SADIST

although the sounds may not be convincing, expecially if listened after 13 years, the emotional power of this record is still kept in its entirety.

the electronic influences are wisely put into an intricate net of progressive metal structures. Also, the voice is way better than in the previous record.

The instrumental "from Bellatrix to Betelgeuse" is the main spot for me, but every song keeps my attention alive constantly.

Particular mentions also go to "Escogido", which is a breakthrough start for the album, and "Tribe", both being extremely original and intriguing.

I recommend this album to all fans of progressive metal who are not fond of the hypertechnical+highpitchedvoice clichée à-la Dream Theatre.

The music on the album is comparable to earlier excellent releases by Sadist such as Tribe (1996) and Crust (1997) ( especially the latter). Which means progressive death metal with a raspy/ growling lead vocalist, heavy yet melodic guitars and Sadist trademark use of keyboards and an excellent and skilled rythm section. References to acts such as Death and especially Pestilence are obvious IMO.

The production is very well sounding and professional. The sound is powerful and even close to symphonic at times which suits the music well.

Sadist is both a welcome and a powerful return to form for Sadist and they should once again be regarded as one of the leading forces in progressive death metal. A 4 star rating is a matter of course.

While the music still has few progressive elements it´s obvious that Sadist wanted to try something very different on Lego. There´s nothing wrong with the musicianship or the production on the album but the music is not very interesting IMO. If you enjoy something that sounds like a bad version of Korn meets P.O.D. there´s a chance you might enjoy this, but personally this genre does not appeal much to me and 69:19 minutes of this is close to doing me in if I have to be honest. It´s not all bad though and there are some ideas and sections on the album that does sound powerful and exciting but they are few and far between. I find it rather sad that an innovative and IMO groundbreaking act like Sadist ended up making an album like this. It would also have serious consequences for the band as they broke up shortly after the release of the album. Sadist returned with their self-titled fifth album in 2007 where the band redeemed themselves considerably. This one will be a doubtful purchase even for the fans. 2 stars are all I can give.

After the succesful and groundbreaking album release Tribe (1996), which is the predecessor to Crust, a major lineup change took place in Sadist. The only remaining member from the Tribe lineup is founding member and composer/ guitarist/ Keyboardist Tommy ( Sadist don´t use surnames). Bassist/ vocalist Andy who was part of the lineup on the debut album Above the Light (1993) has returned to the fold though and plays bass on Crust. The lead vocals ( mostly growls and aggressive vocals but also some Snake-like ( Voivod) clean vocals) are now handled by Trevor and the new drummer in the band is Oinos. A welcome replacement for Peso who wasn´t the best drummer.

The music is technical progressive death metal with lots of keyboards. References to bands such as Atheist, Cynic and especially Pestilence are quite obvious but Sadist definitely have their own sound. The musicianship is on a high level and while the music is not the most technical metal I´ve heard it´s quite challenging and intriguing at times. There´s also great variation on the album and the two instrumental tracks Holy... and Crust are nice melodic breaks on an otherwise brutal album. The keyboards serve a purpose on the album and they are not just background fill. They create a rather majestic sound at times. This is not symphonic music though. A song like Instinct deserves a mention too for it´s tribal like drumming. Really interesting.

The production which was done by the band themselves is a bit thin but otherwise good and it suits the music well.

While Tribe is generally considered to be Sadist most progressive release, Crust is definitely not far behind. I wouldn´t call it as important as Tribe but it´s an excellent technical progresive death metal album that deserves attention. A 4 star rating is fully deserved. The extensive use of keyboards in the music, which IMO is what sets Sadist music apart from other technical progressive death metal bands of the nineties, is an aquired taste for sure though. A unique album.

The music is progressive death metal with an extensive use of keyboards. There are both jazzy and classical influences in the music which help spice up the technical death metal style of the band. The keyboards are an integrated part of the music so don´t expect atmospheric background sounds. The vocals are raspy/ growls that suit the music perfectly. The music is not overtly technical but it´s certainly progressive and full of innovative ideas. The level of musicianship is very high though and there are some great complex sections on the album. One of the things I was not too happy about on Above the Light was the drumming. Peso has improved his drum skills to an acceptable level on Tribe though and while his performance here isn´t the most intriguing it doesn´t drag the music down.

The production is good but not excellent.

Sadist was one of the bands that was always mentioned in reviews of technical and progressive death metal releases in the nineties along with bands such as Atheist, Cynic, Death and Pestilence. But while all the mentioned bands are still hailed today as icons and leaders in the technical/ progressive death metal genre Sadist seems to have been forgotten by most fans of the genre. It´s a real shame IMO. Especially this album should be hailed as one of the seminal albums in the genre. A truly unique gem. Atheist and Cynic have always been in a league of their own and Tribe doesn´t quite reach the heights of those two band´s best output, but Tribe fully match albums like Spheres (1993) by Pestilence or Obscura (1998) by Gorguts in terms of quality IMO. A fully deserved 4 star rating from me.

There are two tracks on the EP. Both are taken directly off the i>Black Screams demo tape from earlier that that year. Bad sound quality, bad musicianship and everything else worth mentioning are intact from that release but one is a demo and the other is an EP so these are two different releases ( hence the two different entries in the PA database). The EP was actually re-released a second time in 1992 by Wild Rags Records. This time around on tape limited to 2500 copies. The Wild Rags Records tape version of the EP features a bonus track called Musicians Against Yuppies which is no better and no worse than the other two tracks.

I´ve already written a review of the demo tape where I talk about the music, the musicianship and the production, so besides mentioning the addition of the bonus track I´m not gonna talk that much about those things here. All I want to say is that this is a below average release in every aspect of the word and even with an additional track ( which is only available on the Wild Rags Records version) this is still a 1 star rating. It´s not the most promising start from a band that made some of the most interesting progressive death metal releases of the nineties. If you´re interested in learning why this band has been added to PA, my recommendation is that you seek out their second full-length studio album Tribe (1996).

The music style is progressive death/ thrash metal with an aggressive vocal style. The progressive elements are the use of acoustic guitar and keyboards which gives the sections where those intruments are used a ( for the time) pretty original sound.

The musicianship is below standard for the genre and especially drummer Peso seems untight, but there are actually several times during the two songs where I hear technical playing errors by different members of the band. This is not a very good performance. The worst example is probably in the middle of the second song on the demo Dreaming Deformities where there´s a difference in the way the acoustic guitar and the distored guitar are tuned. That´s disastrous IMO. The least you can do when you record is to tune your instruments.

The production is way below standard even for the generally low-fi demo tape production standards of the late eighties to early nineties extreme metal scene. The guitar is too low and the bass is way too high in the mix. There´s absolutely no power in this sound. A very amateurish sound quality.

Well as you might have guessed I´m not very excited about this release and even though there is promise here and there ( there are some pretty interesting guitar parts a couple of times) the overall impression is that of unstructured chaos. And that´s chaos when it´s not a good thing. I can give no more than a 1 star rating for this release.

There were eight songs on the original release ( two bonus tracks on the Japanese version though) while there are two additional bonus tracks ( recorded in 2000 during the Lego (2000) sessions) on the 2006 re-release by Beyond Productions. A strange choice for bonus material if you ask me. The original songs are in progressive death/ thrash style with growling/ raspy vocals. There are both jazzy and classical elements in the music but the basis is death/ thrash. A promotional video was made for the album for the song Sometimes They Come Back and it´s also the most catchy song IMO.

The production leaves a lot to be desired and has a great part in dragging my rating down. The music lacks power because of the bad sound quality and it´s such a shame as I´m sure the songs would have given me a totally different experience had they been well-produced.

The musicianship is pretty good allthough there are elements of Peso´s drumming style that are a bit too anchored in the bad part of the eighties thrash movement. Which for me means the German and south european version. It´s not all bad though and he does know some chops that impress. Band leader and main composer Tommy is obviously a good musicians/ composer but he still needed a few more years to perfect his style.

I´ve heard people praise Above the light as a progressive death metal classic but I have to strongly disagree with that statement. Allthough the comparisons with bands like Death and Atheist ( especially the former) are certainly true there´s a big difference in quality. For newcomers to Sadist I suggest that you start with their second album Tribe (1996) before listening to Above the light. If we´re talking progressive death metal classics that one certainly applies. Above the light is overall too unpolished and raw to suit my taste and the songwriting isn´t that mature either. a BIG 2 star rating is all I can give.