Limited 50 copies in white color
This was the record that introduced me to the very unconventional, very unique and captivating world of the Japanese diehard samurai blacking metal legends, Sabbat. When I first heard it, I immediately thought "This sounds like it's from '86-'87", but to my astonishment, it was from 2011. I had to listen to it entirely, and what I heard was damn near the best thing I heard in years. Join me as we explore the world of the Japanese blacking witching sabbatical unholy metal warriors' 9th studio album, "Sabbatrinity".
This album utilizes the most of speed and thrash metal out of any Sabbat albums ever. The band's black metal roots are definitely present still, but they are nowhere near as dominant as they are on "Karmagmassacre" or "Fetishism", just to name a few examples. Because of that, this album seems to be the most accessible one for thrashers like me, who prefer the high pace and the traditional song structures, and the fact that this album is seasoned with the one and only Sabbat's magical evil approach is just the cherry on the top of the cake.
Now that we have the style out of the way, let's talk about the music itself. This is just utter magnificence that's going on here. This is one of those bands that sounds like no other band in the entire universe. What makes this record so amazing is the incredible darkness, the evilness, the malice that these songs are reeking of. "Black Metal Scythe", "Witch Hammers", "Karmagmassacre" and "Witchflight" are all songs that are catchy as hell, they are not super difficult to play, but guess what, who cares? They are vicious, unbelievably effective at achieving the evil vibe the band's going for, they are well-written, original, unique, who gives a shit if this ain't Coroner or Aspid? They are all part of the same story, the same agenda, they fit together perfectly well, and they are more evil and rotten to the core than literally anything that came out before 2011, in 2011 and after. This album's cover should be next to the world "evil" in dictionaries.
Damiazell on guitars does an excellent job at writing songs that split the workload between tremolo picking massacre and those sweet, amazingly tasteful malicious chord progressions. The riffs are fairly aggressive, but they are not just that, they are not all hate and anger. There is a very fine obsession and admiration of hell and Satan that radiates from these riffs. His solos are very unique, because they are absolutely 100% coherent and intelligent, and they tell a story from beginning to end. This isn't the whammy-obsessed craziness like on a Slayer album (there's a time and place for that, too). It's a pleasant surprise, and it makes sense to carry on the tradition of Sabbat's solos, which have always been very brainy and sophisticated. On the other hand, Gezol's deliverance isn't to be forgotten either, who sounds more like a thrash vocalist here, reminiscing a less aggressive Schmier from '84. His bass playing is actually more outstanding than the vocals themselves, and thank God for the sabbatical production, it is unbelievably present from beginning to end. Finally, the percussion by Zorugelion is also worthy of praise, as he is very good at matching the drumming to what these songs need. It would not make sense to fill these songs with unnecessary fills, this is is not a Dark Angel album or something similar. This is a very archaic, very sophisticated black thrash album that's very well controlled and calculated, so the lack of fills is conscious and correct in this case.
What an insanely evil and amazingly dark creation this album is. There was absolutely no music like this back when this came out, and there isn't any right now either. This band is not doing it for fame, they are not doing it to make a shit ton of money, not even to make a little bit of money. They're playing like how they believe a band should be playing, and whoever likes it REALLY likes it, and whoever doesn't, they can fuck off and listen to a bunch of trendy bands. That's what this record speaks of as well, with this raw, crude production, the songs that follow absolutely no trends that were around in 2011, and this is how they ended up going above and beyond everyone in the field. By being absolutely themselves. Satan Bless Sabbat!
Sample:
Sabbat - Sabbatrinity (Full Album)
