Sator
Basement Noise

Sator is a long-running Swedish band that has been around since the eighties now, and in Swedish rock they are a pretty familiar name. Not a band I have been listening to though and this is really the first time I listen to one of their albums, but it isn’t a new one as Basement Noise was released in 2006 for the first time. Now it comes on vinyl for the first time, but the question is if you really want it one vinyl as it looks pretty dull from the cover point of view, and I want nice album covers when I buy vinyl. Still, the music is the most important aspect, so what about that?

Simple and straightforward rock music, bit DIY or punk rock feel to it. The songs are pretty accessible with simple structures of verses and choruses, there are no radical ideas to be heard on this album. Not much variation either, so it is good that it is a relatively sensible playing time suitable for the vinyl format. The sound is kind of simple as well, a bit basement or rehearsal room feel to it, just do the songs and put them on record plain and simple.

Music like this should be a bit radical and rebellious, but I don’t think that Sator has anything like that. If anything, they are a little bit dull and surprisingly restrained, I think it should reek of energy and aggression, raw power and disregard for formalities, that is when simple hard rock becomes great. This album feels like it is made by old men rather than kids, and it probably was. There is an expiration date for bands doing the simple punkish rock music, very few bands doing that kind of music are even decent when approaching my age. You need to be a bit young, a little dumb, and have limited experience of life in order to make this kind of music work and that is nothing I hear in the music of Sator. The more elaborate compositions are pretty good but what appears to be more akin to their signature style is quite uninteresting.

Fans of Sator might find this one interesting and good, I don’t really do that. I think this album lacks the edge it needs to be relevant; it is just another album by a band that probably should have changed direction or stopped long before this was originally released. Sure, you may want this vinyl copy if you like this album, but it isn’t a loss not having heard it as it is quite an uninteresting release.

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