Sabbat: Evoke (1992)

Here we have the third out of three posts in a series about the first three albums by Japan's Sabbat, not to be confused with the U.K. Sabbat.  In a bizarre accident, I ended up reviewing these in a seemingly random order.  Well, I guess there was some semblance of an order, because if I had to rank them in order of favorite to least favorite, it would be Disembody, Envenom, then Evoke.

When I was first listening to this album in anticipation of writing a post about it, I felt that this album was decidedly weaker than the other two.  It was not that the songs were bad, it was just that they were a little too safe.  That may not have been the case at the time, but there are a lot of bands who play this general style of metal anymore.  The songs were fine, but just not particularly attention-grabbing.

And then the second half started.  Several songs grabbed my attention.  "Hellhouse (Kanashibari Pt. 3)" is the most dynamic song on the album.  The song builds up an impressive eerie atmosphere and features some spine-tingling clean vocals.  "The Curse of Phraoh" is obviously hilariously misspelled but the Egyptian-sounding riff definitely grabs the listener.  It does start out sounding like a cover of Iron Maiden's "Powerslave", but veers off quickly.  Finally, "Beyond the River" is absolutely terrific, with the best riff on the album and some infectious hooks.

This one is a little uneven, but still a good enough album.  I do not like it as much as the other two, even though "Beyond the River" is possibly one of my favorite songs I have heard from Sabbat yet.  It is still a great example of blackened thrash done right, it just fails to live up to some of the other work from Sabbat.

Sabbat: Envenom (1991)

This is the second in a series covering the reissues of the first three Sabbat albums.  I know, I am covering them in a weird and random order.  Yesterday, I covered the third album.  This one is their first full-length.

It is kind of hard to make any kind of argument about the band's growth when you are going backwards from the third album to the first.  Much of the music on this release is less-polished and raw.  In the review yesterday, I mentioned that they sounded like a grimier version of Venom.  The Venom comparison is even more apt here, particularly on songs like "Evil Nations" which would have fit in very well on Cronos and gang's album At War with Satan.  "Deathtemptation (Kanashibari Pt. 2)" is one of the strongest songs on the album, with a terrific riff and some of the best vocals on the entire release.  The noodling in the background of the choruses is particularly effective.  The entire song has an evil atmosphere to it, complemented by the gruff raspy vocals.

"Carcassvoice" is a really weird song.  It has a heavy punk vibe to it and features some bizarre double vocals.  One singer provides some lower-pitched growling snarls while the other pitches in with some much higher-register shrieking.  The two styles do not mix well at all and the song is kind of annoying during those parts.  It does get better as it goes on though, ditching those vocals for more of a surf-rock style groove.  The vocals are also the downfall of "Eviler", which is just a hilarious song title, but features more punkish shouting that just does not work well.  But these issues are just minor annoyances in an otherwise great album.

Sabbat released a damn impressive debut album that was just a sign of things to come for the band.  It is raw and intense, but the band never really moved away from this general sound.  They just continued to improve on it. 

Sabbat: Disembody (1993)

A few weeks back, I did a short series covering a bunch of the demo and EP reissues from the Japanese blackened thrash metal band Sabbat.  Well, several of their early full-lengths were also released.  I picked up three of those.

Disembody is Sabbat's third full-length album and finds the band in full force.  Much of the music finds Sabbat playing their grimier, more evil take on Venom (which is not exactly easy to pull off).  Most songs feature a barrage of riffs from the virtuoso guitarist Gezol.  His work toward the end of "Evoke the Evil" in particular is extremely impressive and dynamic, building up an evil atmosphere in the climax of the song.  Gezol's work here is reminiscent of early Mercyful Fate in that respect. 

There are a number of terrific songs on this album, but there are a couple that have really grabbed my attention.  "Metamorphosis" is one of the more interesting songs on the album.  It starts off slowly with some frantic and panicked clean vocals, leading into a breakdown and some crushing riffs before circling back to the agonized vocals.  The song is maddeningly intense.  "Satan's Serenade" is the other.  This song was not on the original version of the album, but does appear on my reissue.  It is driven by a classic heavy metal riff that is reminiscent of the NWOBHM. 

I have considered myself a fan of Sabbat since first hearing them, but have never really come close to listening to everything the band has released.  That is still true, but I have been able to get into their earlier material with this set of reissues.  The band has been prolific to say the least.  And now I am basically starting from the beginning.

Sabbat: The Devil's Sperm is Cold (1989)

And we come to the final post in this series of reissued early Sabbat EPs.  This one came the year before yesterday's subject and features one of the other characteristics of Sabbat that has been present in a lot of their material.  And that is their somewhat bizarre sense of humor.  Seriously, why would else would they use that title?

This is the EP that saw the band take a massive step forward in their musicality, which can be seen on yesterday's post.  They were no longer taking the simple thrash metal route, injecting a number of creative ideas and stretching the length of their songs to pull it off.  There are only two songs on this EP and they both break the six-minute mark. 

"Hellfire" is the more straight-forward of the two tracks, with riffs that would not sound out of place on a pre-Master of Puppets Metallica album.  "Immortality of the Soul" is the highlight here with some amazing shredding riffs and chilling solos.  It is a huge step forward from the band in a musical sense and showcases how talented these musicians really are.  It takes a number of twists and turns, and is one of the more memorable songs from this era in the band's history.

This is probably the best of Sabbat's early EPs before they started releasing full-length albums.  With the tape-trading culture at the time, it is somewhat surprising this band was not better-known.  This is an essential Sabbat release.

Sabbat: The Seven Deadly Sins (1990)

This is the third in a series of four posts covering Sabbat's early EPs that were recently reissued.  This is the last one before the band finally released a full-length album and is the most complete-sounding one I have covered. 

This one opens up with the six-minute "Possessed the Room (Kanashibari)" which features a blazing guitar solo in the opening strains, before launching into a mid-paced thrash metal riff.  It is an incredible song, and easily one of the band's best songs during this time period before the release of their first full-length.  There are a number of solos shining through and some neck-breaking galloping riffs.  It builds a dark and evil-sounding atmosphere through its lack of speed and the use of ominous guitar melodies.  The other two songs are much faster, more typical thrash metal songs. 

Unlike the last two EPs, this one I do recommend for people looking into the band.  It is a nice, short introduction to what the band was doing without getting into an entire full-length.  "Possessed the Room (Kanashibari)" is an incredible song and possibly one of their best ever.  The others are much more standard, but still sound good.  This is a decent starting point to see what Sabbat is all about.

Sabbat: Born by Evil Blood (1987)

This is the second of four days exploring some of the very early Sabbat demos.  Again, this is the Japanese band.  This is actually the band's first released EP, coming out only after a single and a split.  So this one is even earlier in the band's discography than the one in yesterday's post.

This is a very raw recording, but the guitars have an impressively evil tone to them.  There are just three songs on this particular EP, and the first one is an instrumental.  The band's Venom influence is very clear, as any of these songs would fit in well on Venom's Black Metal.  "Curdle the Blood" is probably the highlight, with its frenetic riffing and Gesol's shrieking vocals.  It also has some damn meaty riffs in it.  "Poison Child" is basically a standard thrash metal track, but the vocals definitely take some getting used to here, which is unfortunate because it detracts from some impressive musical ideas.

Again, I cannot really recommend this release for anyone but a huge fan of the band.  I am becoming such a fan though, so I do enjoy it.

Sabbat: Desecration (1988)

The next four posts will cover some very early Sabbat demos.  This is the Sabbat from Japan, not the U.K.  Sabbat has generally been a very prolific band and a lot of their early material has recently been reissued.  I first picked up four of the demos, but later added three of the early albums as well.  This string is just the demos.  None of these posts is going to be terribly long, because none of the releases are very long.

This was just the fourth release Sabbat put out and is a quick and dirty four-song EP.  It starts out ominously with the song "Welcome to Sabbat", which is actually a nice way to introduce the band in general.  It lays the groundwork for what is to come, which is some damn impressive blackened thrash metal that owes its existence to Mercyful Fate and Venom.  This particular release veers much closer to thrash metal in the faster-paced riffs and howling vocals, but it is easy to see where the style was heading in the blackened thrash direction.  The best song here is probably "Crest of Satan", which is the longest and features some great riffs that belie the fact that this band is so young at this point.  "Darkness and Evil" is the closest the album comes to a defined black metal song.

It is obvious Sabbat was still finding themselves here, but this is a damn impressive release for something so early in their vast catalog.  I do not know if I recommend it to people discovering the band for the first time, but it is interesting nonetheless.

Underrated Thrash Metal Albums Pt. 2 of 2

Picking up from yesterday, here's some more of my favorite lesser-known thrash metal albums:

EXHORDER: SLAUGHTER IN THE VATICAN
Exhorder has recently gotten some attention and praise from people who came to the realization that Pantera pretty much ripped off this band's sound in the early 1990's. Yes, Exhorder played a part in the creation of groove metal. Not to say that this is a groove metal album. This is a thrash metal album played at a slower speed than many of the band's contemporaries and it is one hell of an album. Later they would slow things even more and become a groove metal band, but this is just straight thrash.

KING'S-EVIL: DELETION OF HUMANOISE
This Japanese thrash metal band only released this one album, but it is a fucking good one. Featuring a sound that can best be described as Kreator meets Sodom, this album features some monster riffs and blazes by at a hundred miles an hour. The album is short but it still leaves the listener absolutely exhausted. Plus, it has one hell of a scary looking album cover. Bonus points.

NOCTURNAL BREED: FIELDS OF ROT
I have discussed in the past that Norway, despite being best known for black metal, also has a propensity to produce some amazing bands in other genres. This is their best thrash metal band, in my mind. Some of the best thrash metal riffs of the last twenty years or so are on this album. The band is clearly more influenced by the more brutal German scene than the U.S. scene. This is truly a brutal thrash metal album.

SABBAT: DREAMWEAVER-REFLECTIONS OF OUR YESTERDAYS
This album has to be one of my absolute favorite thrash metal albums. Sabbat clearly has a sound and style all their own. Martin Walkyier has one of the most unusual voices in thrash and a very unique style. His staccato rhythms match up well with the music cadences and present a catchy total listening experience. Sabbat is unfairly overlooked, mostly because they did not rise out of one of the major scenes.

HYADES: AND THE WORST IS YET TO COME
The younger Italian thrash metal band does not quite fit in with the recent thrash revival, however, they play a style heavily influenced by Anthrax and Exodus. It's fun and infectious thrash, yet it's still heavy. Hyades plays fast and hard, but it truly sounds like they are having a blast while doing it. This probably should be held up for the neo-thrash acts to look at to see a band carving their own sound out of their influences.

Blind Buy Surprise Albums Pt. 4: Sabbat: Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)

In keeping with the thrash scene on a worldwide scale, we come to England's Sabbat. England is well-known for its place in metal history, spawning leading metal bands Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Venom, Iron Maiden, and many other highly influential metal bands. But the country also produced some fine bands from other styles. It had a highly underrated thrash metal scene lead by Onslaught, Cancer, Xentrix, and Sabbat.

I bought this album along with several other albums by groups like Death Angel, Draconian, Behemoth, and Devian. I was in Lincoln for a legal education seminar on trial presentation and decided to head over to my favorite music store (which has since closed) and pick some stuff up. I had heard of this band, but I really did not know if I was getting the British band, or the Japanese band of the same name, who I did previously own an album by. It was kind of a throw-in to the larger purchase because it was fairly cheap. It was not until fully absorbing the album that I realized that it was far and away my favorite pickup of the day.

Sabbat is very clearly influenced by the NWOBHM, and I guess when you're from that same country, that's going to be a big influence. But the riffs are stronger and sharper, the aggression is greater, and the overall speed is faster. The band recombined some thrash metal influences with their already strong NWOBHM influences.

The thing that really interests me in this band is Martin Walkyier's vocals. He has an unusual vocal style, a kind of staccato, rhythmic style that he uses. It really catches the ear and forces the listener to pay attention. He would later use the same style in his followup band Skyclad.

This is a highly underrated thrash metal masterpiece. I highly recommend checking it out.

Worldwide Thrash Metal

Thrash metal is the first genre I really got into, as I have made fairly clear on this blog. I got into it through Metallica and other members of the US Big 4. For a long time, I never really thought much about other bands playing the same style. In the last few years though, my knowledge and enjoyment of metal has grown exponentially. I realized that metal in general, and thrash in particular, is a global phenomenon. As such, I decided recently to look at thrash metal bands from various countries. These are some of my favorites from each county, and for countries like the U.S. and Germany where there is an upper tier of bands most people are aware of, I decided to look at some lesser known groups.

AUSTRALIA:

Destroyer 666:
I've discussed this band at length before and will not say much about them again here. D666, though it must be emphasized, created one of the greatest thrash metal albums of all time in Cold Steel...For an Iron Age. That is all.

Slaughter Lord:
I have also briefly discussed this band in my post on Australian War Metal. Slaughter Lord never recorded a full length album, their legacy is remembered in a couple of demos and a compilation of said demos. That being said, they were very important to the large Australian scene.

Trench Hell:
Trench Hell was also discussed in the War Metal post. Essentially, this band sounds a lot like Hellhammer/early Celtic Frost, but thrashier. Even the grunting vocalizations are there. This band is very new and does not even have a full length album out yet. I am definitely interested in following them to see what they do.

AUSTRIA:

Wolfpack Unleashed:
Wolfpack Unleashed is a very new band who has only released a couple of albums since 2006. Their sound is kind of a cross between Megadeth and Dark Tranquillity, mixing thrash with melodic death metal. It's a decent mix when done right and Wolfpack Unleashed does succeed here. The songs aren't anything special, but will get the blood pumping under the right conditions.

BRAZIL:

Sarcofago:
Sarcofago is a band featuring the original lead vocalist for Sepultura, Wagner Antichrist. The band mostly sounds like the earliest full length Sepultura albums, that is raw and fast. Their music incorporates early black and death metal styles as well making their sound ferocious and intense. This is likely what Sepultura would have sounded like had they continued in the style of Morbid Visions.

Sepultura:
Sepultura has also been discussed at length here and will not be subject to another retelling. Suffice it to say that Sepultura is one of my all time favorite bands, at least prior to Max leaving the band.

CANADA:

Sacrifice:
Sacrifice is probably the best pure thrash metal band to come from Canada. Canada has a surprisingly rich metal history, but most of its success stories come in the genres of death metal (Cryptopsy, Quo Vadis, Gorguts) and progressive metal (Strapping Young Lad, Voivod). Sacrifice arose in the mid 1980's mostly influenced by the Bay Area scene. That influence can be clearly heard in the band's sound. Unfortunately, this was a very short-lived band.

Slaughter:
As mentioned above, Sacrifice is the best pure thrash metal band from Canada, however I believe Slaughter to be the best overall band from Canada, they are certainly my favorite. Slaughter was extremely influential on the early death metal scene in the U.S. They were far more of a death/thrash outfit than fitting into just one genre. Chuck Schuldiner of Death almost joined the band before his band took off. Another band that was unfortunately very short-lived. They also have the misfortune of sharing their name with a bad hiar band from the same time period which probably stunted their album sales and convinced them to change their name to Strappado. I will possibly have a rather lengthy post about this band later on.

COLOMBIA:

Witchtrap:
Witchtrap is a throwback band. Sounding like early Slayer and other early thrash metal bands combined with NWOBHM influences, the band sounds like it should have come out in the early 1980's. However, the vocal style is more similar to early extreme thrash metal bands like Sodom, Kreator, or Sepultura. It's a good thing that there are bands like this trying to recapture the sound of the genre's early wave and doing a good job of it.

DENMARK:

Victimizer:
Victimizer is another band that plays a throwback style of metal. The band combines influences from black metal and NWOBHM into their retro-thrash attack to concoct a mixture that is refreshing and intensely ferocious. The band is not real well-known at this time, but they have the musical ability and songwriting skill to potentially make a big impact on the metal scene.

FINNLAND:

Pyrotoxic:

Pyrotoxic was discussed briefly in the post on split albums, they will not be discussed at length here. Pyrotoxic is a thrash metal band with a female lead singer, who, like the below-mentioned Holy Moses, really pulls off the thrash metal vocals well. The band is young and has not recorded much, but they may just have a bright future.

GERMANY:

I have written at length about the German Big 3. To put it quite simply, this scene is just as important as the American scene. I will not go into detail about Kreator, Sodom, and Destruction here, however I do want to discuss the often-overlooked Holy Moses.

Holy Moses:

Holy Moses is one of my favorite female-fronted bands. The band takes all of the elements that made the German thrash metal scene so great and added an incredible vocalist. Sabina Classen does not sound like a woman when she is unleashing her unholy banshee shrieking. As compared to the other bands in the German scene, I would rank Holy Moses #3 behind Sodom and Kreator, and ahead of Destruction, just personal preference.

ITALY:

Hyades:

Hyades is a relatively newer band that has been strongly influenced by the Bay Area thrash scene in the U.S. during the mid 1980's, more in the vein of groups like Exodus and Testament. The music is typically fast-paced with a beefy guitar tone, and rough, but not extreme vocals and the occasional use of gang vocals.

Necrodeath:

There was a little bit of a thrash metal scene in Italy during the 1980's that was greatly overlooked. Necrodeath was one of the better bands from the scene and released a couple of albums that would have been classics had they had a little more fanfare. Nevertheless, Necrodeath is getting a little more notoriety now as the internet has made it easier to hear bands that may have been missed the first time. Necrodeath definitely has a sinister, evil sound to their own brand of thrash metal.

JAPAN:

King's-Evil:

King's-Evil is a band with only one full length album and a demo out there. The band draws its sound mostly from Kreator influences. The riffing is fast, the vocals are delivered in a harsh scream, and the songs are short and angry. A great unknown album.

Sabbat:

Sabbat is kind of a weird band. Their particular brand of thrash metal is very fast and does sound like a unique mix of U.S. styles with some black metal influences thrown in for good measure. The band is incredibly prolific, at least when it comes to recording splits and live albums (three alone this year), but hasn't released a full length album in something like six years. The lyrics are often silly and/or not proper English ("The Answer is Hell", "I'm Your Satan"), which gives them a humorous factor. I'm not sure if this is intentional or not.

MEXICO:

Blood Exile:

Blood Exile was discussed briefly in the post on split albums, they will not be discussed at length here. Blood Exile is a thrash metal band clearly influenced by the Bay Area and with some occasional acoustic guitar melodies in the midst of the songs themselves. Thus far, their only recorded output is a split and some demos.

NETHERLANDS:

Thanatos:

I reviewed a 7 inch single I have of Thanatos earlier in a review post so I will not discuss them at length here. Thanatos was the first great Dutch extreme metal band and combines elements of death and thrash metal. I am still trying to find one of their full-length releases.

NORWAY:

Nocturnal Breed:

Norway is well known for its black metal, but several bands from the country encompass different genre styles. Nocturnal Breed is one of the better thrash metal bands from the country, playing fast, riff-based thrash metal with an emphasis on speed and power. The band also possesses a strong Motorhead influence, particularly in the vocal style, giving the music a grungy, dirty feel.

POLAND:

Vader:

Vader is probably the longest-running band from Poland. Not that that's terribly impressive, but even so. Vader started out as a thrash metal band but then began incorporating death metal influences. At this point in time, the band is probably a bit closer to death metal than thrash. Even so, Vader's ferocity and aggressiveness is difficult to top, even by some of the more extreme thrash metal bands listed in this post. For such a historically inept country, Poland sure has one hell of a metal scene. Vader happens to be their best thrash metal band but other groups that call Poland home include the mighty Behemoth.

PUERTO RICO:

Sacrilegio:

Sacrilegio was discussed briefly in the post on split albums, they will not be discussed at length here. The band is more of a speed/thrash metal band, sounding like it could have come out in the mid 1980's. The lyrics are done mostly in Spanish and delivered in a powerful tenor voice reminiscent of Liege Lord and other early U.S. power metal bands. Sacrilegio, like Blood Exile and Pyrotoxic has not released much recorded output.

SWEDEN:

Swedish thrash is a fairly well-known scene, but not nearly as much as its counterparts in the U.S. and Germany. Swedish thrash doesn't have as much of the aggression of the other two aforementioned scenes. It came around much later and tries to blend the two sounds together. The sound is closely tied to the melodic death metal scene, which causes it to lose some of its ferocity.

Guillotine:

Guillotine formed as a side project of members of Nocturnal Rites to play a more extreme style of metal. The band plays mostly Teutonic style thrash metal in the vein of Destruction. The vocals are a little grating at times, but for the most part, the music is intense and aggressive. As the band is a side project, they have only had two full length albums in the 15 years since starting.

The Crown:

The Crown, formerly known as Crown of Thorns, is kind of a mixed bag. Featuring influences from both thrash and melodic death metal, the band's sound is not easy to pin down. On their earlier material, they were significantly more thrash-oriented. The band has always had one factor that has defined their sound, sheer speed. The Crown features some of the fastest riffing I have yet heard from a metal band.

SWITZERLAND:

Coroner:

Coroner was one of the earliest technical thrash metal bands. Combining styles that would later be defined as technical thrash and neoclassical shred, Coroner was very unique for their time. It's kind of a well-known triat for bands from Switzerland to be unique and groundbreaking as the almighty Celtic Frost is also from the country.

UNITED KINGDOM:

Evile:

Evile is one of the newer wave of thrash metal bands making waves, along with Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, Merciless Death, Warbringer, etc. but is one of the few from outside the U.S. Evile is one of the better such bands. The band's music is mostly influenced by mid-era Slayer and groups like Exodus, mostly Bay Area bands.

Sabbat:

Yes there are two thrash metal bands called Sabbat. This is the band from England and they are one of my favorite under-the-radar thrash metal bands. Sabbat's songs are catchy, their lyrics typically dealing with fantasy themes, and their vocals delivered in a rhythmic staccato style that is incredibly infectious. It's just too bad they didn't last very long. Their singer later formed the early folk metal band Skyclad and brought his distinctive vocal style to that band as well.

UNITED STATES:

I'm not here to discuss the Big 4: Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, and Slayer. I'm not even here to discuss the next tier down: Overkill, Exodus, Testament, and Flotsam and Jetsam. Instead, I want to touch on some lesser known bands, well at least to those not overly familiar with the genre.

Dark Angel:

Dark Angel is very well-known in metal circles but often overlooked elsewhere. They recorded one of the finest thrash metal albums of all time in Darkness Descends. The band truly excelled at writing catchy riffs. Some of the newer thrash metal acts such as Merciless Death are clearly influenced by Dark Angel, even so far as taking their name from one of their songs. It's unfortunate that this band came a little late to make it into the same category of the first two tiers of U.S. thrash.

Demolition Hammer:

I reviewed this band's compilation album earlier in this blog so I won't go into much detail here. Demolition Hammer was similar to the below Morbid Saint in that they played a more extreme version of thrash bordering on death metal. They also had a very short career, spannign three albums, the first two of which are excellent slabs of thrash metal.

Morbid Saint:

Morbid Saint is a more extreme U.S. thrash metal band. Their music is fast and intensely aggressive. The vocals are more of a sinister snearing screech and the riffs attack the listener at blazing speed. An incredible band that just did not last nearly long enough. They only officially released one album then faded back into obscurity.

Sadus:

Sadus was a band that existed as kind of a bridge over the gap between thrash metal and death metal. The band was rather famous for their speed, technicality, and intensity and the harsher vocal style. The other element the band was particularly well-known for was the audibleness of Steve DiGiorgio's bass. The instrument really drove the music. Sadus was a little bit more on the thrash side of things and backed off of their death metal style as their career wore on.