Here's yet another offering from this ancient Japanese act. This time around the production is much stronger yet still retains the dirty sound heard on their earlier efforts. I can't detect any major changes to their style except in the vocal department. This time around, Gezol has opted to include even more of his 80's heavy metal singing style. It sort of reminds me of the vocalist from Living Death - hysterical high pitched singing/screaming. There are also some songs where another member of the band contributes his vocal talents. It's hard to believe but the second vocalist's english is even more horrible than Gezol's. Since I speak Japanese fluently I could hear how bad his Japanglish was. I guess a non-Japanese speaking critic might think differently about his vocals, but for me it was total shit. I wish more bands would sing in their native language since it sounds a lot more natural than broken English. Despite this minor fault, this is indeed a really good album that's filled with Sabbat's great riffs. Sabbat has succeeded once again in creating an album that sounds like it was recorded in the 80's without sounding like a cheap retro-thrash band. OK, here's my conclusion: if you liked them before then you'll like them even more after listening to this great album. Even with its faults, it's still better than most of the crap coming out of Scandinavia these days. Heaviiieviiil!

© 2000 e. nebuchadnezzer