SATAN´S GIFT (RIDERS OF DOOM)

"Satan's Gift" is the debut full-length studio album by German thrash metal act Deathrow. The album was released in February 1986 by Noise Records. Displeased Records re-issued "Satan's Gift" on CD in 2008 featuring bonus tracks from the time when the band were know as Samhain.

The album has a rather interesting release history as the original cover artwork was banned. Therefore the second pressing of the album features a completely different artwork. But not only that. The band also changed the title of the album from "Satan's Gift" to "Riders of Doom". As far as I know the tracklist is the same for both versions.

The music on the album is thrash metal with clear nods toward the teutonic triumvirate of Sodom, Kreator and Destruction. So no surprises there. What is surprising, is that there are also some clear references to American thrash metal acts like Metallica ( around "Ride the Lightning (1984)") and Slayer ( listen to "Riders of Doom" and tell me that song doesn't sound almost exactly like "Black Magic" by Slayer) and even some melodic traits that reminds me of an act like Iron Maiden. It's a bit unusual to hear a German thrash metal act from those days producing an album this sophisticated, but of course if you know Deathrow's recording history it's not that strange. They would go on to produce much more technical and sophisticated thrash metal albums later on in their career. But the style here on "Satan's Gift", while generally more sophisticated than the more raw and simple style of their contemporaries, is still rather old school.

"Satan's Gift" is a promising debut album by Deathrow, but it's not perfect by any means. The too obvious influences and the rather bad production are issues that drag my rating down. Still a 2.5 - 3 star rating is deserved.