SADIST

Sadist is the fifth full-length studio album by progressive death metal act Sadist. It´s also a kind of comeback album for the group after a 7 year recording break. Sadist last album Lego (2000) was a great disappointment for both fans and critics and because of the bad reception Sadist were so discouraged that they split up. The same lineup that recorded Lego reunited in 2005 and began working on their next album. Since Lego turned out to be such a disappointment I was a bit reluctant before purchasing Sadist knowing that the lineup was the same that recorded Lego. After listening to the album my worries fortunately turn out to be unfounded and it´s safe to say that Sadist have returned in great shape. Ready to conquer the world once again with some excellent progressive death metal.

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.

Difficult review, this one....... Not a one I relished to write & publish.

This is this Italian band's comeback album after a pretty disasterous album which ended up in Sadist calling it a day for a time. Sadist returned though a released this album. An album they still regard as their masterpiece. It is difficult not to agree with those sentiments.

The album starts with some Middle East melody lines before the metal side of Sadist kicks in. The brutal sound and tracks are somewhere between black, thrash and progressive metal. Their sound is not particular darkened, but it is still dark enough to give a lot of black metal vibes. The core of their sound lays entirely in progressive metal though. That and with some avant-garde sentiments too. The vocals are of the more painful one and will probably turn off a lot of potential fans.

The metal stuff is also softened up by some melodic guitar passages and some piano concerto pieces. This is in the typical black metal mould from the mid-90s. Sadist is not a black metal band by any means, but I just wanted to mention this. I normally find this metal- melodic interlude-metal-melodic interlude pattern pretty annoying and a big turn off for me. Hence, I was never a fan of that scene. But in Sadist case, they have done this pretty clever by having something new and refreshing. A sitar, a piano and some harps. It is good to be surprised now and then.

The quality of the album is very good throughout. Even great now and then. Is this an excellent purchase for a prog rock fan as stated in the reviews guidelines ? Nope. Is it an excellent purchase for a progressive metal fan ? Most definate yes. So that is why I give this four stars. I genuine like this album although this genre is not one I enjoy.

4 stars