After a lengthy hiatus from the studio, Norwegian blackened hard rock unit Satyricon, comprised of core members Satyr (Sigurd Wongraven on vocals, guitar & bass) & Frost (Kjetil-Vidar Haraldstad on drums) and a revolving team of supporting players, have returned with their self-titled eighth studio album. While they began as a strictly black metal band during that genre's Scandinavian glory days, Satyricon later transitioned to a more straightforward style of melodic hard rock, though they continue to embrace black metal's themes and retain a few of its musical motifs. For fans of horror and occult-oriented rock and metal who find traditional Norwegian black metal a bit too... well, let's say challenging to the ears (old school bands embrace those lo-fi elements as part of the genre's kill-the-rules mindset), Satyricon is both accessible and fist-pumping intense – a balance which makes for a pretty effective hook. That signature sound continues for the most part...