The "Karisma" album was recorded in 1999, and despite the fact that the band existed from the mid '80s, this album was their first full-fledged work in Japanese (there is also an English version of the album). Yes, a song with Japanese lyrics can be found on their 1987 release ("F.E.T.U. Split Tape Vol. 1"), but this is an exceptional case. And the Japanese-language tracks on the seven-inches vinyl records, released closely to "Karisma" – "Scandinavian Harmageddon" (1997), "European Harmageddon" (1997), and "Asian Halmageddon" (1998) – those releases can be regarded as a kind of artillery preparation.
But "Karisma" is a "Japanese album" not only because of lyrics in Japanese. The Japanese spirit and energetics penetrated here into Western music (thrash metal, mainly Teutonic) and were closely intertwined with it. This is heard already in the first song "Samurai Zombies", which, by the way, has some traditional Japanese melody as an intro. Well, "traditional Japanese" to an uninitiated ear.
In solo parts, the interweaving of Western thrash metal and Japanese folk is felt massively more, than on "Fetishism". Add to this, that these incomparable solos are incredibly long often – the net result is that they thrill with their energetics. It becomes kind of unearthly when a little dissonance appears in the solo, as, for example, in the second song "Orochie". The most terrific solo sounds in the fourth song "Den of Hades": it's electric and at the same time heightening tensions. The solo part accelerates along with the whole song: first it echoes the main riff, but gradually becomes more complicated, growing like a snowball, and reaches an apogee when the guitarist switches to tapping. Another tapping solo sounds in the fifth song "Okiku Doll of the Devil" – it is short but intense.
But even without solo parts the melody emanates from Sabbat constantly, it no less than does not give the listener peace. If that is the case, the listener is finished off by a high-speed attack. It is not continuous, the compositions lose momentum sometimes, "Den of Hades" and "Okiku Doll of the Devil" are slow tracks actually. But, firstly, it has no effect on the inrush of the whole album, and secondly, "Den of Hades" and "Okiku Doll of the Devil" develop in an offensive manner, and the first is accelerating anyway. As an aside, another "schtick" of this album is the short "howls" at the end of the riffs.
It is not possible to name the best song on the album, because everyone is amazing and fascinating here. However, the third song "Harmageddon" can be singled out: in comparison with "orthodox" thrash metal it is somehow abstract, this composition develops in structure inventively – as if it leads to another dimension. If we are to draw any analogy, then this is more likely "Japanese Mekong Delta" than "Japanese Assassin". The last sixth song, "Japanese Revelation", is also an extraordinary composition and does not fit into the standards of Western thrash metal completely, however, judging by its name it should be like that. This composition is decorated with some wild solo and the monumental organ in the finale.
It is about time to find traces of black metal on this album. Well, with complete certainty we can only state about "Japanese Revelation", in which at 2:09 a real black metal-ish guitar fingerpicking sounds. It is very short, and, to be honest, more perceived as some avant-garde bridge. That's all. You can take into account, of course, that the initial riffs of the mentioned "Den of Hades" and "Okiku Doll of the Devil" sound in the vein of "Nordavind" (1995) by Storm, but most likely the influence by this Norwegian folk metal band is out of the question. This is a weird trick of globalization: as a result of the "metallization" of the Norwegian and Japanese traditional chords (or ones made in a traditional manner), they begin to sound the same – the laws of modern Western music (i. e. heavy metal and so one) squeeze the traditions of different ethnics into the narrow bounds (of metal riffs). Anyway, there is no black metal in Sabbat.
Despite the fact that bonus songs were recorded just a year before "Karisma" (they taken from "Asian Halmageddon" 7" EP, 1998), there is almost an abyss between two works. "Takaightenshow" and "Rinnereighshi" (merged into one track) are some raw thrash metal, the whole originality of which consists in the shrill vocals with folk intonations. Perhaps if you listen to this EP apart from "Karisma", then it could be appreciated, but in this case even falsetto howls in the vein of King Diamond and trademark solo parts do not help. There is a feeling that this material was being prepared in haste. At best it is the forerunner of Karisma. At worst... well, for a change, these songs are not so bad.
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