, driven by Jack Dangers’ vocals now hitting a naked emotion as he largely abandoned the shout-rapping style that had been in use since their arrival in the late ‘80s. While breakbeats are still the driving force of MBM, a strain that would continue through the rest of the decade, Dangers and Stephens filled in the flurry of drums with dub-centred bass pulses, washes of squalling guitar, and a rich sample base that was clearly the work of two dusty-fingered crate diggers. Satyricon’s sampledelic style, which Dangers would bring to new heights later in the decade with Subliminal Sandwich and Actual Sounds + Voices, should also be considered ground zero for big beat, arriving at the sound years before the likes of The Chemical Brothers would bring it to the mainstream. You can count Aphex Twin as a fan, who remixed Satyricon’s standout single “Mindstream” and would later sample the group on “Fork Rave”, an unreleased track that was part of his infamous Soundcloud dump. And hey, we’re HUGE fans too, this one ranking as an all-time shop favorite, our well-worn CD copy never far from the stereo. And even with a handful of tracks excluded, we’re beyond ecstatic to finally see this one back in print in any form.

Satyricon is the fourth studio album by British electronic music group Meat Beat Manifesto.