In the early days of death metal, when it was a hybrid of heavy metal and hardcore punk, it was widely viewed as technically incompetent especially by the jazz, rock, blues, and emo punk audience that was dominating record stores at the time. A few death metal bands set out to prove them all wrong, including Sadist, who kindly agreed to an interview for our readers, many of whom are Sadist fans.
We spoke (virtually) with guitarist/composer Tommy Talamanca and vocalist Trevor Nadir about the history of the band, its current direction, and how it all fits into the larger experience that is death metal music.
Back when Sadist Above the Light was new, death metal was still defining itself back in 1993, and having a band that sounded like classic progressive rock from the 60s-70s merged with the second Morbid Angel album was still sort of a jolt awake to the ears. What inspired Sadist to take this path?
Tommy: literally, we have always composed and played the music we liked, and since we don’t like just one musical genre, as good Italians we have chosen from a very wide menu :) Sure, the focus has always been hard rock, but becoming just another copy of some American or English band wasn’t interesting for us.
What classic progressive rock bands would you say inspired Sadist at that time?
Tommy: All European prog music from the 70s in general, especially Italian, most likely Goblin and Le Orme. I would say that EL&P can also be considered a strong influence: Tarkus is probably the best progressive albums in history and one of the most important albums in music of the last 100 years.
The current rendition of Sadist on Something to Pierce sounds a lot more like a modern metal band, somewhere between Pantera and Brutal Truth or Tool, mixed with an atmospheric jam band who write surprisingly addictive solos. Did your influences change or are you going in your own direction? What sort of metal/rock-related stuff are you guys listening to now?
Tommy: Even though we love bands like AC/DC or Slayer, who maintain a strong connection with a very well-defined sound, that’s not the formula we want to use for Sadist. From the very beginning, the characteristic of the approach to composition in Sadist has always been linked to the idea of continuous evolution, and when we understand that a certain vein has run out, we look for a new one. In this sense Something to Pierce is the natural evolution of Firescorched, so, if another Sadist album comes out in the future, expect something very different!
Did you use current technology to record the latest album and if so, how has this changed how you compose and record?
Tommy: Since the early 2000s, Sadist have been recording at the Nadir Music studio in Genoa and, as is evident, this recording studio has also evolved over the years. Although, to tell the truth, since the Tribe era (1995/1996) the process of composing is more or less the same: first, I develop demos of the songs that I then submit to Trevor, and together, with his lyrics, we work on the vocal arrangements. When the songs start to take form, the rest of the band gets involved in the process, and after a while we return to the studio for the pre-productions.
The solos seem to have moved from a more frenetic Robert Fripp vibe to development of melodic themes Eric Clapton-style, as if the solos were little compositions in themselves set on the backdrop of a death metal, hardcore, and fusion hybrid. What made you all develop your songwriting in this way?
Tommy: I grew up as a guitarist in the 80s, but that era is long gone, and in the meantime, working a lot in the studio as an arranger and producer in many different musical genres, my focus has shifted from the guitar to the composition in its entirety. Today for me what really matters is the song, its vibes, beyond the technique.
Is there a tour in the future? Do you see touring as essential to the Sadist experience?
Trevor: In the near future we will do some open air events, in Italy and Europe. These days, however, we are finalizing the contractual issues for a European tour that will see us engaged in September and October 2025. Other things will be planned to follow, such as a second tour in the western part of Europe next winter. For bands playing live is too important, it’s certainly the best chance to promote the new album. It is also the favorite thing of all musicians. The warmth of the audience, meeting new people is a beautiful thing, very educational. We can’t wait to meet our people!
How do you all manage being in a death metal band for thirty-four years now? Do you have day jobs in different industries and commute to a practice space, or just text-message each other MP3s back and forth?
Tommy: I started a recording studio in the middle 90s, and little by little I went from being a simple musician to a 360-degree music worker. I think if I had to find a “normal” job, I wouldn’t have been able to continue playing professionally with Sadist. A similar choice was that of Trevor, who began, parallel to his entry into Sadist in 1997, his activity as a promoter and music press office.
Trevor: Me and Tommy were lucky, we managed to turn our passion into a job. Believe me, having a job you like is a beautiful thing. It’s never a burden to get up in the morning and start working. Many people, especially years later, would have made different choices, perhaps preferring a certain salary, but our choice was to follow our heart and this has paid off over the years. We can say that we were tenacious. As always, work pays off, determination certainly is the passion with which you do things.
Are any of you fans of classical? It is clear that you have jazz or jazz-fusion at least in your backgrounds somewhere. What inspires you in those genres? Any big influences?
Tommy: I love baroque music, and classical music in general, while I’m not a big fan of jazz music, even if, being a predominantly electric guitarist, I have studied the most important jazz and fusion guitarists a lot. If I had to name a main source of influence, I would definitely say Bach, who, by the way, is the main influence of all European music of the last four centuries.
How do fans keep track of what you are doing and stay on top of news from the Sadist camp?
Tommy: you can check our official site: https://www.sadist.it/, there you can find all the necessary links to all the band’s activities
I bought my copy (as I probably bored you by mentioning) at Wild Rags back in the 1990s and was thrilled to have it. Did you know Richard C? Who else in the underground did you correspond with?
Tommy: The current death metal scene developed in the late 80s and, at that time, without the mass diffusion of the world wide web, and especially without the current saturation of the musical offer, those who were part of that scene, who were not as numerous as today, were often in contact with each other. Some of today’s big players were smaller back then, and getting in touch was paradoxically easier even without the internet.
What other progressive metal albums, especially progressive death metal, do you consider inspiring or essential?
Trevor: It’s difficult to say what progressive death metal is. If by prog death we mean albums like: Human and Individual Thought Patterns by Death or Piece of Time by Atheist, Spheres by Pestilence, The Key by Nocturnus, and Focus by Cynic, then these are certainly among my favourites. However in the second wave I appreciated bands such as: Obscura, Opeth, and Beyond Creation. But honestly I’ve never made any big distinctions, all these bands are part of death metal, my favorite genre and that’s what matters! Stay Brutal \m/
Thanks to Sadist for taking the time to do this interview, and for the decades of prog and metal music!
Tags: death metal, interview, Progressive Death Metal, progressive rock, sadist
Brett, when will you add Mastodon the DMA? Those first two records really were gems in heavy metal, and they redefined commercial heavy metal for the mid 2000s. I know they sold out and the later albums became shitty rock music, but the riffs, and atmosphere they created were unheard of for the time. Bands like Therion and Sentenced sold out and became shitty goth rock, and they’re included in the DMA. So why can’t Mastodon be included as well?
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” Bands like Therion and Sentenced sold out and became shitty goth rock, and they’re included in the DMA. So why can’t Mastodon be included as well?”
Thought you were trolling (and perhaps are) but he’s got a point here. And the site all but says even Bolt Thrower sold out and made a Mudvayne album
Not trolling at all. Later Therion and Sentenced sucked ass.
I see, both of you are the same person.
Never. This band was always from the normie-side and never did anything exceptional. Like most hipsters, they are focused on aesthetic to the exclusion of all else because they are pacifistic narcissists. Therion and Sentenced may have sold out, maybe because living on $500 a year from underground earnings is miserable even on the dole, but they made great music first. Mastodon just made smary hipsters rock side to side like a Cadillac with busted suspension.
Brett, come on, you can’t seriously believe those first two records were “rock” albums, right? Yes, it is commercial heavy metal, but the ruffs are fantastic and better than most metal produced since 1996. Plus, the members are highly proficient with their instruments. It’s a shame Mastodon are not honored here, and i question if you’ve truly actually fully listened to their albums.
Only a moron would sit through two full albums of normie rock pretending to be post-Neurosis sludge “metal”, so you’re probably correct to accuse everyone here of not fully listening to that shit.
You’re the moron for not listening and enjoying bullshit like IIdjarn. If you think Ildjarn is better than Mastodon, you’re simply retarded. Now come get your daddy, Brett to try to explain how trashcan metal is better than the early epic heavy metal albums Mastodon produced.
You forgot Von and Sarcofago.
Better retarded than pink, frothy, and emo.
I saw Mastodon open for The Fucking Champs at the Fireside Bowl before they blew up. They were ass from the very beginning. I can see you like the band but if you need crusty hardcore-adjacent turd rock, at least listen to an actually pissed off band like Coalesce.
I like AC/DC because they do not hide what they are; they are hard rock for a good time and a few laughs. Mastodon made it all pretentious because they know they are nowhere near as good as AC/DC.
I’ve seen plenty of metalheads qt Mastodon shows, and they would headbang to all of their songs at the concerts. Yes, there are hipsters who are fans of their music, but you can apply that to classic death metal. Just look at Anthony Fagtano and how he pretends to love classic death metal, but only covers it to be edgy and cool. A lot of hipsters have attached themselves to metal, but that doesn’t make the music less appealing.
I think Mastodon deserve the recognition, and for anyone that discovers Anus or DMA, I think Mastodon would be a great addition so that the viewers can use them as a segway to far greater metal listed on the site.
I’m hoping one day you’ll come around.
“viewers can use them as a segway to far greater metal listed on the site.”
Ah, let me guess. Mastodon were your segway into metal and now you’re a bit ashamed of that and need to clean up your personal history.
It seems to me that normie-metal is in crisis, since the post-metal trend has expired like a run-over raccoon on an interstate bend through the wild swamps of Louisiana, and they want to borrow some legitimacy from the underground.
HELL NO
A contributing factor is that the media outlets that spent the last 30 years championing lightweight nonsense are going the way of every other mainstream media outlet. Without a marketing wing, the funderground is unlikely to survive long, since its musicians are not skilled enough to write advertising jingles as good as the ones listeners hear on the radio.
I think Mastodon are in a better place financially than any of the true cult metal. I highly doubt bands like Mastodon are in a worse position than say Blaspherian, or any other underground Texas bands. I’d say maybe Absu maybe holding themselves together. But Mastodon generally draws a crowd, and most underground shows barely can get 50 people. I know that’s a part of the appeal of underground metal, but it ultimately will destroy the scene. These bands are losing money to perform instead of making money, and that sucks for them. A lot of great bands are in that boat, and Mastodon once was as well.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=1AYHYNHKUdw
.: Taylor Swift > Mastodon
I would unironically argue that Taylor Swift is far better music than Mastodon. They’re both emo normie fodder, but Swift is consistently a mechanically excellent songwriter, at the very least; Mastodon is just for sub-humans who have lower standards than even the average normie.
She’s clearly more musically competent than Mastodon, Gojira, Red Fang, and all those other indie-rock/metal hybrids. Her problem is that her music is entirely fungible.
Then another addition to the DLA, she also redefined commercial shit.
As the highest-grossing tour artist of all time, she seems to know something… or know which audience to target.
This could well be. There also seems to be a general lack of faith in any culture attached to the Clinton-Bush-Obama-Biden spectrum, since all of that stuff was based in pacifism and pluralism.
No, Slayer was my gateway. I’ve been listening to metal since 1998.
I could never be ashamed of listening to Mastodon’s early work. However, I’m a bit ashamed i ever gave bands like Ildjarn and Absurd a chance. That shit is terrible and is music created in a trashcan, and any physical copies should be placed in a trash compactor. Not trolling at all. Ildjarn/Nidhogg is not creative in the slightest. It’s bullshit music for retards who pretend to be intellectuals, but really are just incels and antisocials who will eventually commit suicide.
For every thousand Mastodon fans landing in mental hospitals, maybe one Ildjarn fan, if that many. But it is hard criticizing someone for being fanatical about the music of their youth that “got them through some tough times.” Also worth noting that the older generation made it to adulthood just before the face-tat moron metal deluge, so youthful listening decisions were easier for us. If it’s the politics of Mastodon that you like I might recommend swapping them out for early Prong or Godflesh (why is it always “early …”? haha), both of whom to my knowledge continue to release music. Closer to actual metal and fewer face-tatted morons.
gay
I’m gonna shock the world here, but Blood Mountain is my favorite.
It’s a decent album, but it gets boring in the later parts of the album.
EAT THE WEAK
Ingredients
• The weak (120kg)
• 40 lbs onions
• 20 lbs jalapenos
• 20 lbs tomatoes
• 5 lbs carrots
• 2 lbs russet potatoes
• 5 lbs dry red beans
• 4 heads garlic
• 2 ounces chili powder
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 10 bunches of green onions
Procedure
1. Dismember, skin, and dissect the weak. Organs go into a stew pot with water, fat, bones, and connective tissue; cook for twelve hours to make broth. Render the meat into tiny cubes. Coat with salt, pepper, and chili powder.
2. In broth, cook onions, pulped garlic, food processor shredded jalapenos, potatoes, and carrots. Add beans and simmer for four hours.
3. Add meat and tomatoes and cook on medium boil for a full hour.
4. Garnish with thinly-sliced green onions.
What’s Dylar up to nowadays? Still fishing somewhere in southern Appalachia when not teaching college kids?
I’ll have to let him weigh in on that one if he so chooses.
Did he go by “Planetary Eulogy” at some point? Even if not (and I don’t remember the other handles) that person consistently raised compelling points with a bit of much appreciated humor. It’s what we onlookers in the nosebleed section of the internet commonly refer to as a winning combination.
But whatever. Useful content speaks for itself, and as such probably doesn’t really need a face or a name.
Well I’m from the peanut gallery and I demand drama! Come on!
Dylar was a “…segway to far greater metal listened on the site.”
For this listener it was The Chasm and Molested.
Not aware of his other aliases, there could be more bands.
The new record has some pretty hilarious Lion King parts on it. It’s funny that it came out around the same time as the Academy Awards because all of the diversity-for-the-sake-of-it parts would surely have earned it 10 Oscars if it was a movie.
“as good Italians”
I could hear the rise in Brett’s blood pressure all the way over here.
Seriously though, where would we be if Germany had won WWII? Would human catastrophies like Opeth still be inevitable?
Every football game opens with Sodom Persecution Mania!
Who would win a fight: the underthinking overthinker vs the overthinking underthinker?
The Undertaker obviously…until he runs into Brock Lesnar
I’m never going to listen to a band called “Mastodon”, and I don’t care how “good” the music is – I’d rather listen to pop or rap.
You have to get the whole presentation right in trve underground metul (sound, image, writing, intent, production – yes production, crappy production can be a good gimmick too!).
Blasting speed metal to the watching…paint….dry sport of soccer would put that genre of music to good use in an ironic way. But I’m pretty sure Germans aren’t even allowed to smile anymore, so it probably doesn’t matter.
On a somewhat related note, a friend who does watch sports suggested that tweaking the rules to add a second ball in play for one reason or another (e.g. a penalty) might make soccer less boring to watch and more fun to play. But for now all we have are good old fashioned riots, an alarming uptick in on-field heart attacks, and on the youth side out of control helicopter parents.
All I can think about here is Arkanoid, the pick-up that turns the one ball into three. It would definitely be more interesting to watch but mostly for the injuries. I don’t think anyone in the West has actually smiled for awhile. The backlash is just beginning…
Sadist are a band that pushes boundaries of complexity but they still sit within the framework of real heavy metal. They’ve earned my respect through their playfulness and creativity long-before Brett ever wrote about them here. Autothrall the reviewer on Metal-Archives wrote a review or two which made me check them out. I’m glad I did because they’re one of the few from the post 1994 period worth listening to.