Above the Light

Sadist, the top group of progressive death metal from the nineties, although compared to other big names in this trend, the least appreciated and, unfortunately, not even perceived much better today. Anyway, the enormous talent of this Italian band has already appeared by the discussed "Above The Light" - an album that neatly combines death aggression and progressive patents. The contribution for this, of course, is the ingenuity of the group's mastermind, Tommy Talamanca, who is the guitarist and keyboardist (sometimes simultaneously!), but also a not inferior rhythm section in the form of vocalman/bassman Andy Marchini and drummer Peso. It's all the more impressive, because the Italians on their debut managed to sound similarly intriguing as their friends from Cynic, Atheist or Pestilence, and at the same time differently enough not to confuse them with anyone else.

The trio from Sadist were one of the first in Europe that they dared to introduce keyboards to the death metal as a regular instrument, even more interesting than Nocturnus! However, the attractions do not end there. Apart from keyboard madness, "Above..." can pride itself on a great interweaving of lighter motifs (i.e. clean or with a piano) and sharper ones - the first example "Hell In Myself", explosive, very melodic guitar solos, perceptible bass, a large dose of aggression (still a bit thrashy), the classic in this formula vocalist's screech or surprisingly solid production conditions (well, maybe apart from the snare drum and kick drum). In short, an explosive mix, but logically thought out and not altered in any way, even with two keyboards instrumentals (although "normal" guitar solo appears in "Sadist"). The regular songs should be mentioned...as all of them, because everyone is shocking with the genius and the accumulation of the above-mentioned ideas!

Albums such as "Above The Light" also perfectly show where the essence of prog-death is. In addition to the fabulous technique, the style of Sadist is distinguished by a great atmosphere, remarkable melodies, sensible faster tempos or decent use of the keyboards. At the same time the Italians were able to arrange everything with order and composition. It's not a common thing in this style.

Originally on: https://subiektywnymetal.blogspot.com/2021/10/sadist-above-light-1993.html

Italy has never been a major player when it comes to metal. It’s never had a major scene or movement. In fact, outside of a burgeoning progressive rock scene in the 1970s, its contributions to rock music in general aren’t exactly famous outside of its own borders. Italian metal is somewhat scarce, often shite, but when it’s good it’s usually something really noteworthy. In the 1980s they had Bulldozer, Dark Quarterer, Death SS, Adramelch, Paul Chain and Black Hole. Hardly a unified movement, despite sharing a few members, but in the 1990s – in extreme metal’s epoch – there still weren’t that many notable Italian bands. Cult act, Mortuary Drape plied their sinister trade throughout the 1990s and made genuinely eerie and unsettling black metal quite unlike what was going on in Norway or Greece. Sadist, however, gave us a strange take on death metal; technical, but far removed from Cynic or Death’s output from this time. If anything, Sadist’s debut reminds me of Coroner if they were heavily influenced by Goblin’s horror soundtracks. Above the Light, then, manages to be a forward-thinking album that’s still somewhat out-of-touch with its time.

The briefest synopsis of Italian metal I can give is that when it’s good it’s really damn good but when it’s shite it’s absolutely terrible (anyone fancy a glass of Fleshgod Apocalypse’s wine? I mean, it can’t be worse than their music, can it?). Fortunately, the good stuff tends to be rather unique, too, and the same applies to Sadist. Given the prominence of keyboards in their work you could compare them to Nocturnus. But I think the two groups are actually quite far removed from each other. Nocturnus’s use of keyboards seems a bit gimmicky, if truth be told. A silly alien noise here and there gives The Key its early 1990s video game ambience (and it’s no bad thing, if you ask me). Sadist, however, are a lot more astute when it comes to keys, which are actually featured a lot more prominently than you might expect (they certainly don’t take a backseat on this album). The closest comparison is, again, Goblin playing death metal. And surely that’s something that will appeal to a lot of metal fans given the popularity of albums such as Suspiria. Take the band’s eponymous track for a sterling example. That opening motif is pure late-70s/early-80s horror, especially with the descending guitars which recall Phantasm. I’m sure most death metal bands cite horror soundtracks as an influence, but Sadist were one of the few bands who actually sounded like they could pull one off. The fact that it’s an instrumental, too, only heightens the sense of classic Italian horror. You can imagine a masked killer stalking some dark city streets searching for his next victim… creeping in the shadows and breathing heavily, unable to control his wicked excitement.

The cool thing about this album is just how well the keyboards work with the guitars. Tommaso Talamanca had apparently been playing keyboards for longer than he had been playing guitar. So the keyboards here are really no last-minute afterthought. Melodies shift from ghostly guitars onto those strange sounding keyboards and they work well on both. Take the opener, ‘Nadir’ which passes the lead melody from the guitar to the keys and finally to the bass. It works really well and it’s not often you hear that sort of interplay on a metal album, let alone a death metal album. It’s all very seamless and that’s one of the things that I find so appealing about this album. Creepy melodies drift between instruments giving the music a lucid, (bad)dreamy feel. Still, even if there’s a surprisingly high level of melodic content, Sadist are still quite a hard-charging act at times. They’ll shift moods and tempos with ease; clean breaks are very frequent, which again, is something unusual for death metal in this period. In fact, I have difficulty pin-pointing Sadist’s death metal influences. Maybe some Death or Atheist or even Atrocity… but other than that, Sadist don’t really sound like any other death metal band I’ve heard. It’s almost like the stumbled upon death metal by accident, as could well be the case with a band hailing from a country with no notable death metal scene.

Certainly, this is a pretty thrash heavy album. But it doesn’t fit into that category easily, either. Progressive, Goblin-esque, neoclassically tinged, thrashy death metal doesn’t really roll off the tongue now, does it? We could say that they inhabit an isolated corner of the metal world; blending various styles and never quite putting one foot firmly in one. Not only do the Genovese have mani corti but also hesitant feet. Let’s take, ‘Desert Divinities’ for another great example of this band’s unique style. It’s neoclassical in a way that’s seldom heard in metal; not flashy and wanky but rather homogenous. The opening section straddles the line between consonant Helstar-style classical inspired metal and At the Gates’s twisted early material. Certainly some of the other riffs wouldn’t have been out-of-place on Eucharist’s debut, either. But even then, they’re not making the riffs as twisted as those Swedish bands would have done. I think Above the Light is really a subtle album that takes some time to sink in.

Sadist’s debut really is a special album because it exists on the outskirts of many different styles and it skilfully combines them with astute songwriting that makes it a really rewarding listen. It’s a damn shame that this band is so seldom mentioned when people discuss great early 1990s death metal (that’s probably somewhat of a reflection of Sadist’s “outsider” status in the genre, though, and I’ll readily admit that). Still, if you like Goblin, Coroner or progressive death metal you’d do well to seek this one out. Strangely, this album features a lot of seagull noises. Con la zampe davanti e il becco woo woo.