Mourning Has Broken

One of the annoying things about the metal scene is how people use the word 'progressive' as a noun rather than as an adjective. The problem with creating a genre called 'progressive metal' is that it imposes rules on what a so-called progressive band should sound like. This is nonsense. The essence of progressiveness is the willingness to push against the restrictions of the time and place. Underground metal has always been a good place to experiment, away from the public eye. In their prime, Sabbat were as progressive as anyone, reaching their experimental apex with "Dreamweaver", a sublime conceptual thrash metal record in which vocalist Martin Walkyier wrote the most ambitious lyrics in metal history.

The exertions of "Dreamweaver" took a toll on the band. Walkyier and bassist Fraser Craske soon quit, taking their heathen theatrics with them. Guitarist Simon Jones left too. The only remaining members were Andy Sneap and drummer Simon Negus. They kept the band going for long enough to record a third album ("Mourning Has Broken"), with three new band-mates. It was the replacement of Walkyier that caused the biggest stir. That replacement, Ritchie Desmond, sounded more like an American power/thrash vocalist (i.e., high pitched screams and powerful bellows). Desmond's vocals had a profound influence on the band's sound. This record sounds nothing like "Dreamweaver". It sometimes reminds me of Fates Warning, Watchtower, Savatage, or even Solitude Aeternus.

This is a Sabbat album in name only. The spirit of the old band followed Walkyier when he formed Skyclad and released "The Wayward Sons of Mother Earth". Interviews with Sneap suggest that he regrets using the Sabbat name for “Mourning Has Broken”. He is vocal in his disdain for the album, and seems to have disowned it from the Sabbat discography. He is right. This is a dreadful album. It is profound in its joylessness; fifty minutes of lifeless late-thrash with no memorable hooks and no passion. Desmond's vocals are the best thing about it, he has a strong voice and attempts to breathe life into songs that were written with Walkyier in mind. He fails, but at least he tries.

Sneap didn't turn into a bad guitarist overnight. What is missing from this album is the adversarial spirit that Walkyier provided. The band was defined by the anti-chemistry between the two of them. This isn't merely about Walkyier's vocal or lyrical presence; there is nothing on this album that matches the fury of an instrumental like "A Dead Man's Robe" either. The songs here are directionless and lacklustre. Take the ballad-ish "Paint the World Black" and the instrumental "Dumbstruck" as examples, everyone sounds bored. Simon Negus was a poor fit for this kind of thrash. He complemented Walkyier because they both had a hurried, flustered, frenetic style (particularly on "Dreamweaver"). It doesn’t work so well here because he lacks the skills to play this kind of 'tech-thrash'.

"Mourning Has Broken" has few redeeming features. This record will not appeal to Sabbat fans because it doesn't sound anything like Sabbat. It shouldn't appeal to fans of bands like Watchtower, Sindrome or Toxik because those bands were much better at making this kind of music. There are some wild solos, the musicians were talented and capable, but they were all wasting their time here. Everything feels detached and there is no synergy. As such, this attempt at what might be called 'progressive thrash' was wretched. Walkyier found a way to keep the spirit alive, but Sneap had run out of ideas. Sabbat was history.

There are genuine certified flops (Celtic Frost’s “Cold Lake”, Helloween’s “Chameleon”, Megadeth’s “Risk”, Kreator’s “Endorama”, Anthrax’s “Stomp 642”, Destruction’s mid-90’s period, etc.), and there are supposed unproven ones (Iron Maiden’s “Virtual XI”, Forbidden’s “Distortion”, Death Angel’s ”Frolic Through the Park”, Helstar’s “Multiples of Black”, Crimson Glory’s “Astronomica”, etc.), the latter group largely labelled as such due to prejudice built around the absence of a prominent figure, in most cases the vocalist, or a more or less radical change of style, having little to do with the actual musical merits of the recording…

The album reviewed here squarely belongs to that unfairly treated batch. Sabbat established themselves on the scene with all their pagan charm with two strong albums that introduced their unique approach to the genre, complex yet quite aggressive thrash the dark pagan aura a fairly characteristic gimmick later picked by hordes of acts although from the whole batch it was only the Dutch Bifrost who could be labelled as thrash. An important part of the band delivery was the unique hoarse, spiteful vocal style of Martin Walkyier who was also in charge of the interesting pagan-related lyrics. Alas, this fellowship didn’t last very long as Walkyier and the bassist Fraser Craske left at the crack of the new decade leaving the rest in serious financial turmoil, among other pressing issues.

A major reason for Walkyier’s departure, according to the media, was the musical differences between him and the band leader Andy Sneap. The latter wanted the band’s approach to become even more elaborate with a more overt progressive flair, a design Walkyier wasn’t willing to be a part of. Some say that he had already arranged his involvement with the Satan guys Graeme English and Steve Ramsey for the new project Skyclad where he was promised the freedom to carry on with his scare… sorry, pagan tactics. Anyway, Sneap and the other founding member, the drummer Simon Negus, quickly found replacements for the departed as Walkyier’s shoes were filled in by Ritchie Desmond, a complete unknown at the time although he did have his own stunt earlier, the progressive thrashers Desmatron, an excellent outfit, by the way, their only demo (“Theological Void”, 1987) highly recommended for all metal fans.

Desmond’s vocal style was more melodic and cleaner, and consequently more attached, fitting perfectly into the more elaborate, less aggressive musical direction taken on the album reviewed here. “The Demise of History” is a really ambitious opener, running for nearly 8-min, the guys keeping the intense thrashing going throughout with power and progressive metal helping on the side Desmond’s soaring, high-strung vocals adding more to the drama which also knows its balladic/semi-balladic side. “Theological Void” is not a Desmatron track, and its heavy steady rhythm-section reminds of the American power metal movement with more aggressive technical thrash additives disturbing the peace nicely recalling meisterwerks like Realm’s “Suiciety” and Nasty Savage’s “Penetration Point”. “Paint the World Black” is a really compelling heavy atmospheric ballad, mostly intended as a vehicle for Desmond to display his versatile vocal talents, something new in the band’s repertoire, but suiting the modified approach just fine.

“Dumbstruck” is a fabulous technical instrumental with which the band make a bold step into Shrapnel-like virtuosity keeping the intense thrashing riffs coming with steel gallops and thunderous bassisms tearing the aether, Sneap making a great showing with the finest leads on the album. From this moment onward there will hardly be too many disappointed as obviously the guys feel way more flexible exhibiting their more varied musical skills unbound by the pagan vibe. “The Voice of Time” is “the voice” of superb technical/progressive thrash the band constructing a strong base around intricate riff-patterns with a couple of brutal insertions making the complex cannonade even more attractive the latter letting several semi-balladic atmospherics sneak in as well, Sneap shining again lashing dazzling lead pyrotechnics like demented. “Dreamscape” is a 9-min saga Sneap inaugurating the occasion with a brilliant lead-driven stroke before lashing ironclad guitars start marching remorselessly providing numerous time and tempo changes where vigorous gallops take turns with flashy technical vortexes, with majestic melodic leads flickering in and out of existence. “Without a Trace” would hardly vanish “without a trace” its rigorous sharp riffs and Desmond’s deeply emotional showing carving burrows into the listener’s brain the band preserving the hard-hitting delivery the entire time with a few more quirky embellishments in the second half those even echoing class acts like Deathrow and Sieges Even. The title-track wraps it on with romantic acoustic guitars Desmond putting his signature with a cool soulful, mournful timbre.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this album except that it carves a new path removed from the pagan infatuations of the first two instalments. It even shows the band in a brighter light from a compositional perspective as there’s a lot happening both on the music and the vocal front. This isn’t dark intense thrash anymore, but the guitars have more style to them with a wider range of riff-formulas taking turns throughout. Some may blame the band for sounding more ordinary and less characteristic, merging with the practitioners from the technical/progressive thrash brotherhood, but when the high level of musicianship has been retained and arguably even enlarged, one could hardly complain too much looking for non-existing potholes in a very well executed work. Kudos should be paid to the guys for managing to provide a dignified swansong having in mind the troubles they had been experiencing both on and off the music stage, leaving a trace in a great year full of outstanding metal feats.

Sneap had had enough of the illogical, unfair phenomenon that is the metal musician’s life, and after one more short-lived project (Godsend) with which he tried his hands on some modern groovy post-thrash for a change, he moved "in the shadows" and embarked on a very successful music producer’s career that established him as one of the prime contributors to the world of metal behind the curtains. Several attempts to resurrect Sabbat have been made in the new millennium, including a few prospective ones with Walkyier behind the mike, but nothing substantial has materialized as of now. I guess some pagan rituals are not meant to be repeated… even at the crack of dawn.

Perhaps you agree with me that a lot of albums did not receive the well-deserved recognition. Taking all these unjustified flops into account, it comes as no surprise that we are still waiting for the heavy metal world domination. But naturally, I remain hopeful. Time will tell that listening to pop music is only a waste of time. Nonetheless, it is a shame that "Mourning Has Broken" did not shake the scene. Just the opposite, the band was subjected to scorn and derision after the release of this solidly produced work. At the end of this process, Sabbat did not exist anymore.

Two points of criticism stood in the foreground. It was said that the tearful approach of the new singer lacked metallic combativeness and the songs were too complex while failing to feature memorable riffs or lines. I admit that these reproaches were not completely unfounded. Rather, there was a grain of truth in it. One had to get used to the style of Ritchie Desmond who had almost nothing in common with his predecessor. But Desmond played his part in an original way and made good use of his apparently well-trained voice. He did not fear any kind of challenge and was able to manage each and every of his demanding vocal lines. Sometimes he sang slightly strange lyrics. For example, "My mind, the foe" did not describe a rising schizophrenia. Instead, these lines had a more or less philosophical touch. But to be honest, I am undecided. Were they really philosophical or just nonsensical bullshit?

The answer can be left open. As always, the lyrics were of minor relevance. The music - to talk about the doubtlessly most important thing - did not appear as the continuation of their previous albums. In particular, the more or less straightforward hammering of their harsh second full-length was a thing of the past. The band broke new ground and their musical offering was anything else but predictable. But the songs did not suffer from too much complexity. Yes, the relatively bulky tracks were almost overloaded with riffs, breaks and tempo changes. It took time to get familiar with this new approach. Sabbat had written slightly convoluted pieces, but the more I dived into the songs, the more I understood the concept. The harsh opener and the equally diversified second track demonstrated the unbroken power of the band and its new compositions as well. But Sabbat also managed to impress with a desperate ballad ("Paint the World Black"). Its atmosphere matched almost perfectly with the depressing - and highly impressing - cover artwork. This kind of psychedelic yet comprehensible sound would not have been possible with the voice of Martin Walkyier, although he was definitely a good metal singer, too. But Ritchie Desmond expressed his solitude and hopelessness in an absolutely convincing manner. Generally speaking, tragedy and melancholy intertwined with heaviness and the result was impressive.

A few compositions left room for optimization. The instrumental "Dumbstruck" with its squeaking guitars lacked of interesting parts and the short title track was nothing more than an acoustic outro. But sonic monuments like the spine-chilling "Without a Trace" ensured that the positive moments clearly won the upper hand. The lyrical content of this elegiac tune was also fascinating. Desmond told the almost supernatural story of Flight 19, a bomber formation that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle on the 5th of December 1945. The oppressive atmosphere of the song cast a spell on the listener and the beseeching chorus crowned this multilayered highlight.

In terms of the high quality of "History of a Time to Come" and "Dreamweaver", there seems to be a widespread consensus. It is accordingly easy to be a fan of the first two albums of Sabbat. But from my point of view, the band never released a bad record. "Mourning Has Broken" has a special flair. Just as another example, the highly exciting "The Voice of Time" combined rapid parts and acoustic breaks without appearing fragile. The album therefore does not lack twists and turns. Harshness or velocity are not missing and Andy Sneap and his gang once again hit the nail on the head. In comparison with their first outputs, the group just used another kind of hammer. But this did not come as a surprise in view of the radically changed line-up with three new band members. I must admit that it may be an exaggeration to describe the album with the often used word "masterpiece". Nevertheless, the last album of Sabbat showed a competent and courageous band.

So finally after ordering and receiving Mourning Has Broken (Japanese Import Version), I was finally happy to get it into the cd player and find out what all the mixed reviews were about. I have the first two releases, and they were great! Music and lyrical content were epic and without a doubt, fitting for that time of music. Plus this added to my collection, so definitely another perfect reason to get this by any right.

So now onto my review of "Mourning Has Broken"....

I believe the album was a bit of a let down, but not by much. My reasoning for the let down, was the heavily bass oriented tracks throughout the whole album. It seemed as if they were trying to drown out their newest addition to the band, Ritchie Desmond. In his defense, he is a powerful singer, and put a lot of feeling into his singing on this album. But I also wonder if maybe there might have been a perfect mixing before the final mixing was made, hence the drowning of his vocal ability on this album. I also believe that this was more of a progressive thrash album. There was a whole lot of mood changes in each and every song. The rhythm was kind of hard getting into because of the constant changing. However the solos made up for the songs. Andy sprinkled a whole lot of great solos throughout their songs and used a lot of progressions to make them sound different each time, making it easy to forget about the rhythm section. The last song, "Mourning Has Broken", was a disappointment. Because we all know in the thrash world there is always a fast paced, in your face song to conclude the album. So after "Without a Trace" was completed, I was expecting another expansion of faster tempos. Do not count your blessings, remember the mood changes I discussed earlier? Yes it goes from ferocious to subtle acoustics for about two minutes singing a mere poem, then the whole thing is over. It doesn't get heavier, it just ends making the listener feel left wanting a bit more and asking themselves, that's it?

To sum this up, if you like progression in your music, this album is for you. I would actually recommend this to the old and new fans of Sabbat. Draw your own conclusions of how this album draws you.

England's Sabbat were easily one of the most intelligent, ferocious and interesting bands to come out of that country's speed/thrash metal scene, and I regard both History of a Time to Come and Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays) as essential classics for any listener who demands a high level of artistry and songcraft within the confines of the genre. I had been following the band since their flexi-record that came tucked in a White Dwarf gaming magazine, and thoroughly thrilled with each new chapter they were embarking upon...

Until 1991 arrived, and Mourning Has Broken showed up in my shopping bag. This has got to be one of the most stunning and perplexing letdowns I have ever experienced among my favorite metal bands. Sure, bands like Megadeth and Metallica have slacked off and produced albums that far under-perform even this, but at the very least...you could see those failures coming from far away. This was a shock. I always wanted to believe that, despite all the personality and energy of his unique vocals, Sabbat's Martin Walkyier was not the sole force of nature among Sabbat's ranks. Surely, the first two albums were BLOATED with amazing riffs and musicianship. But, as this sad, third effort proves, without Walkyier, the band simply could not survive. How does the band suddenly decide that this Ritchie Desmond, while not having a necessarily awful voice of his own accord, is a suitable replacement for Martin's serpentine hiss and hellhound punditry?

Desmond's vocals are honestly pretty strange for the band. For most of the verses, he has a rather mid-range, angry tone, but he's just as often attempting a higher pitch that reminds me of Fates Warning's vocalist Ray Alder mixed with a little of Helstar's James Rivera. Just as soothing, but not as high, and usually appearing during the various segues of clean guitars that feel just as out of place on a Sabbat record. In fact, Mourning Has Broken seems a lot like Sabbat are trying to write a moody progressive, power/thrash metal effort that only resembles the predecessors through some of Sneap's boxy, dark distortion. And while it would be all too easy to place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the unfortunate choice in replacement vocalist, it's actually the music itself which drags this record through the mud.

The riffing is almost entirely boring...even when it most resembles the band's previous material like in "Dumbstruck" or in the thundering "Dreamscape". I recognize that there are in fact fast and hard guitar rhythms, with perky little melodies often cycling through to add another dimension, but with the exception of the rarest cases (i.e. the doom sequence after 5:30 in "Dreamscape" or the creepy intro to "Without a Trace"), there is just nobody home. No fire here. The band's decision to shift towards lyrics with a focus outside their occult excavations and sacrilegious butchery also doesn't help matters. This may be a more 'topical' Sabbat album, with a more futurist bent, but it's just not what the doctor ordered.

Clearly Mourning Has Broken was a mistake, and the band would not survive much longer after its release, since there would be no real reason to pretend that the band's stock had just plummeted off the bottom of the charts, and their creative license was in need of revocation. The album does not completely suck through its 51 minutes of playtime, but then it never qualifies as 'good' either. It wouldn't even be good (or average) for another band under another name. The milk hath been spilled. Walkyier would go on to front the great Skyclad, and the band that had perhaps the greatest potential of any English thrash/speed band would undergo a long slumber, to resurface only when they would reunite with Walkyier for some live performances. But this is one stain that will sadly, forever remain as an example of a royally bad decision.

Highlights: they probably won't be playing much of this at the festival reunion gigs.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

Sabbat's last album "Mourning Has Broken" is an overlooked chapter in the history of this classic UK thrash metal band. The album saw an overhaul in the band lineup, as original vocalist Martin Walkyier had exited the band. His replacement, Ritchie Desmond, was hardly a soundalike, his Dio-esque vocal style quite different from Martin's venomous delivery. The bass player also changed, and more noticeably the musical style went from total thrash to a power metal direction.

I've read criticisms of this album in the metal magazines. Perhaps it should have been released under a new band name, as the legend of the original lineup was just too large to overcome. Fan reception was lukewarm, and the band split up during a tour. The album's not nearly as bad as some have said. I'd challenge anyone to tell me that "The Demise of History" is not a totally kickass track. Desmond's soaring vocals, Andy Sneap's guitar work and Simon Negus' drums drive the many tempo changes of this tune, which varies back and forth from mid-paced to fast. Other standout tracks include the sci-fi "Theological Void," which speculates about human origin from an alien race and "Without a Trace," a song about the Bermuda triangle which begins with an eerie sampled radio covnersation. The album closes with the title track, a brief and gloomy acoustic piece accompanied by Desmond's despairing vocals (whatever happened to this guy?).

"Mourning has Broken" will never get the same respect as the first two Sabbat albums, "History of a Time to Come" and "Dreamweaver." Those albums are the reason why Sabbat is cited by many as England's best thrash band of the 80's (an opinion I wholeheartedly agree with). The lineup and stylistic changes on the third album were just too much for some fans to take. But if you want to hear a great power metal album with dark lyrics, powerful vocals and great musicianship, then give "Mourning Has Broken" a chance. It may be "the beginning of the end" for this legendary UK band, but I think that any metal fan, and certainly any Sabbat fan, could enjoy this lost classic.