TRIBE

Tribe is the second full-length studio album by Italian progressive death metal act Sadist. Vocalist/ bassist Andy left the band after the debut Above the Light (1993) ( only to return for the third album Crust (1997)) and Chicco was brought in as the new bassist. Chicco brought a fretless bass with him and it´s audible throughout the album. New vocalist is Zanna. Tribe was released in 1996 through Rising Sun Productions. The Japanese version of the album had two bonus tracks which are both live versions of songs from the debut. The album was re-released on CD by Beyond productions in 2006 with the three bonus tracks Wratchild (Iron Maiden cover), From Bellatrix to Betelgeuse (live) and Guitar solo (live).

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.