Dreamweaver

Sabbat threw everything into "Dreamweaver". Their “History of a Time to Come” debut was a thrash classic with tons of memorable hooks. This follow-up was bigger, bolder and more ambitious. The band took the pagan/folklore flirtations of the debut (i.e., "Horned is the Hunter"), and embellished them into a concept album. On the musical side, the addition of second guitarist Simon Jones gave them some extra creative dynamism. He shared (some) composition duties with Andy Sneap and is credited as a co-writer on two songs. On the lyrical side, mastermind Martin Walkyier shot for the stars.

The concept is clear from the outset. "The Beginning of the End" opens with an excerpt from the Norse Poetic Edda ("Wellbeing I won, and wisdom too..."). Everything that follows was adapted from an obscure novel called "The Way of Wyrd" by Brian Bates. The novel concerns the conflict between early-Medieval Christianity and Anglo Saxon heathenism. It tells the story of a young Christian missionary (Wat Brand) venturing through the wild English countryside, encountering the heathen people and the spirits that share their world. Walkyier turns the original tale into a rhythmic, rhyming odyssey and portrays several characters (altering his narration voice for each). He contrasts the vices of Christianity with the virtues of heathenism more strongly than Bates had done, though Bates approved of his adaptation.

The first half of the album verges on the sublime. Songs like "The Clerical Conspiracy" and "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?" are as good as anything from the debut. The former has the catchiest chorus on the album and sets the tone for the missionary’s dark story. The latter might be the band's heaviest and most punishing song, particularly when the acoustic guitar illuminates the most savage and memorable hook ("TO CAST ASPERSION ON MY SANITY!"). Neither song matches the album's ultimate highlight; "The Best of Enemies". This is an eight-minute epic with enough riffs to rival Dark Angel in their prime. It also features Walkyier's most ambitious lyrics. The song’s climax arrives at the six-minute mark, with a near-spoken word poem contrasting the Christian and heathen worldview that ranks with the greatest metal lyricism of all time.

The second half is weaker. It loses momentum under the weight of ill-defined riffs that are stacked on top of each other, with little variation. The composition feels muddled and less satisfying, despite the fact that the concept remains intact. There are still some brilliant moments; Walkyier's rapid-fire soliloquy in the first minute of "How Have the Mighty Fallen?" is spell-binding, and the relative simplicity of the Slayer-esque "Wildfire" is memorable. The problem is that none of the songs can compete with what came before them, including anything from "History of a Time to Come".

The production is ambiguous. “Dreamweaver” was recorded by the same person who recorded the debut, but in a different studio. The band's label (Noise) encouraged Sabbat to use the 'house' studio in Berlin. Sneap has said in interviews that the recording process was long, painful and expensive. The resulting production sounds heavier than the debut because the guitar tone is dense and murky. It is the opposite of that album's harsh, crisp tone. Unfortunately, it sometimes sounds like the guitarists are sinking in a quagmire of fuzz and distortion. This gives the (impressive) solos a distant, liminal sound. The collective talents of Sneap and Jones can somewhat compensate for this, but the guitars sound sharpest on the acoustic tracks ("Advent of Insanity", "Happy Never After").

Despite its shortcomings, “Dreamweaver” is a wonderful and unique record that every metal fan needs to hear. It is one of the most ambitious metal albums ever made, and marks the apex of Martin Walkyier’s career as a lyricist. The intensity of such creative outpouring under sub-optimal recording conditions would break the band. Sabbat splintered soon after, with Walkyier and bassist Fraser Craske (the band's conceptual duo) leaving Sneap and drummer Simon Negus to find new band-mates. “History of a Time to Come” is a better album, but “Dreamweaver” is a more substantial achievement.

Sabbat is a scarcely known name these days, and perhaps even for the time that they were around, as the British slice of the shepherd's pie of thrash metal was quite a bit thinner than most of the others. Baked just as well of course, but not large enough to satisfy a hungry thrash fan. Interestingly, the British bands such as Xentrix had a tendency to play more complex thrash, and these guys were no exception. Sabbat started off strong on their debut, History of a Time to Come, which while rooted in conventional speed/thrash metal had already established a sound that was strikingly unique to anything else at the time. Dreamweaver, released a year later in 1989, continued their exploration of pagan history and mythology, while the songs were a step up in both length and complexity.

So it's got to be leaps above the competition, right? Certainly this has all the ingredients of a thrash masterpiece: a great guitarist and songwriter (Andy Sneap), a badass vocalist who sings like he's trying to get to the minimum word count on an essay, yet is in complete control of his delivery (Martin Walkyier), and a very interesting concept and atmosphere being set in Anglo-Saxon England. But unfortunately, that's not the case here. The listening experience can be summarised instead as trying to eat a whole loaf of seeded bread within 45 minutes. Now what do I mean by this? Let's start with the crusts, which are the short intro and outro of this album. Some people might not like these that much, but they effectively set the scene for the beginning and end of the overarching story while thankfully not overstaying their welcome.

After the intro, we are struck by the initial wonder and excitement of the first few bites as 'The Clerical Conspiracy' shapes up to be the best track on here by far, and possibly the best Sabbat song, with plenty of crushing riffs from guitar duo Sneap and Jones. Walkyier's voice is often in sync with the riffs throughout this song too, creating an almost hypnotic rhythm that carries over into the other songs. However, as the flavourful solo whizzes by and the track ends, we are then unexpectedly given a 2 minute break from the bread-eating just as we got started. 'Advent of Insanity' to me is a misplaced song. While it does fit chronologically into the wider concept, the interlude would have worked better if it separated 'The Best of Enemies' and 'How Have the Mighty Fallen?', both of which are over 8 minutes in length. From here on however, it's pretty much straight thrashing until the end. When 'Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?' comes on, you'll wonder if Andy Sneap dreams of riffs, because he delivers another solid batch of them once more without letting up. I should mention as well that there's an especially genius moment at the middle of the song where his guitar mimics the sound of a horse.

But soon enough, the novelty of the rather plain bread begins to wear off. While there's the occasional few seeds of variety and even strokes of genius within, they aren't capitalised on well enough and more often the choruses and verses are repeated just with the lyrics changed. Speaking of which, the lyrics are extremely long and bloated to the point of absurdity, even compared with the previous album. I get that Walkyier wanted to tell this long-winded story, and this would have been fine if Sneap had backed it up with enough varied songwriting to accommodate it, but instead the longer songs especially suffer from a bit too much padding. The production definitely isn't paying any dividends here either; the guitar tone is very blunt and flat making it harder to distinguish individual notes. The bass is practically inaudible save for the intros of 'The Best of Enemies' and 'Mythistory', with the bland wall of guitars burying it at every other opportunity. Exacerbating these problems, Walkyier generally sings in a lower register with less variation in pitch than he had on the debut, so his voice starts to become tiresome and monotone here. This in turn diminishes the impact of each lyric he spits forth, which is a shame as the gripping story alone could have held my interest if it wasn't delivered in such a one-note fashion. At least Simon Negus switches between half and double time on the drums often to accentuate the power behind the riffs at the right moments, providing a sorely needed shake-up at points, but even his solid performance isn't enough to compensate for the overall flatness on this record.

Just before the loaf is completely finished though, we get some different vocals in 'Mythistory', although I'm not sure who they're coming from. Unfortunately, it's too little too late, and the listener is left with a very bland taste in their mouth from the whole ordeal. Sure, you could eat the whole loaf of bread just fine, but there's very little payoff, and you'll probably end up feeling sick afterwards. Dreamweaver, therefore, is best experienced in smaller slices, as it has a tendency to get stale rather quickly. Those who can stomach the entire record start to finish and appreciate its distinct flair and storytelling however will likely not be disappointed, as this is one of the most unique thrash metal albums out there and in spite of its rather glaring shortcomings is a hallmark of the under-appreciated British thrash scene.

Leaving the brief atmospheric introduction out of consideration, the first two tracks of this concept album are really amazing. Both are absolutely perfect and that alone is already highly exciting. But it gets even better. They are also completely different. What an unbeatable start of this album.

After the intelligently designed, slightly complex tracks of the debut, Sabbat surprised the thrash metal community with a straight torpedo at the beginning of the romantically titled "Dreamweaver (Reflections of our Yesterdays)". "The Clerical Conspiracy" rushes by like an express train. Martin Walkyier performs relentlessly and his bitterness accompanies very furious guitars that do not lack of ferocity. The flesh-tearing sound of the six strings fight a merciless battle with the hissing vocals of Walkyier, while the whole band seems to be totally uninhibited. The explosive solo part crowns a mind-boggling yet ingenious opener. Attention, my dear friends of beautiful scenarios, this is nothing for aesthetes. Back in 1989, all these self-declared high sophisticated "thrashers" that had worshipped the debut were gasping for air.

The second track delivers the most brutal contrast while being ironically anything else but brutal. "Advent of Insanity" fascinates with its unique mood. A calm song with atmospheric background sounds that illustrates the mind-expanding trip of the main protagonist in a vessel. A calm song, indeed, but no ballad in the usual sense. Any kind of cheesiness does not occur. As said before, this is truly a unique piece. I am not able to mention a comparable track, although I am familiar with a certain part of the heavy metal history. By the way, "Advent of Insanity" makes clear that the concept of the album is highly interesting. The story about Christianity and religious conversion, based on a British novel, lends the album a special flavour and emphasizes the intelligent and exceptional approach of the English formation. I still do not know how Walkyier managed to perform the excessive lyrics on stage.

Although the thoughtful intermezzo deserves the highest praise, it is a matter of course that the surprisingly harsh approach of the opener dominates the remaining tracks. Sabbat do not hesitate to storm the barricades and the bone-dry sound underlines their almost stubborn attitude. Soft parts do not play a role, the band attacks restlessly. Raging thrash monuments such as "How Have the Mighty Fallen?" or "Wildfire" embody the vehemence of a deluge, not least because of their smooth flow. Despite the overwhelming harshness, Sabbat are clever enough to provide tracks that do not suffer from ill-defined twists and turns. Well, before some executioner start a smear campaign: I admit that the band was not able to create only tunes which reached the ultimate tier of quality. The opener remains unrivalled. Nevertheless, even slightly weaker tunes like "Mythistory" shine with their craggy appearance and offer captivating riffs in abundance. Anyway, when looking at the big picture, the full-length leaves nothing but a trace of devastation. But the autonomous group possesses the admirable ability to demonstrate a "fuck off attitude" without showing any signs of vulgarity. The combination of the raw musical direction and the reflective lyrics has its own specific charm. (Only the German RockHard magazine did not realise the fascination of the album, but this was not really surprising. Excuse me for this little side blow.)

The optic design of the album is the final building block of this monumental output. Maybe it is true that Sabbat did not write a predictable successor for their excellent debut. Nonetheless, they did not betray their musical ideals. Instead, they demonstrated their integrity and courage at the same time. No doubt, "Dreamweaver" constitutes a brilliant second album and it is still an intriguing document of the rather small British thrash scene of the eighties.

Hello, and welcome to the album that everyone loves. Seat yourself in this creaking wooden throne and let me show you around. You may see at first the same sights that the others have told you of - the raging riffs, barked vocals, that sense of something weird going on - but I beg of you, look closer, scrutinize if you will. Just as with 'The Way of Wyrd', the book that inspired the album's theme and lyrical content, you, the observer, will start to see things that you did not expect at first to see.

What everyone has reported having listened to this album is complex songwriting, inventive riffing, and intricate lyrics that do not immediately reveal their quality but take a while to get used to. I am usually inclined to believe such prevalent opinion about something of this nature, but in some cases I have to trust my own senses and say that 'Dreamweaver' is just good, not worth celebrating as much as has been proclaimed. The sad thing about it is that there are the makings here of an incredibly good album, but some of the great ideas and execution have been sat on by a few simple drawbacks, which have squashed the life out of the music here.

The first problem must be the production and the guitar tone in particular. Say what you like about Andy Sneap and all the things he has done as a producer and guitarist, but here the sound of the guitars is way off. Also, for all those claiming otherwise, he doesn't have a production credit for this album and thus did not produce it, so there's no point saying that he is responsible for the "quality sound" on 'Dreamweaver'. Listen with your ears, not your imagination. My issue with the guitar sound is its dryness and lack of distinction that keeps the riffs similar-sounding, excepting those that have some additional melody or higher-pitched notes thrown in. The riffs scrape unpleasantly against the sides of the recording like a wooden stick on a concrete wall and have a small dynamic range, which is especially damaging since the other instruments have a narrow space in the mix too, the drums scrambling and clattering with intensity though not power and the bass generally existing rhythmically or not at all. Then, to compound the whole thing, Martin Walkyier's voice is also low-pitched and raw, so everything but solos and melodies hugs the bottom of the mix. Indeed, the solos sound absolutely godly compared to everything else, so I'm extremely puzzled that such a glaring oversight was allowed to colour the whole album.

The next problem is one that the band knew about and dealt with accordingly after the release of the album. As the main songwriter, Sneap's ideas were growing ever more complex since 'History of a Time to Come' and Walkyier had been unhappy with the direction towards more progressive and long-winded structures; as such, his decision to leave (and half of the instrumentalists to clear off too) was partly a result of this dispute. I must say that I side with Walkyier on the issue, because for songs that are generally as quick as those on 'Dreamweaver', 8 minutes is certainly a problem, compounded by the fact that the production doesn't make it easy to listen to this album for any length of time. What Walkyier could certainly have done better, though, is accept the difficulties these complex songs pose to the listener and adjust his approach accordingly. He wrote some fascinating lyrics, which have more than a touch of poetic flair to them, but they are so heavily layered onto the songs and so similar in delivery that it becomes difficult to appreciate them after a couple of songs. He has no real range, nor much of a singing voice, as has been noted elsewhere, tending to propel his words with a kind of guttural, throat-centred shout that he can carry out with great speed and accuracy, though the effect is only pleasing rhythmically, not musically. Also, because of the mix, his incessant vocals cover up a lot of the riffing and is one factor in blurring the boundaries between sections and songs.

On the positive side, there is indeed a wealth of musical talent to be found in 'Dreamweaver'. I've never been the most ardent thrash fan, but Sabbat were doing enough to vary the stock formulas to make it fresh and all of the fast songs here have plentiful excitement, even when it's difficult to discern all of the different parts. 'The Best of Enemies' probably has the single best riff (the one that suddenly doubles the pace at 3:20 and 5:35) and 'Mythistory' adds atmosphere by slowing the onslaught slightly and spooning melodies over the thrash skeleton. All of the solos on this album are absolutely awesome and actually seem scarce considering the length of most of the songs. The surprise highlight must be 'Advent of Insanity', a short acoustic song that gets the mood spot on and features a break from the relentless riffs and dry production. More of that material may have been advisable.

What 'Dreamweaver' ends up being for me is an album that should be one of the best thrash albums of the 80s, yet is actually a vast disappointment. Poor decisions, poor production, and an inability to fully combine the band's talents results in the burial of many of its best features and frustration is a worse outcome than apathy from my point of view. It seems that some can overlook these deficiencies in favour of the great material underneath, but I can't listen to 'Dreamweaver' and enjoy it - I'm always preoccupied by the problems.

Sabbat were truly a great band, and one of the final bands to blast out a record in the true spirit of thrash metal. "Dreamweaver", released in 1989, is both a very entertaining and fun album to blast from your speakers, filled with great riffs and amazing vocals, but also an intellectually sound album - supplying the listener with extremly well written, poetic lyrics (courtesy of soon-to-be Skyclad frontman Martin Walkyier), and extremly complex and progressive song structures that are able to allow the tracks to last between six to eight minutes without feeling half-baked and forced, which is a feat in and of itself, as not even the genre's most famous band, Metallica, were able to make music that at least had such a seamless flow in their late 80's, so-called "progressive" years!!

The riffs on this album...holy FUCK! The band makes good use of the expansive track lengths by thrashing out killer riff after killer riff, some of which lock into a killer groove, others of which jump into the background as Walkyier spits out clever metaphors in the same pattern, most of which jump out and dice the listener's ears to bits in a rabid, blood-crazed shred-a-thon. Of course, solos are no forgotten art either, with the ones presented here shredding along the edge of the band's music, delivering a note of melody here, an ounce of harmony there, but otherwise they mirror the non-stop extremity of the music itself to the T, and yet, remain interesting and fun to listen to as opposed to a mess of unrelated notes (unlike *ahem* some bands).

Now it's time to talk about the vocals, which are done in Walkyier's trademark deep, rough snarl (though he utilizes clean vocals on "The Advent of Insanity"). It's not the vocals themselves, however, which are so mind-blowingly awesome, rather, it's the patterns. As a vocalist myself, I can't even begin to imagine singing these songs, and the thought of doing this every night scares the living shit out of me (yes, the shit inside me is living). What's so interesting and extremly clever about these patterns is that, instead of simply following the riffs or the general idea of the riffs, he'll take his lyrics and break them up along certain, individual notes of the riffs, making something that fits the riffs, yet doesn't mirror them exactly.

Even crazier, practically every riff features some clever, intricate working of patterns. And the lyrics themselves, once again, holy FUCK! These lyrics are utterly beautiful, as well as working extremly well on a poetic level, making sense on an intellectual level, and sounding cool as fuck, are once again extremly clever and are linked together by a truly unique concept of a Christian missionary from Northern England travelling to Southern England to learn about the Pagans, as to decide the best means of converting them to Christianity, only to experience an esoteric spiritual journey which can simply be summed up in one word: badass. I'm a fan of concept albums, generally, but this one tramples all over any King Diamond, Blind Guardian, Queensryche, or otherwise concept album I've come across, and considering the quality of some of these bands' concept albums (particularly King Diamond), that's saying alot.

There are so many memorable moments on this album, as well, such as the part in "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?", after the solo, where the guitars lock into a killer groove and Walkyier spits out in a machine-gun like pattern: "Shapeless form around me casting shadows in the light, I feel their breath upon me, catch their faces in the light, Somnambulistic hunters come to prey upon my fears, as peals of psychotic laughter echo in my ears!!" followed by an evil, psychotic laugh from Walkyier. Also, let's not forget the onimous, acoustic break in "The Best of Enemies", which is torn out in favor of a brutal breakdown riff, followed by a sweet solo, which flurries along with the band as they grind out a tasty thrash riff before settling back into the song's main riff. Trust me, you'll have an extremly hard time keeping yourself from aquiring a monsterous neck-ache from this song. Oh, and have I forgotten to mention that the third track on this album, "The Advent of Insanity", is an acoustic song, in which Walkyier lays out some of his beautiful clean vocals? If so, I apologize, as this song is utterly beautiful. I could go on, but that would only be spoiling it for you. This album is just written so well, with many, many memorable moments that will come to you in the most random or instances or places and cause you to drop whatever you're doing and headbang vigorously! Everything flows together perfectly, with each instrument complimenting each other perfectly, all lending a hand to steer the wheel of awesome in the direction of Sabbat's "Dreamweaver". This album is an extremly underrated masterpiece.

Now, here's my conclusion: While Sabbat's "Dreamweaver" isn't my favourite thrash metal album, it's a truly magnificent adventure of monsterous replay value, and I'm at a loss as to why this album isn't lauded by the metal scene world-wide as a genre-defining piece of art (even though it was released at the end of the genre's heyday, so maybe that has something to do with it?). If you enjoy deep, poetic meanings behind your metal, yet also are in love with classic, balls-out thrash tunes, this record is for you.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any neck-aches induced in your listening experience.

England's Sabbat were a band I was very positive were going to conquer the entire fucking planet, so promising was their scathing 1988 debut History of a Time to Come. But in truth, I had developed a connection to them before this, since they released their 7-inch "Blood for the Blood God" flexi-disc in White Dwarf magazine. The band's amazing ability to offer libations to a fictional war gaming deity created an instant attraction, not to mention the song itself kicked some serious ass, a delicious and atmospheric example of 80s black/thrash metal that displayed infinite writing potential and a malicious attitude so uncanny among other extreme metal acts of its day.

As it turns out, neither of these would prove to be the creative peak for the bastards, because their 1989 sophomore effort Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays) somehow managed to trump them all. A concept based on a psychological study: The Way of Wyrd: Tales of An Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer, it further heralded Sabbat's excursion into paganism and witchcraft, without sacrificing their sadistic mockery of the Church and all its hypocrisy. Such was the wit and intelligence of Martin Walkyier, that in just two albums, his band had transformed into something so much more interesting and unique than what nearly any other thrash band in the period were exploring (Voivod the one possible exception). Heady, brilliant and damn near perfect, Dreamweaver has justifiably become a classic in the field, a veritable whirlwind of riffing fortitude, menacing atmosphere and whip-like, devilish, unique vocals.

Those who had exposure to History of a Time to Come were probably not surprised when the bells, crows, wind and spoken narrative of "The Beginning of the End" intro paved the way for "The Clerical Conspiracy", perhaps the ultimate clarion call to warfare for pagan purists and black magicians in all of thrash, an awakening against the follies of the Church. The guitars were not only rapid, belligerent and darkly majestic, but a comfort to the band's existing fanbase: Sabbat hadn't changed much, they'd merely improved. The pace is immediately broken by "Advent of Insanity" (one of the first songs I ever brought to my guitar instructor to learn!), an acoustic piece set against the creaking of broken hulls on some grim shore, Walkyier proving he can sing with as much skill in a cleaner range as his snarling, a precursor to his more enduring and successful career with Skyclad. This track might not be the thrash we are accustomed to, but it's perfect in every way, a somber violin haunting against the backdrop.

Then it's back to business as usual, within the imminent hostility of the next cut: "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?" The guitars here are both playful and severe, Walkyier taunting you as if he were suddenly possessed by a host of deviant characters (similar to several tracks on the debut), Sneap's riffing blazing back and forth across the frets like a plague of angels warring across land and sky. "The Best of Enemies" features a killer spoken fix before a carousel of twisted guitars bounce along to Simon Negus' thundering groundwork, melodies soon elevating into the fell glory of a thrashing vanguard. "How Have the Mighty Fallen?", the longest piece on the album, an epic monstrosity that cycles between mid-paced neck breaking volition and blitz bombing acceleration, with an extended bridge breakdown that makes you want to club the nearest cleric or authority into paste, and one of the finer solos Sneap has ever put to record.

"Wildfire" is a personal favorite, launched with a paranoid sheen of broken melody that Walkyier himself leads into the descending guitar cascade over the first half of the double-bass driven verse, all leading to the predictable but amazing chorus at about 1:20. "Mythistory" opens with sauntering bass and a majestic arch of melody similar to what Testament were writing around this time, then progressing through an amazing double harmony over the warlike footwork, and the predictable, final charge into the conflagration of Martin's threatening poetry. The guitar fill at 1:30 is simply genius, scattering the listener with the wind, and riff for riff, it proves one of the most taxing and dynamically satisfying tracks here. Another delicious acoustic piece closes the album, though this time it's an instrumental, "Happy Never After". If you've got the re-issue, though, you'll have a trio of added live tracks: "The Clerical Conspiracy", "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?", and "The Best of Enemies", all recorded in East Berlin (different tracks than you'll hear on the Doomsday News III: Thrashing East Live compilation, but all appeared on The End of the Beginning video.

There is one thing that holds Dreamweaver back from a perfect score, and that would be the production. It's dense, furious and surely thrashing, but there's something to the depth that makes my ears struggle a bit in places, and I feel like a few of the riffs might have been lent a greater impact without such an impregnable tone. That said, it's a minor complaint against such a wonderful work, a concept of depth and character that still holds up today as one of the most clever and fiendish of all thrash works, with a remarkable similarity to the black metal that has been spilling out of Europe for decades since. With such a firm grasp on songwriting, stage presence and the occult, it's a wonder Sabbat were not able to reap immense success, but this would be the last album with the classic line-up. A few of the members hired on a new singer and forged onward with the moody and horrible Mourning Has Broken (i.e. 'The Big Mistake'), and fortunately we were treated to years of Walkyier's pagan puns in Skyclad, before they too started to suck. But nothing would ever be quite the same...and it's no joke that the British band's first two albums belong in the annals of legend.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Before Andy Sneap gained fame as one of the most in-demand producers in the metal scene, he was the lead guitarist in this UK thrash metal band. This 1989 effort was the band’s second album and unfortunately the last to feature the band’s original line-up.

Musically, this album provides a strong balance between thrash intensity and progressive technicality. Every song is carefully constructed and packed with complex guitar playing and elaborate structuring. The riffs are all aggressively direct and the vocals make up for their limited range with solid barks and raving. Of course, there are also plenty of melodic moments that allow the listener to breathe and for some acoustic guitars to shine.

While vocalist Martin Walkyier may possess a somewhat limited range, it could be argued that he is one of the greatest lyricists in the history of metal. Being a deeply devout pagan, it’s only fitting that this album is based on The Way of Wyrd by Brian Bates, a novel that deals with a Christian missionary who seeks to convert the natives of the medieval British Isles and not quite getting what he expected. While the story itself is tricky to understand, every song is filled with astounding lyrics that are witty and really make the listener think about what is being said. Bottom line: Even if you hate the music itself, you at least need to read the lyrics...

Aside from being tricky to get a taste for in the first place, I think this album’s main flaw is that most of the songs have a tendency to sound extremely similar if you’re not paying attention. Each song starts out in a distinct fashion thanks to an interesting opening but soon goes into more generic territory as its verses come crashing in. While it’s not really that bad, I do wish they had expanded a few of their ideas...

All in all, I think this is a solid thrash album worth checking out for its complex songs and insightful lyrics. It might be a bit overrated though, but I might still be getting a feel for it.

Pros:
1) Carefully constructed songs and guitar riffs
2) Amazing lyrics and concept

Cons:
1) Somewhat inaccessible for newer listeners
2) Songs tend to sound similar to one another

My Current Favorites:
"The Clerical Conspiracy," "Advent of Insanity," "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?," "Wildfire," and "Happy Never After (Outro)"

Greetings ladies, germs and everything else that might be lurking out there in the bowels of the Internet. I am your host this evening, and I would like to inform you that for the next month or so, I will be engaging in a weekly series of reviews entitled Gone Thrashing, dedicated to that ever-loving Metal bastion known as Thrash, in all its timeless glory, paying tribute to the first weeks of the new year where I went on a big Thrash binge and got my face melted off. So, let's get started, then.

Thrash is a weird sort of beast for me. I like most of the classic bands, but a lot of them didn't get me as fired up as they seemed to get everyone else. Yes, I enjoyed headbanging and rocking out to the fast tempos and ballsy aggression, but Thrash was never one of my greatest passions or anything. It seemed for the longest time like the genre wasn't living up to its potential. A lot of the bands playing in the style were very good, heavy and fast, but it seemed like they could have been more. Other genres all have bands that transcend their genre and experiment, but with Thrash, it seemed like experimentation would drive a band over the line and into some other genre, thus preventing any sort of evolution that didn't sound like shit. However, there were a few bands, like the subject of this week's review, Sabbat, that did find a way to inject some fiery creativity and innovation into a sound that didn't thrive off such things.

Sabbat's main draw was divided into two parts: Martin Walkyier and Andy Sneap, two raging gods hurling lightning bolts at each other above the dark and stormy clouds as all the humans run and hide. Walkyier, who would later go on to front Folk Metal legends Skyclad, takes the mic here, spitting out his long, elaborate lyrical musings in a very distinctive voice that sets this band apart from any other to ever walk the Earth. He sings in this crazy, Thrashy yammer, except its about twice the usual speed, and he also sings at a much lower pitch than most singers in the genre do. He sounds almost vitriolic here, but he also never goes over the top or becomes a parody of himself. He always sounds menacing, he's always legitimately passionate about his lyrics (which revolve around a book about a Christian missionary going to convert the Pagan masses), and he's always spot-on in his delivery, which must have been pretty fucking hard, as he is singing so fast that you barely have time to make out most of the lyrics. God damn, man, take a breath!

Andy Sneap, who would later become a big-name producer for a lot of popular Metal bands, does the guitars here, alongside Simon Jones, with his signature dry-as-a-plank-of-wood tone, but we'll forget about that for now. The point here is RIFFS. Lots and lots of riffs, and none of them suck. These guys threw all caution to the wind and just wrote six long, detailed songs full of every last riff they could think of, and they chained them together with a set of ironclad metallic melodies reminiscent of anything Maiden or Priest could have put out. This guy is so fucking fast that I must give drummer Simon Negus and bassist Fraser Craske kudos for being able to keep up. That is talent, people.

Sneap seemed to be issuing a challenge to Walkyier and the rest of the band here: can you keep up? So they accepted, and out came this insane, rip-roaring adventure of an album, blowing open the gates with the snarling, furious attack of "The Clerical Conspiracy," and following that up with album highlights like the diabolically catchy riff-monster "Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?" which also has one of the coolest song titles ever, and the duo of "Best of Enemies" and "How Have the Mighty Fallen," which are rich with time changes and melodic textures that are both complex and memorable. "Wildfire" is a bit more direct and pugilistic, but it doesn't rule any less, and "Mythistory" finishes things off with a slightly slower paced groove and some ominous, hovering rhythms behind the riffs that just work. Then, we get an short, mellow outro piece. Yay?

But seriously, Dreamweaver rules, hard, and I think this is the best Thrash album I've ever heard as of yet. If you don't like this, keep listening to it until you do.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

There are very few records that have the power to blow you away on the first listen and repeatedly on every single subsequent listen. (And I've listened to it many hundreds of times since its release.) Without fail. Without exception. I used to feel the same about ...And Justice For All. But, I have to accept, that whereas Metallica's classic does have its longeurs in amidst the brilliance, Sabbat's Dreamweaver: Reflections of our Yesterdays does not.
This is the consummate metal album. Unsurpassed. Ever. So there. All other concept albums (that I have come across, at any rate) should never have been conceived! Sabbat's masterpiece is flawless from start to finish. Sure, it helps that the original source material (Brian Bates's The Way of Wyrd) is so astounding. But the true genius lies in Martin Walkyier's exquisite lyrics - which even he has struggled in later works to equal - and the incredible vocals/musicianship/licks/riffs/solos/sonic sorcery on display. Unlike too much music out there, in Dreamweaver, every single note played counts. Yes, there are plenty of `widdly-widdly' guitar runs. Usually such indulgences can mar an otherwise fine song (Eddie Van Halen - what DID you create?!) But here... every single `widdle', every single cymbal crash, every single bass pluck, every single lyric is pertinent, perfect, essential.

The story of earnest early Christian missionary Wat Brand (who goes native in a big way during his mission to convert pagans in the south of England) and the telling of it is utterly engrossing. The characters encountered on the way are compelling, the action swift and breathless, the denouement totally satisfying and totally magical. The album as a whole is a searingly intelligent critique of the doctrines and practices (especially the proselytizing abuses) of Christianity. Yet this is no unthinking, knee-jerk, devil-worshipping, black metal nonsense. Themes of love, tolerance, spiritual freedom and self-empowerment predominate in this quirky, original, often humorous and deadly serious narrative.

Personal favourites include: The Clerical Conspiracy, Advent of Insanity, The Best of Enemies (Wulf's Tale) and Mythistory. These are apotheoses in an album which is, itself, one monumental apotheosis.

'Dreamweaver' is the second album of one of the most original thrash bands ever. The year is 1989, and that's means that there is a shitload of cloning thrash bands who spreading like a disease in our world and imitating 'Reign In Blood' or any other successful thrash album and rip off the same riff over and over again. But hey, not when it's about 'Sabbat'!

This british group has managed to put out some very unique albums in their somehow short career. 'Dreamweaver' is one of the most epic thrash albums I've heard (yeah, epic thrash) and it has a concept based upon the mythical tale 'The Way Of Wyrd'. If you the type of these who searchs for interesting lyrics along with quality thrash riffing, you surely can't miss this album. There are a lot of lyrics which flows perfectly with the riffing due to the intense and piercing vocals of 'Martin Walkyier', and just to give you a brief view about the lyrics length, 'How Have the Mighty Fallen?' contains over than two hundred lyric lines! (and it isn't the sole one in this album.)

The songs are well constructed. Each song is a complex thrash experience with great quantity of quality riffage. The brilliant integration of the intelligent lyrics with the catchy yet heavy riffs causing long songs such as 'Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?' and 'The Best of Enemies' to flow so fast and feel like much shorter songs.

Aside from the great thrashing tracks, this album has also some clean interludes which settles down the mood and creates a variation in the overall feeling of this album. 'Advent Of Insanity' for instance, is a chilling, moderare, hypnotic accoustic song with great pluckings and calmed vocals, even with some violins in the background. It flows so nice and sounds very unique with it's atmosphere and fits pretty well between 'The Clerical Conspiracy' and 'Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares?'.

'Dreamweaver' is the ultimate example that thrash metal can be more ambitious and innovative than more deep and complicated genres such as prog metal. It has it's own unique thrashing madness within a complex structure of layers of wonderful riffs, it has a great lyrics and hypnotic atmosphere, and it's a must have for any thrasher. Amaznig album, one of the best thrash albums ever made.

When this album came out it was probably one of the fastest most aggressive albums of all time. Having 17 years to reflect on this album and others of it’s era, Dreamweaver stands the test of time better than most. I think the reason for this is the pure speed and aggression that are present throughout the album. While many of the riffs are pure thrash metal, the speed at which they are played gives this album the ability to hold it’s own next to the black and death metal of later generations.

The lyrics are brilliant, while many thrash lyrics seem laughable to the adult mind these remain some of the best ever written. Martin Walkyier would go on and become noted as a brilliant lyricist in Skyclad but I think that this is his best work. In Skyclad Martin often uses puns and plays on words to make his points, this works well more often than not, but at time he out smarts himself and ends up sounding a bit silly. On Dreamweaver he is telling a story with a message and the lyrics contain some of the greatest lines ever included in a metal album. I have always wondered how much Martin’s rapid fire delivery on this album may have influenced Danni Filth. While Filth’s screech is noticeable more over the top his vocal delivery has always made me think of Martin.

Andy Sneap shows him self the be every bit the guitar player and song writter that he is producer. His leads are blistering and music is complex and well written front to back. Sneap wrote all but one song that he cowrote with Simon Jones. It makes you wonder what this guy would have written if he had keep plying in bands and not decided to focus on producing albums.

Highlights include Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares, Best of Enemies and How Have The Mighty Fallen. The worst song one here is Wildfire (and it’s not bad) the chorus of this song just sounds a little forced and doesn’t quite fit in. If you like any type of extreme metal and haven’t head this you are missing out. This is more than a good listen for nostalgia sake it is a great album that still sounds relevant today.

Many, many great thrash bands are out there, were out there, will be out there. But the ones that stand out of the crowd, a good crowd, nonethelsee, are not _that_ many.The problem needs to be accounted for from a philosophical point of view(heh, I like to invent stuff like that to spice a bit the reviews I write). The bands(yes, those from the supposed crowd, remember?) are just _very good_ thrash with _very good_ drums/vocals/guitars and such. But they lack a little something, a little something new, special, maybe a bit bothered with that bit special songwriting. And it is from this field that Sabbat strike. "He shoots, he scores"... Explanation: they are a very stylish and unique band. Very. The production is cool, thick guitar sounds, really suitable for the great(!) riffs to be found inside, which is not a mystery - Andy Sneap has played guitars and produced this cd. The presence of young Martin Walkyier here abolishes any probable questions about the lyrics - they are really neat, long, interesting and intelligent in the best Walkyier's tradition. His vocals are notable too - quite harsh and aggressive, yet very suiting the whole thing.

The album starts out with a catchy and scary intro and introduces the first track "The Clerical Conspiracy". Great riffs, a load of aggression, Martin's harsh and screeching vocals. With the song dealing about Martin's view on christian religion. The next song, a great acoustic ballad that flows into the best cd's track "Do Dark Horses Dream Of Nightmares?", excellent guitar-work, I can't get the chorus out of my head since the first time I have heard this album(joke). One of the best solos I have ever heard here too. Afterwards we get two 'riff em' all' songs "The Best of Enemies" and "How Have The Mighty Fallen". Lots of catchy moments garanted. "Wildfire" - the only track which is not up to the level of all other, still good though, also the shortest one of the album, except the ballad. The last track "Mythistory" has a load of interesting moments with multiple vocalists, sounding really unique at times, another memorable chorus and the riffs under it. And a small acoustic outro after it - that's all.

Try to look for a while at the cover, than listen to the intro - the athmosphere has just been created and rush for the whole cd. Isn't it a great feeling? This album has that small, yet immense, thingie, that attracts the listeners more than anything else. If you like thrash and haven't heard this album - your life has almost been just half wasted. So you'd better correct this mistake as soon as possible. If you're quite far from enjoying the feeling which the musicians create through the songs, you are still likely to enjoy the fantstic riffs. Thus I spoke. Thy move.