Sadus
Elements Of Anger
(c)(p)1998 FLEX
Review by Neil St.Laurent
Thanks to Chipster for the CD
Formed back in 1984, Sadus has become a known name to many a metal
fan. Sometime after the release of "A Vision Of Misery" in 1993, the
band plunged head first into some idle time, partly due to
DiGiorgio's temporary depature to Death (the band that is). Now after a
period of relative obscurity, Sadus is back and is offering their newest album
"Elements Of Anger".
Touring, and being in the scene, with many death metal bands it is
reasonable to hear the numerous influences on their otherwise thrash
based music. That is to say that the aggression often found in the
vocals and in the riffs are somewhat similar to death metal, but the
root of the music is somewhere else, possibly within the ranks of
Pantera style metal, but certainly with a different spin on it.
Given a large degree of variety in song structure, and diversion from
the typical, it is tempting to label Sadus as somewhat of an
experimental band, but that may be incorrect, after all, it is just a
few guitars, a bass, and some drums. In the sense of odd variation
however there can be many parallels drawn to Morgoth, indeed
"Elements Of Anger" would be the same as, if there had been one, a
transition album between "Odium" and "Feel Sorry For The Fanatic".
It is often difficult not to separate such an atypical style from
emotional content; much of the flow and atmosphere that creates
emotion either doesn't exist or is broken up. Therefore the music
focuses on the technical aspects, and with some fairly impressive
results. The musicianship is very good, and the resulting sound very
tight. This wouldn't likely be considered thrash, and indeed does
share more in common with Pantera than Slayer, definitely with the
overall speed of playing leaning towards the former.
As with all highly technical albums that lack a lot of emotion, you
really have be in the right mood, and frame of mind, to find value in
Sadus. If you are the type that likes technical music, or are simply
looking for a change, then "Elements Of Anger" is a wonderful album
to get.
Sadus is:
Darren Travis - Guitar, Vocals
Steve DiGiorigo - Bass, Keyboards
Jon Allen - Drums
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