REFLECTIONS OF OUR YESTERDAYS / SABBAT (1983 - 1991, AND WAY BEYOND)
I was thinking about writing a review of DREAMWEAVER (1989), the unbeatable second album by the english thrash metallers SABBAT, but as I was trying to gather enough info to assemble something worthy of one of my most beloved albums ever, I realized that I couldn't do that without talking about the band's career as a whole. That's why I was led to writing a whole entry for the band (and not just about a single album of theirs), as a tribute to thrash metal flagbearers in Nottingham, Robin Hood's territory.
I'm no historian of the band anyway, in the sense of knowing their every move in detail. Not at all. I know a lot, out of my own interest in their music (it makes sense), but if I got to know more and this post looks very rich in details, is due to all the research that needed to be done. In short, part of the stuff is also new to me, because there are things and stories I did not know about. And besides, there are things about the band which need some delving into beyond the music itself in order to be talked about.
The United Kingdom is very likely to be the most important place in the world when it comes to spawn artists absolutely primordial in the history of popular music. Heavy metal is no exception, for UK is where it was given birth and where all the most popular and important bands were exported from. But during the second half of the eighties, thrash metal was a losing battle and the outlook looked pretty bleak compared to that of traditional metal, being no match for what was taken place across the pond and in Germany. Sabbat were responsible for putting british thrash in the map during those years.
On one hand, Sabbat's history goes back to the first half of the eighties, when a teenager called ANDY SNEAP (soon-to-be Sabbat's founder and axeman) was an avid fan of the then unlucky Derbyshire band HELL, also taking guitar lessons from Hell's leader, the late DAVE HALLIDAY. More about Hell later, for Hell's story is another one worthy of telling, but for the time being that was enough for Andy to make up his mind about pursuing a career in music, and for Hell to be one of Andy's (and later Sabbat's) main influences.
1983
And on the other hand, 1983 was the time when a band called MYSTIC WYTCH was born, comprised by ADAM FIRMAN (GROTCH) as guitar player and SIMON GORDON (allegedly the drummer, but he had no instrument to play on). The couple was joined by a certain MARTIN WALKYER, also on the guitar, about whom Firman remembers that despite being a mod when they first met, he ended up being a VENOM fan, and the likes, just like that. That was something Firman found odd, although he states Martin's wits and talent were undeniable even back then.
1984
In 1984 they were joined by FRAZER CRASKE (Martin's acquaintance from school, and nicknamed SCIT), and they got a borrowed drum kit. They put something to tape, but I don't know how. Craske was a fan of bands like JETHRO TULL, but after Firman let him listen to Venom's BLACK METAL (1982), everything changed for him. They started playing classic straight rock, with Firman singing with his normal voice. According to Craske, they paid attention to the theatrical part of music already.
Another Venom album, AT WAR WITH SATAN (1984) was going to be crucial for the boys. They began to play the title track and given that Martin did not know his guitar parts, forgot about the guitar and started to sing it (versions contradict themselves, for Martin says that Firman, the usual singer, was home sick, while the bassist's version is slightly different). He did it so well (or so badly for that matter, for Martin recalls that he was said his voice was awful and he should be the singer) that he was told to forget about the guitar and stick to singing, something helped by the fact that he could not play and sing at the same time. He began using the stage name DOOM.
That very year the band changed its name to HYDRA. Craske says that name was on Venom's (again) SEVEN GATES OF HELL, and that was more than enough. Drummer RUSSELL ALLCOCK replaced Gordon and the outfit began to get better thanks to steady rehearsing. They even recorded some songs. Soon after, Allcock was gone too (he's said to not having wanted to open for a punk band, and he was not very much liked either, so the others got rid of him) and MARK DALEY took on drums, mostly because he had an amazing black drum kit with two bass drums, and a car to carry it.
They played for the very first time in October 1984 in a school called Arnold, in Redhill (Nottinghamshire), and the gig is said to have been very chaotic in every sense of the word. They also began rehearsing in a room which belonged to a catholic church in the area, because one of the guys was acquainted to the priest. All this in spite of the alleged black metal they played and their satanic lyrics (which the priest never got to listen to, for if he had, they would have been kicked out of the premises). But they keep a fond memory of those days and acknowledge how helpful the priest's help and the experience were for them (even if their music messed with the mass sometimes). They were allowed to bring their friends too, so they got to have some devoted fans who began to call themselves SONS OF THE HYDRA.
1985
In 1985 Hydra played again, this time in The Narrowboat pub (February, the 2nd), and soon after, Craske and Andy Sneap met for the first time at a Hell gig (through KEV BOWER, also a guitarrist in Hell), where they had a small talk about their shared taste in music and they gave their phone number to each other. On the 12th of April they played The Narrowboat again and Andy joined on second guitar in June.
With him on board they played for the fourth and last time (Mardi Gras, Nottingham), because a couple of weeks later, Firman left the band, due to a clash of egos with Sneap. The two of them were lead players and did not share the same musical tastes... and as a consecuence, they did not get along very well between each other. Firman admitted having lost focus on the music and on the way things were going within the band (he felt as going separated ways musically from the rest of the boys, and that they were doing things behind his back). Recently he's said that was kids stuff anyway, that he has zero regrets and he also has tons of good memories of happy days with friends.
Being Firman the mastermind behind almost the whole lot of Hydra's music, his departure prompted Hydra to cease existing. The remaining foursome became SABBAT, and Firman went on to regroup Hydra with some other musicians (soon to be joined by Mark Daley).
The name was chosen unanimously, because it was very telling about the atmosphere of their shows (some kind of coven in which they could harm righteous christian souls, according to Sneap). It was taken from a book on witchcraft (ERICA JONG's WITCHES, which had a chapter called Sabbat and which they also took a picture for their first demo from), apparently by Craske's suggestion. It also had to do with the fact that they liked the scrawl that Andy had done out of it as a logo for the band. The satanic subject was dropped almost for good, to focus on paganism.
After its inception, the band devoted itself mostly to rehearsing (they all lived together in some kind of former club attached to a building property of Andy's dad, in Ripley, where they all moved into and where they rehearsed and did some thinking about what steps to take next), working also on the visuals of their craft (board tombstones and several other ideas, as props, were made), while making up their minds about the music they wanted to play, taking their respective tastes and influences into account, and also how young they all were. They wanted to sound like an hybrid of bands like EXODUS, SLAYER, Venom and MERCYFUL FATE, all of them combined. They also had Hell in mind, whom they considered their mentors and main influence. David Halliday even shot their first photo shoot at Wingfield Manor (Derbyshire).
Soon after the recording of their first demo, Mark Daley left the fold. Sneap admits to having a go at Mark's girlfriend, once the girl was visiting in the studio, and that seemed to triggered his leaving the band, to rejoin the reformed Hydra. Along comes SIMON NEGUS (from a band called STRIPTEASE, through TIM BOWLER, Hell's drummer) as the new and ultimate Sabbat's guy behind the drum kit.
MAGICK IN THEORY AND PRACTICE (recorded on the 30th of June and the 1st of July, 1985, in MCK studios), was Sabbat's first demo tape, comprised by the next songs:
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION. A furious sonic assault which contains (already at this stage) a competent guitar solo. The lyrics are difficult for me to understand, and my guess is that the story is about Jesuschrist, as someone who did not choose to be brought among men, let alone to realize that what happened to him only led to more lying
Inmaculate beauty conceived, let the prince be a fool, yet the jester may rule.
THE ORIGINAL SIN follows the same path, but shorter and thrashier. Sneap keeps on displaying his guitar chops and the lyrics are about betrayed faith.
Prayed night and day for deliverance from all I despise, but the preachers who teach us betrayed my belief with all their lies.
BY THY COMMAND was rejected for the first album for being, in Craske's words, pretty basic. It is slower than the other two but picks up speed before Andy's solo. The story seems to deal with eternal punishment.
I have no fear of dying, but fear my soul is frying on the pyres that I constructed in my life. You can feel your body burning, as the brimstone wheel keeps turning, feeding off thy heresy this night.
The tape sounds as expected, given the means that a band of newbies may have, but you can tell about their influences and certain details which would come to fruition in the near future. None of the songs would end up on later albums. The first two are solely Sneap's, but he shares wrting credits with Firman on the last one.
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| Magick In Theory & Practice |
On November the 19th, 1985, they gave their first concert, at the Arnold Carlton College (Nottingham).
1986
In May 1986 they recorded their second demo tape, FRAGMENTS OF A FAITH FORGOTTEN, in which they spent ten quid (seriously). It was recorded with GLYNN HATHER's assistance, in that aforementioned building, in Ripley. The sound is quite better and the tape would end up being pivotal for them. It included three belters that would make it onto the first album, which were A Cautionary Tale, Hosanna In Excelsis y For Those Who Died. Back to the tape in no time.
The band dedicated this demo to those who had died at the hands of the Christian Church, by war and inquisition, promising they would all be avenged.
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| Fragments Of A Faith Forgotten |
They also played occasionally, and on the 30th of September they played along with the new Hydra at the Mardi Gras club, recurring venue for them during those days.
On the 20th of December they would be interviewed by KERRANG! magazine for the first time (article not available).
1987
1987 begins and on January, the 29th, they play the Mardi Gras again. At that show they played two songs which were not included on either two of their demos and that would not be in the next one either. Those songs were BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (which would become The Church Bizarre, but with some changes) and KINGDOM COME (there doesn't seem to be any info about it).
Thanks to the astonishing promotional work of the second demo that Sneap (genius promoter according his pals) had done in 1986, the tape was sent to several magazines and record companies (among which were ROADRUNNER, STEAMHAMMER and MUSIC FOR NATIONS - MFN, for instance, answered stating that their songs were one-dimensional and too long), and Sabbat gained attention from TOMMY VANCE, BBC Radio 1's FRIDAY ROCK SHOW main man, and, by the end of the year, from Berlin-based then almighty record company, NOISE RECORDS, which expressed its interest in listening more of their stuff.
Tommy Vance, whom Martin regretted not having had the chance to know in person, as he was responsible for Martin's passion for metal music after playing OZZY's REVELATION (MOTHER EARTH) on his radio show, could not help but being impressed by what he listened to, and offered the band to record three live songs for the BBC, in London's MAIDA VALE studios.
They traveled to London (with their fair share of problems) by van, a rented one which a friend of Martin drove, because he was the only one old enough to drive who also had a proper driving licence. This happened on the 6th of February, 1987, and on the 27th, that session was aired on Friday Rock Show. By what I've read, a song called THE 13TH DISCIPLE was played, which later became Horned Is The Hunter, with different lyrics. The other two songs they played were A Cautionary Tale y For Those Who Died.
Kerrang!'s 135 issue (March the 4th, 1987) reviewed their second demo tape and the band was interviewed as well. Journalist PAUL MILLER still tagged them as black metal, besides highlitghing the very low average age of the band (19 years old). It is remarkable everything the band achieved during its short life, having in mind that by the time when its second and monumental album was released, Andy Sneap himself was yet to turn twenty, and the rest of the guys were more or less of the same age.
A copy of the BBC session was sent to Noise, because of said interest, and soon after the band was offered a record deal, which was dealt with from the 22nd March on. The deal was accepted in the end, even if it later proved completely not beneficial for the band. But back then they were just happy to be on the same roster of bands like CELTIC FROST or VOIVOD. The signing had to be delayed (until the 27th of August) though, for Andy Sneap would not come of age until July.
On April the 17th, they are again in Kerrang!, with a piece courtesy of DON KAYE (Newsletter Nº1).
Despite the lack of well suited venues to accommodate their ideas (besides those which had them banned), they managed to play several shows during the remainder of 1987, in Nottingham and the Midlands. One of them was a charity gig shared with some other bands on Nottingham's Clifton Campus (23rd of May), dedicated to David Halliday, who sadly had taken his own life in January.
At another concert (and twice more later) in Marquet Square, Nottingham (6th of June), they even played a cover of RACE AGAINST TIME's HARBINGER OF DEATH. This band, also from Nottingham, was a previous band of David Halliday that later would become Hell. This song, after many comings and goings and ironies of fate, would end up many years later on Hell's second album, CURSE AND CHAPTER. They also played Stranger Than Fiction (from the third demo). They considered this show as their biggest one so far.
In July, JOHN BLANCHE, from the mag WHITE DWARF, got in touch with the band for them to record their first single, BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD. Recorded during that very month (on YEW TREE FARM, assisted by PETE TATERSHALL and the aforementioned Kev Bower) and inspired by all things WARHAMMER, it was a flexi-disc released in November as a treat with the issue 95 of the magazine. It's comprised by just one lengthy song, which goes beyond the seven minute mark, and that is divided in two sections, called THE NIGHTMARE BEGINS and LET BATTLE COMMENCE. The track hints at what would be found on the upcoming first album, with a black metal feel to it, and two keyboard parts very similar to those that can be found in a KING DIAMOND song, which would be luckily dropped from their songwriting habits later on. The lyrics are inspired by the Warhammer universe.
From their holes and caverns deep, ten million orc and goblin feet. With hungry hearts and sharpened knives they come to take your worthless lives.
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| Blood For The Blood God |
On the 21st of July they played before six hundred fans at Zhivagos, Nottingham. This show was dubbed Satanic Opera by the band, and it was their biggest display of props (swords included) to date.
It grabs my attention that one of the bands they played with on that day, were the show headliners and Sabbat's heroes, Hell. No problem whatsoever, but for the fact that David Halliday, as I've said before, had died in January. There was even that previous tribute show in May. It's reasonable to assume that the rest of the Hell guys carried on for some months before they disbanded for good, and that's why Sabbat could play with them after their frontman's untimely decease. I just did not know about it and I haven't found info on that regard, but that doesn't make this fact less true. In fact, I've seen a poster of the event with the logo of both bands, which highlights that it was anopther charity affair in which all funds were to the burnt unit of the local infirmary.
From that summer, the Sabbat lads also highlight one show in Dingwalls, London (11th of August), with VIRUS. This combo had gone from being a punk band to a thrash one, and the audience was entirely punk and devoted to them, so Sabbat were mighty scared about how things could go. They had an argument backstage about the best way to deal with the situation, for Simon and Andy were not very much into dressing up, while Frazer and Craske were of the opinion that they had to remain true to themselves, no matter what. They were characters and they had to perform them, period. The last two prevailed and everything went just fine.
During that summer, interviews and articles mounted (second Newsletter in Kerrang! included), and the band stated its desire to get a visual impact as well. To give not only a mere concert, but a show in every sense of the word (Martin's eyeliner is to be noticed in the photographs from that period). Regarding their audience, they said it was mostly rock fans, with an increasing amount of thrashers and no spikey haired glam fans, who they didn't want anything to do with. They pictured a Sabbat fan as the average nutter. They also unveiled details about their first album.
As an aside, allow me to say that sometime between 1987 and 1988 the band must have dropped the dressing up thing, or whatever they wore to play on stage. I don't even know about the extent of this habit anyway, because as much as there are promo pictures of those days in which they used stuff like swords and the like, they did not look like dressed up, let alone taking the time (the late eighties) into account. On the other hand, they had talked about having used costumes on some shows, like that one in Dingwalls, whatever that consisted in, unless they were only talking about props. The thing is that there are pictures of them on stage, already in 1988, in which leaving Martin's eyeliner aside, they wore more or less regular clothes. The usual black stuff and that was it. Years later, Martin said that he used eyeliner by Hell's influence, and because he liked the possessed look it provided.
Finally, the record deal with Noise was signed, on the 27th of August, despite pretty much everyone telling them not to. Bands like HELLOWEEN, Celtic Frost or KREATOR (they even had the chance to tour England with the latter two, but it was turned down, for it would have meant touring right after recording the first album) were with Noise and doing fine, and beside, Sabbat would have complete artistic freedom, although they later discovered that it was for all the wrong reasons (Noise not caring for them in the least).
Also during that period of time, although the info about it is scarce and I don't know exactly when or where, Sabbat recorded their third demo tape, comprised by the songs STRANGER THAN FICTION and a slightly different version of The Original Sin (this one is a tad longer, due to a doomy intro, and has a worse sounding quality).
According Walkyer, Stranger Than Fiction is about humanity damaging the planet, but the lyrics are nowhere to be found. It's a long song with a somehow catchier refrain which in contrast, ends up with Martin delivering his usual venom in a way resembling something soon to be listened to on Hosanna In Excelsis.
The band discussed the posibility of including it on the debut album, but they rather use newer songs that had not been on the demos, and they also had exhausted the running time of the album. They though about releasing it as a subsequent single but that never happened. I can't find a decent cover to post.
On September, the 7th, Sabbat began a week of pre-production in London, with producer ROY M. ROWLAND, and on the 14th they departured to Hannover, where the album was to be recorded, and where they spent more than a month. The trip lasted a whole day, for the company had them traveling by ferry and train. As expected, that trip and their stay in Germany were plagued by stories and tall tales (Hitler included), for, in their own words, they had never been abroad, not even for a familiy vacation, and the idea of spending some weeks in Germany to record an album and party hard was rather appealing.
They recorded, went to Berlin for a photo session on the 7th of October, and back home on the 9th.
In November, Blood For The Blood God, which had been recorded the last July, was released together with White Dwarf magazine. Kerrang!'s third Newsletter is issued and the band is on METAL HAMMER. Before the end of the year they played Nottingham and Leicester, and discussed about going on tour the next spring with Newcastle's SATAN. This band would cross paths with Martin a few years later.
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| Sabbat, circa the release of their first album |
1988
After a photo session for Kerrang! on the 7th of January, Sabbat's debut album was released on the 15th. And this is when the good stuff begins.
HISTORY OF A TIME TO COME, was released by Noise on the 15th of January, 1988, and included all three songs from the second demo. It had been recorded during the previous autumn in Hannover, in HORUS SOUND studios, and mixed in Berlin. Roy Rowland was the producer and the line up of the band was formed by the four well-known misfits.
ADEPTUS GRAPHIKUS, a firm related to the Warhammer universe, took care of the sleeve and the drawing on it was called HORNED IS THE HUNTER (drawn by the aforementioned John Blanche).
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| History Of A Time To Come |
Both on the cover and in the lyrics, and also in everything related to the band, Sabbat's liking for paganism can be noticed, and that was something they try to delve into with depth and wit. They were tagged at first as satanic, and all those nonsensical clichés, but as Craske said, they were not such thing (but some details thrown in for good measure), but there was something theatrical within the band and also they were into religion, magic and philosophy, something they tried to make clear with the band itself and its music. Walkyer believed that Sabbat were into fascinating subjects, and none more so than magic. They did not have anything to do with satanism but they wrote about appealing stuff. They were not a black metal band either, despite some similarities here and there and the subsequent impact Sabbat had on that growing scene.
Music-wise, which is what matters the most, the album turned out to be an exercise in distinct and smart thrashing. The performance was apt for followers of technical thrash (among whom I count myself in), but without unnecessary and shallow displays of technical skill, and blended perfectly with witty and well-crafted lyrics.
Andy Sneap wrote all the music and Martin Walkyer took over the lyrics.
The disturbing and a tad long intro, HISTORY OF A TIME TO COME, makes way to A CAUTIONARY TALE, first proper song of the album. I'm not against these kinds of intros, if anything the other way around, for if they are well done they set the mood for the story ahead, and more so when it comes to Sabbat's albums. But I'd like them better were they part of the first song as well, both of them under the same title, instead of being different tracks. A minimum flaw in any case. In the intro, the invocation or main prayer from the Satanic Bible (a huge influence for the band, according to Craske) is listened, in the mouth of producer Roy Rowland.
As for A Cautionary Tale, is one of the three songs which made it onto the famous second demo tape, Fragments Of A Faith Forgotten, and it was also played for the BBC session. It's a fast number about the famous german tale of FAUSTO. This person was a succesful, as well as dissatisfied scholar, who made a deal with the devil, to whome he delivered his soul, in return for unlimited wisdom and mundane pleasures, thus being condemned for all eternity.
The lyrics develop a conversation among Fausto, MEFISTÓFELES as the devil's messenger, an evil angel who tempts Fausto with his own perversion, and also a good angel, who talks about the tale's moral (hence the title of the song) and the price to be paid. The phrase BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE, concerning all three tools which were used in the past when somebody was to be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, as a metaphor for spiritual death (Do the book, quench the candle, ring the bell ) is pronounced.
Bell, book and candle, candle, book, bell, forwards and backwards to damn me to hell.
The song is speed/thrash of the highest order, with plenty of riffs and tempo changes, a trademark of Sabbat's songwriting.
HOSANNA IN EXCELSIS improves the previous song thanks to the magnificent intro riff followed by an increase of pace at 24'', along with Walkyer's following scream of attack (Charge!), something that will happen again twice. Priceless. This track was also on the second demo and is about the last battle in Heaven, as seen in THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THE OLD TESTAMENT's last book and therefore, THE BIBLE's as well.
Walkyer admits that the story is told in a very imaginative way, but the lyrics are remarkable and proof that Sabbat were aiming far beyond the music itself.
In death our purpose is found at last.
Hark! The fallen angels sing: Glory to Satan our king, the Holy Church we thus defied, the usurper crucified.
Even if it's not one of my favourites songs on the album, BEHIND THE CROOKED CROSS is another thrash belter anyway, which provides the score to what may be the most interesting lyrics of them all. It's about ADOLF HITLER (without mentioning him) and his passion for the occult, and addresses the topic of whether he was a magician or a madman (the latter, no doubt).
The song is based on themes the historian GERALD SUSTER dealt with in his book HITLER AND THE AGE OF HORUS, which suggested a link between the fanatical dictator and ALEISTER CROWLEY's philosophy, who specifically saw the rise of nazism as proof of the coming of the Age Of Horus, as Crowley had foreseen. The crooked cross the title talks about would be, obviously, the infamous swastika.
Sneap believed they were very likely to be asked by Noise to change some parts of the lyrics, as the racial purity part for instance, and when asked if they were willing to censor themselves so easily, he said it was not about censorship, but about subtle changes in a smart way.
History repeats itself - of this fact I am sure - stupidity defeats us if its lessons we ignore, so heed this words of warning before it is too late, to preach the new religion - the philosophy of hate.
HORNED IS THE HUNTER has an amazing and quite enigmatic acoustic intro, which takes the listener right into a forest's glade and sets perfectly this story (with very long lyrics) in which the faun the title is about (who symbolises paganism), feels sorry for the state of the world where human kind man lives in, and paganism's fate after the arrival of christianity to western Europe.
It's the album's longest track and the storm comes after the calm intro, with a progress not as fast as in previous songs. but which speeds up from time to time, before a much faster instrumental section (after the sentence this is my history) which will be repeated at the end of the song.
As I said before, it was one of the three songs which were played at the BBC session, still known as The 13th Disciple. The change of name came as a result of the band's wish to leave satanism behind, to go in depth into paganism. The band agrees on the fact that this was the song which changed the most (also music-wise) since its inception.
His name is eternal, his power unknown, the ruler paternal, he watches alone, as great cities tumble and empires fall, amidst this confusion the Hunter stands tall.
I FOR AN EYE may be the most furious and fastest song on the album, although every song is quite similar in this regard. The drum intro is a bit deceptive, and paves the way to this story about LUCIFER, the fallen angel, that soon after goes at full throttle and, as happened in A Cautionary Tale, hosts a little stage play in which God, a choir of righteous angels, Lucifer himself and an intermediate storytelling take part.
God condemns Lucifer to hell, and Lucifer states that if God says he's the Devil, so be it. That's when the storytelling begins during a slower part which becomes even faster than in the beginning, before Lucifer goes back on stage to assure eternal suffering.
The pun in the title would end up being something recurrent when it came to song naming during the next chapter in Walkyer's career, SKYCLAD.
This tale I tell, that all may see... behind God's truth lurks treachery.
It soothes my heart to see you cry, when I'm done you will learn as I... to suffer in Hell.
The last of the songs from Fragments Of A Faith Forgotten, which was also played for the BBC, is FOR THOSE WHO DIED, one of their most beloved and best-known classics.
In fact, the english band CRADLE OF FILTH did a cover of this song to include it on some editions of their album MIDIAN (2000), which even had Martin Walkyer as guest vocalist. Martin himself told how, while in the studio with them (I believe that was during the mixing of THORNOGRAPHY - 2006), there was a barbacue due to Andy's birthday to which Martin had assisted as well (he worked with them again on one of the album's songs, THE SNAKE-EYE AND THE VENOMOUS), some members of Cradle Of Filth encouraged the guys to get together again as Sabbat. That was how and when the reunion of the band in the twenty-first century was born (beginning as Cradle Of Filth's opening act), about which I'll talk further ahead.
The song begins with a brief spoken part, in which some judge (Roy, the producer), accuses someone (Martin) of heresy and witchcraft, before asking him how he pleads. The accused pleads innocent.
You stand before this court accused of heresy and witchcraft. How do you plead? Not guilty!
The song talks about the catholic inquisition in the Middle Ages, the alleged witchcraft and the witch burnings (as the song asserts, proven guilty or not). The lyrics also deal with the issue of forced confessions through torture, and the hypocrisy that talking about a merciful god while killing in his name involves.
Our tongues they could not silence, with their malicious lies, their unforgotten violence... remember those wo die.
The first riff is inmediately recognizable and makes way to a rotation between open chords, fast riffing and back again. Undisputed european thrash metal classic. Unforgettable.
A DEAD MAN'S ROBE is the one and only instrumental track, although Martin utters a single sentence (something like You shall never die, but I'm not sure about the first word), as a warning, which serves as a stepping stone for the song to go from an acoustic intro filled with the sound of rain and storm, to its raging and speedy main section.
Walkyer said they wanted the song to be based on the crucifixion, when playing it live. Its first part is rooted on one of Hydra's songs, SLEEP DISTURBANCE, and the storm at the beginning was recorded by Rowland with a couple of microphones, one rainy day at six in the morning.
The outcome is brilliant and the song seems too brief. One of the best on the album.
The double standards regarding religion take centre stage again in THE CHURCH BIZARRE (formerly Beauty And The Beast, but with some changes), the closing track.
Walkyer's lenghty lyrics, filled with puns and fixed expressions, along with his diatribes against hypocrisy and organized religion, are usual in Sabbat and would develop even further on Sabbat's next album, and later on in Skyclad. The lyrics to this song are one of the best examples of Walkyer's venomous poetry, and I have even read one reviewer say that lyrics like these made the rest of the scene chidlish and stupid in comparison. That same person also says that one can tell about Martin's passion for classic english literature, something that helps a great deal and that only the aforementioned Cradle Of Filth would ever come close to match. That's why that band mentions Sabbat as one of its main influences. The same reviewer thinks this album had a great, but not very much acknowledged, impact on the then budding black metal scene.
It looks like Craske and Walkyer attended one of the american preacher BILLY GRAHAM shows (???), with an open mind at first, but only to realise that there are many gullible people who give their money to people like him, in return for their soul's salvation, while said preacher gets rich at their expense. We are talking about people getting rich thanks to the word of God, and according to Walkyer everything circles around money, so if that is what religion is all about, he wants no part in it.
So the song tells a similar story, about preaching the word of God in search for material riches.
Bring on the dancers - bring on the clowns, who invite you to ride on their merry-go-rounds, they make the money and they make the rules, you born-again-christians are born again fools.
As far as the music is concerned, I must admit this song is one my least favourites, at first, but I don't even know why, for it's very good too. It is in the same fast vein of the rest of the material and once the song is over there's some time left to reproduce what these kinds of shows are all about. A wicked fit of laughter rounds off the effect.
As fun fact, I've read that Hell's song THE OPPRESSORS, is an arrangement of one of Race Against Time songs that Hell themselves used as one of their most popular live numbers for years. It appears that there is a riff in The Church Bizarre which takes after another one in said Hell's song, something Sabbat did completely on purpose to pay tribute to the late David Halliday the best way they could. But if that is so, I don't quite get the resemblance.
Those songs from the demos that did not make it onto the album, together with Blood For The Blood God, would still be played live while touring in support of this album.
The album was remastered (by Sneap) and reissued by Noise on the 27th of February, 2007, and had some treats as bonus, such as enhanced booklet with interviews and pictures galore, plus five extra tracks, recorded live at the Werner Seelenbinder Halle, East Berlin, on the 4th of March, 1990, during the legendary THRASHING EAST FESTIVAL, at which they played along Kreator, CORONER and TANKARD.
Those songs were Hosanna In Excelsis, Behind The Crooked Cross, I For An Eye, For Those Who Died and The Church Bizarre. Oddly enough, A Cautionary Tale (which was also played on that night, and was also on the videotape THE END OF THE BEGINNING, that they released in 1990 from that show) is missing (the only one out of all the songs of the first album they played).
Two of them (Hosanna In Excelsis and The Church Bizarre) were on THRASHING EAST (1990) as well, a joint videotape from that day, while Hosanna In Excelsis, I For An Eye and For Those Who Died, were also on another joint compilation of that event called DOOMSDAY NEWS - THRASING EAST LIVE, which was released by Noise in 1990.
I guess it doesn't go unnoticed that out of the four members of the band, regarding the music I've almost only mentioned Sneap and Walkyer. This has to do with what may be the only flaw of the album, which is the way it sounds, its production values. I'm not an expert in the craft of producing an album, nowhere near close, but as far as I am concerned, I think it could have sounded better. The bass guitar is really deep in the mix and it is hardly audible, and the drums carry out the work (properly, mind you, although I once read that Negus could be the band's weakest link, music-wise) but they are not remarkable. I'm not an expert in those instruments either, but I just judge according to whether I enjoy what I listen to or not.
It wouldn't be fair to demand a modern, polished, current production from a bunch of thrash metal newcomers in 1988, plus time and budget were understandably limited. All that would be soon improved. All in all, this album is proof of the thrash metal sound in Europe during the last eighties, and a cornerstone of the genre.
History Of A Time To Come drew a lot of attention from journos and thrash fans alike, because the approach of the band was unparalleled back then. It also sold better than expected. Andy mentioned that they were told the album was not going to be issued on CD, at least at first, but after a couple of weeks it had sold very well and he found a copy of the album, on CD, in his postbox. An ndication of good sales, isn't it?
In January the band kept on touring England and the fourth Kerrang!'s Newsletter was issued in February. They were also on the cover of that mag.
In February they played twice in Germany, but some dates around Europe, which included one show in London and went as far as March, were cancelled (reasons unknown). In March they were in Metal Hammer again.
While touring UK (they played on the 31st of March with the swedish doom metal outfit CANDLEMASS at the Hummingbird, Birmingham) they decided in April to recruit a second axeman. Craske said they'd had RICHARD SCOTT as second guitarrist and things had worked real fine, but Scott did not want to join them full time for he wante to remain committed to his usual band, NO EXCUSE, also from England. That's why they still had in mind finding another shredder and they resorted to SIMON JONES, who was with the english thrashers HOLOSADE (with whom he had recorded HELL HOUSE that very same year). Sneap said Jones' inclusion (aka JACK HAMMER) meant a vast improvement in the overall sound of the band. Jack played with them for the first time on the 10th of August, but the exact date of his joining Sabbat is unknown to me.
They toured England until May (visiting their usual spot, the Mardi Gras, too) and on the 19th they played with RUNNING WILD in Düsseldorf (Tor 3). That show was taped by a german radio station. They also played around Europe, with their concert on the 23rd of May at the famous DYNAMO OPEN AIR FESTIVAL (Eindhoven) being a standing out moment. At that festival they played with Exodus, Candlemass, LAAZ ROCKIT, TOXIC and PARADOX. It goes without saying that, being that show within a festival, and playing in front of 20000 people, that was their biggest and, according to them, best concert so far. Sabbat were very satisfied with the whole thing.
Still in May, the fifth Newsletter came out, and History Of A Time To Come was released in the States on the 31st (CBS). They turned down the ROCKFEST in Birmingham afterwards, claiming that they were headlining and by the time all nine previous bands would have played, people would be tired and bored, and more so if the crowd was not very devoted to thrash metal. Another reason was that they were flying to the States to promote the album, even if they were not going to play.
In June, an edited version of A Cautionary Tale, shared a split single with the german thrashers VENDETTA, which contributed their song AND THE BRAVE MAN FAILS.
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| Split with Vendetta |
On the 10th of August, Jack made his debut as the fifth member, at the Astoria (London), where they played with RAGE (with whom they would also tour in autumn, along with RISK). The kids admitted being mighty scared about it, even more than at the Dynamo, because, while it was true that both shows had nothing in common audience-wise, playing in front of so small a crowd wass stressful, because of being so close to the people, almost face to face. And besides, the audience was specially lively on the occasion, because mayhem ensued despite the band's calling for calm and peace. On that day also debuted Wildfire and The Clerical Conspiracy within the setlist.
The sixth Newsletter was out in August (the new member getting the spotlight) and Metal Forces magazine interviewed them again for its September issue. The interview took place while they were waiting for their turn in the above show at the Astoria, and they said in said interview that they wanted a second guitarrist to get a heavier sound, for having only one meant there was nobody playing rhythm during the solos, and that meant losing heaviness. They wanted to take their chances against Slayer and METALLICA, and they both had two guitar players. Jack would take part in the recording of the new album and he would even contribute some ideas. They said to be happy with how things were going and they talked about 45000 copies sold so far, even if they thought the sound of the album could have been better. The overall recording process.
After playing mostly Holland and Germany (with some dates in Luxembourg and Switzerland) during September and the beginning of October, they played in Spain for the first time on the 9th of October, in Zaragoza's patron saint's festival of El Pilar.
But first, they shared a story that took place while in Luxembourg. It appears that the last band that had played the venue at which they played was MOTÖRHEAD, back in 1981 (???), and the fans jumbled to shake hands and asked them if they were english rockstars, and if they knew Lemmy. They answered they didn't. People overthere must have thought that England was a town or something like that. But they said the swiss were very welcoming and kind.
The event in Spain was called ROCK EN EL MATADERO (rock at the slaughterhouse) and went from the 8th to the 14th of October (with daily live music, except on the 10th and the 13th). Rage and Risk played on Sabbat's same day, and bands likey Kreator, Running Wild, MURO or BARRICADA were on the bill. In Sneap's own words, Spain was very smelly (c'mon Andy, the whole country?), probably due to some trouble with the sewage system. The crowd was very enthusiastic, but that was everything he had to say about spaniards. Martin said the venue was a former slaughterhouse and they were scorted to the stage by the police.
Back home again until the end of the tour, in Newcastle, a week later. Newsletter number seven out in November.
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| Sabbat, circa 1988 |
1989
On the 22nd of January the band flies (at last!) to Berlin, to record their second album, after another week of pre-production in London. Sabbat were not very happy with the idea of spending so much time in Germany again, and this would take its toll, as I will proceed to talk about later on. But truth is, the album was a triumph and they ended up very happy with the outcome.
Once back home, they did a photo shoot at Stonehenge, which Noise carried out for a thousand quid, when they were asked for it that amount ten-fold, given that during those days that place could not be stepped into. On the 26th of March, Andy and Martin went back to Berlin for the mixing.
Newsletter Nº 8, out in May.
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| Already as a five piece. From left to right: Sneap, Jones, Walkyer, Negus and Craske |
On the 15th of May (I believe that's the exact date of its release) DREAMWEAVER is unleashed upon the world.
It's hard for me to start talking about this album, for Sabbat are one of my favourites bands and Dreamweaver not only is the finest hour in their extremely short career, but it might as well be my favourite album ever. As plain as it sounds.
Anyway, given that an assertion like that turns out to be very difficult to come to, and is subjected to change because of many reasons, I'll just say that is one of my favourite albums ever, ranked very high in any case.
And besides, this record is a concept album, based on a book, which doubles the feat. On one hand, I believe it was one of the first concept albums in all thrash, if not the first, and on the other, having an album or a song which delves into literature or history is one of the things I enjoy the most, as far as music is concerned. For all this, the fact that Sabbat were capable of composing and recording an album like this, basing it on a novel which I happened to quite like it when I read it, deserves my upmost respect and gives the achievement extra credit for being something that goes far beyond music itself.
Even though History Of A Time To Come is essential listening and an album tough to be surpassed, Dreamweaver outdoes it in every possible field. Everything that seemed difficult to improve on the debut gets an even better treatment here. And in spades. And by this I don't mean that every single song on the album is better than any song on the first one. Not necessarily. I just happen to be of the opinion that the second album is a much better record (if at all possible), better sounding and also based on a very appealing subject. Just my own personal opinion.
As I said before, the album is based on a book, which is no other than THE WAY OF WYRD: TALES OF AN ANGLO-SAXON SORCERER (1983), written by the british psychologist BRIAN BATES. It can be summed up very briefly (given that it's been a long time since I read it) saying that is about WAT BRAND's journey, a young missionary from northern England sent more than a thousand years ago by his superiors to a pagan remote region in the south, to learn about the anglosaxon paganism and to find out the best way to convert its people to christianity. Over there he will meet a sorcerer called WULF and have his eyes opened to something different. The word Wyrd, which is referred to as a proper noun in the title of the book, seems to be the ancient english way of the word WEIRD.
I read the novel out of sheer curiosity, after having listened to the album, and I remember that I had to order on Amazon UK, for I don't think it has been translated to spanish, and I finished reading it during a trip to Holland in 2007. It's worth reading, no doubt, but if someone is interested, they should read it before reading the next review of the album. Spoiler alert.
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| My own edition of The Way Of Wyrd |
Sabbat making an album about this book only goes to show, once again, their inclination, embodied mainly by Walkyer, towards everything related to paganism, witchcraft, celtic mysticism and religious hypocrisy, something that was already shown on the first album. Regarding Walkyer, a close listening to the album is a good example of his mastery, not only to write witty and lenghty lyrics, but to sing them. It has to be really tough to do what this man does, let alone that fast.
The music is an endless riff fest, of which there are more of them here in a single song than what many bands could dream of writing for a whole album. This shows Sneap's growing interest in thrash metal with longer and more progressive and technically proficient songs, something that after having listened to this album a myriad of times, strikes me as extremely difficult, performance-wise.
Sneap summarizes very well this masterpiece in the liner notes of the remastered version: Martin screaming poetry over loads and loads of riffs.
The album was recorded in SKY TRAK studios, Berlin, property of Noise (the band wasn't very happy with their time in Hannover), and was also mixed in Berlin (HANSA studios), everything between January and March, 1989. It was produced again by Rowland, and a single was released (together with an issue of Metal Forces magazine) with the songs Wildfire and The Best Of Enemies, both included on the album. According to Craske, recording the album was very expensive, so it came as no surprise that they never overcame their financial issues.
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| Wildfire |
The line-up was the same as on the first album, plus Jack, who also shared songwriting credits in The Best Of Enemies, How Have The Mighty Fallen and Mythistory. The rest of the music is Sneap's and the lyrics are entirely Walyer's.
Sabbat are much more than just music. One of those bands that are enjoyed even before they are listened to, because of that pagan and mystical atmosphere that seems to surround the band, and which begins with the band's logo and ends with the lyrics. But leaving the music aside, the highlight of all the Sabbat's experience is Dreamweaver's cover, which makes you want to go buy the vinyl to enjoy the folder, even though you don't own a turntable. On this little beauty you find the name of the album in a circular frame, surrounded by mushrooms, plants and other creatures, and within the frame there are two people in the middle of the night, at both ends of a steaming cauldron, that I guess are Wat and Wulf. The former seems to show a crucifix to his partner. The smoke coming out of the cauldron shapes the figure of the faun whom Horned Is The Hunter referred to, and who starred in the cover of the first album.
It looks like the band asked John Blanche again to draw the cover, but after too much waiting they found themselves scheduled to record the album and with a drawing by Blanche which according to Andy could work just fine in a book of fantasy stories for children. They rejected that cover, but they did not want to work with a german artist either, due to the language barrier, so Noise put them in contact with TIM BEER (awesome family name), an artist from London who understood perfectly what they had in mind and got the job done in a single day. Craske thought the cover was perfect, because they did not want to follow the path of some other thrash metal peers. They wanted to be different.
And I guess that was the only thing that went, more or less, according to plan, regarding the artwork, because the pictures on the back cover were wrong and they had to be changed, after fighting with the record company. They also hired a german company to handle the graphic design, and said company made tons of spelling mistakes when printing the lyrics on the folder, which on the other hand, needed to be a gatefold due to the lyrics length. And the colour of the logo was wrong too.
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| Dreamweaver |
All those struggles make you realise the hard work needed to create something truly original, as is Dreamweaver. Everything related to the process of creation was complex and difficult, and even more so for a bunch of kids struggling to survive in the business. It was very expensive as well. Recording in Berlin and spending between two and three months over there did not help either. To add insult to injury, they had their fair share of technical difficulties.
Sabbat would have to pay their toll because of this, when it came to the stability of the band, and the increasing tensions within the band resulted in them more or less disbanding while in the studio, although they managed to keep their cool and prevent everything they had achieved from flushing down the toilet. The band recorded their individual parts fairly quick, but Martin took very long to finish the lyrics, for obvious reasons, and they all fighted each other. They had their complaints about Noise not being fair to them, given they were doing very well, and they would have also benefited from the figure of a competent manager, which they had not.
The album is usually known simply as Dreamweaver, but the full title is DREAMWEAVER (REFLECTIONS OF OUR YESTEDAYS).
As for the content...
Wat Brand's journey begins with another intro, THE BEGINNING OF THE END, which, although I would have put it together with the first proper song (as on the first album), is a completely suitable way to begin the story with (by means of bells, the howling of the wind and the cawing of ravens), besides being very short this time.
Well-being I won, and wisdom too. And grew, and joyed in my growth. From a word to a word, I was lead to a Wyrd. From a deed, to another deed.
I need to say that the first sentence reads Well be thy one in many places, but this other sentence, which makes more sense in my opinion, is on the non-official site of the band (on the other hand, I don't have the booklet at hand to take a look and dissipate any doubts).
*It needs to be highlighted the fact that, in the box sets with almost the band's whole body of work, issued in 2023 and about which I'll talk at the end of this entry, this is nowhere to be found either. Outrageous!
The last howling of the wind ends in the drum intro to THE CLERICAL CONSPIRACY, which precedes the uncontrolled fury of this song, something that nowadays I still find surprising. The riffing which goes after the main riff keeps on being really fast and you can tell Negus' double bass drumming is actually there. Honourable mention to a scorching guitar solo which lasts forty-two seconds, no less. I don't really know if that solo is shared between Sneap and Jones (Sneaps plays the entire solo in that well-known Berlin concert, but truth is, the second guitarrist had just been replaced), but be it as it may, that's a good crash course in how to make your instrument bleed, whammy bar abuse included. As for Walkyer, he spits the lyrics with so fast a delivery which is worth mentioning.
Undisputed classic and one of the best songs ever.
The song introduces Wat, on one hand, and the brothers on the other, who prepare Wat's journey and try to find out the best way to infiltrate Wat, so they can get the better of the pagans and convert them.
Still a young fool was I, when my story begins. Yet like all fools considered myself to be wise - a match for all things.
There is no way to fight a foe who strikes from the inside, and once within we can begin to smite this pagan pride.
Religion seems to feel the need to purify everything it does not understand, and to look for peace through war.
The clerical conspiracy begins, we wash away your sins, we come to purify...
Greet them with a velvet glove - them crush them 'neath an iron hand.
However, Wat tells at the end of the song how everything would end up being a mistake.
In my tale I will tell, how we all were deceived - for in truth I was hunted, not hunter as I had believed.
Unexpectedly, after the previous flurry follows an interlude which marks the first and only time in which Martin actually sings without forcing his monumental voice while in Sabbat. ADVENT OF INSANITY is a little acoustic piece which narrates Wat's journey south, along the coast, after accepting the mission. The accompanying stringed instrument (a cello, a fiddle... who knows?), the sound of the water and the creaking of the vessel's hull, create a superb disturbing atmosphere.
Martin wondered how people would react when listening to his normal voice, for so far, it was a take it or leave it matter, with no middle ground.
Wat ponders about what he has left behind and the dangers ahead, and he wonders whether his decision was the right one.
A sea breeze whispers softly, its song echoes through your mind, leaves you thinking of tomorrow and the life you left behind.
The waves upon the water are like ripples in your mind, and the shadows cast by nature show the future you may find.
Back to usual sonic mayhem with DO DARK HORSES DREAM OF NIGHTMARES? Not only it is a furious song, but also begins in so savage a way, in the sense og being everything so sudden and urgent at the beginning, that it seems as if there was some kind of hurry.
Standing on a strange shore - this desolate coastline, it offers cold comfort. Very little more than the sky for a blanket, the earth for my bed.
This song is in the same hostile vein of The Clerical Conspiracy, and contains another frenzied guitar solo, almost as long as the previous one and with the same features. I still remember the scare I got the first time I listened to this with a headset and appeared that sinister mumble at 2'37''.
Wat reaches the south and wanders fearfully the surroundings, waiting for his guide, who he does not see. He does't even know whether he had been betrayed or not. He falls asleep and begins having nightmares in which the spirit world contacts him. WODEN (the anglo-saxon paganism is polytheistic, and Woden, aka ODÍN, is one of the gods) welcomes him.
Welcome - welcome to my domain. I have been biding my time. Watching and waiting - but now you are mine.
In one of his nightmares he sees a horse head, staring at him with black lifeless eyes from the top part of a blinding totem, which mocks his condition. Wat wakes up and comes to the conclusion that God is testing his loyalty (chistendom tends to make God sum and substance of everything) and prays. But his sanity begins to wane.
Now I see that this quest is a test to my fidelity - Has God forsaken me?
The next day, Wat meets Wulf. In fact, the caption Wulf's Tale, sometimes goes with the title of the next song.
Who are you that walks across the graves of giants at this late hour?
This intro differs a little bit from what's read in the book, where Wulf asks who are walking by moonlight over the graves of giants.
THE BEST OF ENEMIES is the longest song on the album, and introduces the sorcerer (not a mere guide, as Wat had thought), who narrates the song. The bass guitar and the double bass kicks stand out at the beginning, until the song starts taking shape while speeding up helplessly, to reach a mysterious section, around the six minute mark, which even has some clean guitars and leads to another long and chaotic guitar solo.
I recommend, if given the chance, to take a look at the lyrics sheet, if only to realise the enormous length of the text (something suitable for almost every song). Martin states having needed three weeks to finish this song, working with a ten pages long text. According to him, the material was so good that it had to be done justice.
Wulf points out Wat's mistakes, and tells him that if he truly wants knowledge, is not enough to be told about the spirit world, but he has to confront them and experience everything for himself. The spirits will bestow wisdom upon him, but only if he shows determination and is willing to risk his own life in the process.
He explains that they both have the same life force, but Wat keeps inside what Wulf releases. The title of the song implies that both of them are the best among their kind, and that's why they have been chosen for their respective missions.
The threads cannot be broken, that have brought you here to me - and bind two foes together like the best of enemies.
The sorcerer also mocks the contradictions in Wat's faith, and asks him why he uses his god as a weapon (Wat carries a dagger embedded in his crucifix, just in case, something which seemed to be an habit of religious people from ancient times, I guess just for self defense), in addition to remark the arrogance of those who dare to pervert others' beliefs.
Why do you carry you god like a weapon - a dagger drawn ready to strike at the heart of a foe, when you don't really know the reason that you fight?
By what right do you presume to come and try to take my place?
But at the same time, he serves him as a guide in his learning about the spirits, and explains the way of the warrior to him.
When living your life like an arrow in flight, you must always accept that the end is in sight. Be grateful at least, for the fact that you knew, you came to death, he did not come for you.
Perhaps one day mankind will see the error of its ways, and in its future glimpse reflections of our yesterdays.
Enter the picture the spirits themselves in HOW HAVE THE MIGHTY FALLEN? As happened in Horned Is The Hunter (from the first album), they fear to be replaced, but they will do something about it.
This song is almost as long as the previous one, and as the other one did, it flows among fast sections, even faster ones and three bridges that fit the purpose of being a little break in between sections. Those bridges are known as Wat soul's lament, and while the first two are quite melodic, the last one (which repeats the lyrics of the first one) is as savage as the rest of the song and the album are. The song begins with a swarm of bees and a complex riff which interweaves, together with Martin's voice, until the song truly begins. The guitar solo is rather less chaotic and a tad shorter, but remarkable nonetheless.
Fun fact: I've read that the song was banned in South Korea, back in the day, for the powers-that-be did not like some implications inherent to the title (???).
Wat first meets the spirits (THE WYRD SISTERS), in the shape of the aforementioned bees, which in the book he is stung by, although the album infers that Wat has been poisoned and strangled.
Denizens of sylvan places, hidden from the eyes of man - courtesans with sylph-like graces, dancing to the pipes of Pan.
Drugs and potions surge within me, slowly paralyze and kill me - terrified I stumble blindly, into the unknown.
Icy fingers grasping madly - get a grip upon my throat. And slowly squeeze the life out of me, on my dying words I choke.
In the book Wat surrenders his soul to the spirits, and the album makes it seem as the death of its life force and the beginning of something different, that gives a new meaning to his existence.
I cast my worldly flesh aside and plunge into eternity.
Laughing through the gates of Hell I go.
The latch has now been lifted, on an ever open door - And peering through I see things, as I never have before.
Now my life is in these hands - that keep the seething cauldron steaming, stoke the fires of destiny, gently take me and re-shape me, all-wise smith of sorcery.
Woden comes back to remind him that there's nowhere he can hide, and that every deed has its aftermath. Incidentally, his second appearance explains the title of the song, where the mighty ones are those who speak from their pride while despising different points of view. That sums up everything that has happened to Wat and has led him there.
No curtain could conceal you, for the ghosts of all you slander - await you at your journey's end, and to them, you must answer.
Why do the mighty view the world through sycopanthic eyes - then claim to us they know what's best, from pedestals of pride? Don't take the views of others, and dismiss them out of hand - for when your pillars crumble, tell me, who will take command?
In WILDFIRE Wat traverses through the spirit world, and the title (according to Walkyer) refers to Wat's dancing between two wildfires.
This part of the story is told by a briefer song, in which a paranoid but rather catchy refrain stands out. The rest of the song follows the general tone, as expected. This is a thrash metal album after all.
Wat has to regain his soul, while trying to avoid insanity, and he blames Wulf for eveything that is happening to him, for he feels the sorcerer has betrayed him.
Protected by reality - yet you still fear the best in me. Your reckless tongue could be the key - you'll be the first to die if it breaks free.
Awakened from my troubled sleep, where dreams once lost as nightmares creep - to steal my soul and suffocate what sanity remains.
In the end, Wat realises that Wulf is only guilty of trying to prevent the clerical conspiracy against everything he stands for from being succesful, and has also talked Wat into opening his eyes in that regard. And besides, Wat needs the sorcerer to help him have his soul back.
How could you be such a fool, to dare to break the golden rule? Yet in the light of day I see, that you were right - the fool is me.
Despite all that, Wat is desperate and he again prays, but he's not even sure to which god.
I seek a release from this web of deceit - now my terror is growing.
Please God help me now.
In MYTHISTORY is again remarkable the fact that a song whose running time is under seven minutes has lyrics this long, with nothing to envy those of the two longest songs on the album, while being one minute and a half shorter. Unreal. The enormous task of summarising a book like that in forty-five minutes of music looks unfeasible to me. In this song the attention is again drawn to something which is classic Walkyer when writing his lyrics and I haven't mentioned before, and that I guess it has very much to do with his liking for classic english literature: his very usual using of archaic and literary english expressions.
A quite somber beginning, in which Craske's bass comes again to the fore, leads to a manic riff at he half-minute mark. Soon after Martin begins to deliver his venom there is a brilliant silence (56'') which comes before the fast section and which will be repeated by the end of the song. There is no proper refrain here, but some majestic parts in which a female voice (or several) sings along Martin (The Wyrd Sisters). The guitar solo harkens back to those of previous songs, with whammy bar galore, although not that fast.
This song is a prime example of the general improvement of the sound concerning the first album, and features a great job of Negus with the double bass, perfectly audible on this record. The lyrics, and Martin's way to fit them into the structure of the song is nothing short of amazing, even if there was already fine examples of that in almost every song.
By the way... when Martin was asked about the female voice, he told it was the studios receptionist's. Inspiration comes from the strangest places sometimes.
Wat has to do something, and has to do it soon. Everything seems to have been in vain.
I'm standing at the crossroads of my life - nothing to lose. Each path leads to oblivion, whichever one I choose.
For years I have waded, through bland mediocrity - watched my hopes sink in a mire of negation. Yet why pay the cost for a paradise lost when here is an Eden of Nature's creation?
Wat manages to find the sisters, and asks them to give him back his soul. They answer.
Sisters of servitude - fearful and fair, who herald good fortune and mete out despair. Take pity upon me and give back my soul, so that I who am empty may once more be whole.
Mortal be silent - take heed as we speak. Not lightly will we return, that which you seek. True wisdom walks hand in hand with adversity, knowledge exists on the brink of uncertainty.
A woman like he had never seen before appears before him, and he starts having feelings that had been repressed by his faith. He gives up to the temptation and justifies himself.
The moment that I saw her face, my lust I could not hide.
Sister, mother, virgin, whore - she is all these and yet still more.
She takes my heart - I take her hand.
And can you blame me - Is it such a crime, to crave for one small piece of heaven, that I can call mine?
The woman (THE FAIREST OF THEM ALL) talks to him to reveal that SHE's his own soul.
Brand look no further - for that which was lost can be found in me if your distrust becomes troth. I will bestow you with riches untold, for I am your harvest-home, I am your soul.
His soul explains The Way Of Wyrd to Wat. His mission to convert the pagan people has ended up being a journey of self-discovery. The hunter has been hunted. I'm not sure whether Wat comes back to the place he came from or not, at least physically, but according to what I've read it seems he did not and he devoted his life to traveling and learning the pagan ways. Years go by, he recalls those days and the woman sometimes appears before him again.
I've read someone saying that Wat realises that the true god is not the christian one, even though he doesn't repudiates or rejects his faith. He's just aware that he has been praying to the same god all the time, but with a very narrow mind about what that god means. But I guess this is subjected to debate, as is everything related to art and which gives us the opportunity to think and weave our own theories.
All that is left of those times are my memories, days long since past into realms of antiquity. Tales round the fireside, from old men who reminisce, speak of lost youth and the age of Mythistory. Many a cold winter's night she has come to me - easing my sorrows and soothing my fears. In the dreams of this old man, a soft voice still comforts me, made young once more by the words that I hear:
COME WALK WITH ME, THROUGH THE VALE OF ETERNITY, FOR YOU MUST KNOW ERE YOU GO... I GO WITH THEE.
The last track is a short acoustic instrumental called HAPPY NEVER AFTER. I tend to believe that the ambiguity of the play on words that the title is implies that Wat's future, after everything that has happened to him, is uncertain. I've written about that in the previous song. Just wild guess. Wat would go on to live many years longer, treasuring much more information about what to believe in or not. He would be doubtful and the vision of that woman would help him. But we don't know if he was happy.
And here ends this musical landmark. I have had to read stuff about the story and its connection to the album itself. The lyrics have helped a great deal too, and I hope I've managed to put together an overview as faithful as possible, given this is not an easy book to read and my memories of it are not enough to do something worthy. It's been too long.
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| Reflections of our yesterdays |
On a curious note there's also the song WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, which was in the booklet with all the songs Martin was to sing on the album, together with the above-mentioned ones and Blood For The Blood God. When it was written is unknown to me, and it has nothing to do with the concept of the book. As for Blood For The Blood God, it might had been re-recorded during the album sessions, but if it was, I don't really know what happened to the recording.
When All Else Fails is crossed out (along with a sentence that makes clear that this song would be on the CD and cassette versions of the album) in a promotional document issued by Noise for the press, as if this song was some kind of bonus track, so it's safe to assume that it was recorded, but if it actually was, that recording must be long gone, because it appears that the people at Noise lost the master tapes long ago. It was never issued as an extra track.
Apparently it was a song written by Walkyer during a rough patch of his, which dealt about suicide. Some kind of suicide note. And this matter seems to have been another reason for him and Andy to argue, for a friend of the latter had taken his own life a little before and that was taken its toll on the guitarrist at that moment, and he was bothered by Martin's insistence to even push the subject of releasing a song about suicide.
This song, with unchanged lyrics, was recorded by Skyclad on the band's first EP, TRACKS FROM THE WILDERNESS (1992). In this regard, the amazing song OUR DYING ISLAND, which is on the first Skyclad's album, WAYWARD SONS OF MOTHER EARTH (1991), has lyrics written by Martin for Sabbat, but which were never used.
I'll attach a link to both later on.
Dreamweaver, as expected, was also remastered and reissued as an enhanced edition with tons of pics, interviews and three more live tracks from that famous show in Berlin (4th of March, 1990).
Those songs were The Clerical Conspiracy (preceded by the intro The Beginning Of The End), Do Dark Horses Dream Of Nightmares? and The Best Of Enemies. All three were also on the aforementioned video The End Of The Beginning (1990), and the first one is on the Thrashing East video (1990) as well.
However, none of them made it onto the Noise's live compilation Doomsday News III - Thrashing East Live (1990).
Brian Bates himself admitted being surprised by the fact that many people got to know his book via Dreamweaver. Noise sent him some copies and he acknowledged Walkyer's mastery at abridging the book in his lyrics.
Sabbat had in mind shooting a video for an hypothetical single (Wildfire), because the guys wanted to promote the visual side of the band. The single was released, but the video thing never came to fruition. Sneap said there were talks about shooting a show at the Astoria, London, on the 9th of June, but that show would end up being cancelled.
They toured the UK in May and June, and on the 19th of June they played in Halle (Germany) together with ANNIHILATOR and ONSLAUGHT. They did the Dynamo once again, on the 6th of September, and they even went to Lourdes (there of all places) on the 9th of September.
In November, while touring the UK with english thrashers XENTRIX as opening act, Simon Jones quit minutes before a show at the Sheffield university (on the 15th). He would be later on replaced by NEIL WATSON (ex MILITIA), who is the guitarrist who plays on all those live extra tracks from Berlin (1990) and on the next album.
But still, the band soldiered on and played the show as a foursome. Sneap says Jack's departure was alcohol-related, and Jack would regret the form years later. In any case, his tenure within the band was quite short.
Aside: everything concerning Jack's leaving the band is quite unclear to me. On one hand, Watson would join them the next year, which leads to thinking that, given they kept on playing for the remainder of 1989, they did it as a four-piece, for Jack was gone by mid November. But on the other hand I've seen pics from a show at the Marquee in London, on the 27th of November (two weeks after Jack left the band down before that Sheffield show) in which he appears playing that gig, so it seems that he quit, came back and left once more. Maybe he wanted to help, despite the disagreements. That's all I know.
From the 30th of November to the 2nd of December they played in Spain for the second and last time, supporting MANOWAR in Barcelona (Palacio de los Deportes), Madrid (Pabellón del Real Madrid) and San Sebastián (Velódromo Anoeta). Craske's memories of Spain are more enthusiastic this time than those of Sneap's from the previous year in Zaragoza, in spite of having played while being ill.
Sabbat played England and mainland Europe until the 23rd of December, but I don't know how many of those concerts were played as a quartet or which, if any, for maybe Jack stayed with them and they were a quintet until the end.
1990
In 1990 Neil Watson joined the band, but Sabbat would not play until that famous festival in Berlin (4th of March), which was recorded and subsequently released in VHS (The End Of The Beginning).
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| The End Of The Beginning (Video) |
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| Thrashing East (Video) |
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| Thrashing East Live |
Tensions within the ranks had already begun to have an impact on the daily routine of the band, and seemingly they did not como only from a clash of egos among the guys, mostly between Walkyer and Sneap, but also from money-related issues. Sabbat as a band were doing fine, selling albums and merch, but they were not earning any money yet, suffering (in their own words) from Noise's very poor management and the company's complete indifference. Martin's impending fatherhood and the understandable need of income added more drama to an already dire situation.
And besides, there were the musical disagreements as well. Craske said that Sneap had been writing songs for a third album, but while Martin and him were expecting something more conventional, the guitarrist was writing even more complex and longer songs, which the singer found extremely difficult to write lyrics to. Walkyer also wanted to try something new and different, like the addition of violins, and Sneap closed the door on that from the get-go. So, while it was true that they all shared an interest in paganism and Martin had freedom to unleash his lyrical creativity, the arguments were mostly due to the music itself.
All this escalated to a point where the singer had enough and left Sabbat. In his opinion, the only way for them to begin seeing money was writing simpler and more accesible tunes. Craske thought there was no point for him in being in the band without Martin, given his charismatic persona. He said he was interested in being part of Sabbat, and not any other average thrash band, which was what he thought Sabat were going to turn into without Walkyer. So he quit too, and forgot about music for a very long time, even discarding an offer from EARACHE to join the english band CATHEDRAL on tour.
The break-up was a shock to everyone. But them. The writing was on the wall since the year before.
It looks like Sabbat stopped touring for the remainder of 1990, which means that the festival in Berlin was Martin's last show with the band (and Watson's first). In fact, I've read they had a bitter argument on the bus trip back home from Germany, for all the reasons already explained.
After Walkyer and Craske's departures, the rest of the members considered calling it a day, but debts and contractual obligations made them reconsider. So they recruited newyorker RICHIE DESMOND (ex DESMATRON and SUNKEN MEADOW) as the singer, and WAYNE BANKS (inexperienced at the time, I believe) as the bass player. In April (from the 9th to the 13th) they kept on working on the third album (IGNORANCE's bassist, STEPH BROOKES, helped with the demos). Walkyer was supposed to help (at least at first) with the lyrics and he announced that once his troubles with money were over, he'd launch another band, although it wouldn't be thrash (more on this later on, but I want you to know upfront that there seemed to be some contradictions between what the singer said at the moment and what would end up being the next step in his career).
1991
On March, the 26th, MOURNING HAS BROKEN, Sabbat's third and last album, would see the light of day.
It's considered a commercial failure (which prompted the end of the band) and also among fans and critics alike. As much as the former is true, the latter is subjected to debate. Its existence could be summed up in two assertions: the first one is that Martin Walkyer wasn't on it, with all that it means. Which leads inevitably to the second: it should have never been done, for Sabbat without Walkyer (or Sneap for that matter) could never exist.
It is true that this record, written by Sneap with Martin in mind, would have benefited enormously of the singer's presence. On the other hand, had it been released under another different name, it would have done much better, free from all the expectations and the pressure to live up to the legacy of the two first albums. I happen to like it quite a lot. It's not on par with the other two, no doubt, but it is a competent and unique slab of thrash metal history which I listen quite often to, even if it's weird to listen to Desmond when compared to Martin, for they have nothing in common as singers. It would not be fair either to blame everything on the new singer, for the songs are not as good as those on the first two records. This is a different side to Sabbat, with more prog sounding songs which also have a lot to offer.
Sneap said they needed to go on with Sabbat for all the aforementioned reasons, but also that, looking in hindsight, they shouldn't have released that album as Sabbat, for Martin had gone to create Skyclad, a band that Sneap thought sounded more like Sabbat than Sabbat themselves (I disagree). They tried something more or less different and it did not work. Sabbat's own history would end up disowning this album somehow, something which I'll talk later about.
Some years later, when asked about his opinion on this album, Walkyer claimed having listened to it and admitted there were some very good ideas, to emphasise the fact that had it been released under a different name it could have been judged in a fairer way and been more succesful. Sabbat was a band with very distinct sounding, and any change was going to upset the fans. Concerning Desmond, he thought they both were so different to each other that he did not think they could emulate each other in any way. That's why it was very unlikely that Sabbat were going to play songs off that album in their reunion with Martin on vocals in the 21st century.
For that very same reason, I guess, the few shows they played with Desmond at the helm went so wrong, at least when playing Martin's songs.
The album was recorded and mixed in WOODCRAY studios, Berkshire, between November and December 1990, and was mastered in THE TOWNHOUSE studios (London). It was released by Noise and produced by the band. The somber artwork was again Tim Beer's and showcased some kind of war memorial. When it was released Andy was asked if they had had some kind of pressure to play covers or include them on the album, or maybe shorter and simpler songs, and he said that not at all. They had not even considered that in order to increase their popularity. They had played IRON MAIDEN's THE NUMBER OF THE BEAST in the studio sometimes, but only as a warm up song to check that everything was in tune and sounded properly.
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| Mourning Has Broken |
I've said before that Walkyer was supposed to help with the lyrics, but I'm not sure this came true, and I tend to believe it did not. The lyrics on this album are not focused on the occult or paganism, to begin with, which is a sign. They also are much shorter and deal with somehow more current subjects, with a futuristic edge to some of them, something that makes them quite ambiguous to be understand. That's why I will only talk about the idea that I draw from the lyrics, without being sure about more valid theories about them.
The album begins with THE DEMISE OF HISTORY and its early speeding-up with the prominent bass guitar, before Desmond's voice enters Sabbat's history. I won't say anything else about his singing, apart from what has already been said, but is weird listening to a singer like him in Sabbat, for he is a weird singer in his own right, to begin with. His range varies from traditional or power metal singing to a more menacing and lower register. This song has several silences and shares with those on Dreamweaver that it is quite long and full of tempo changes.
As its name suggests (and is customary on the whole album) it has a pessimistic demeanor which I guess was inevitable. Negus stands out, mostly at the ending, where some kind of narration hovers over the tireless hitting of the drummer. Very good song.
Pro-creation, manufacture of their master race. Abolition of the meek, only the strong remain. God created man to his own uniform. Birth of a new world through adoration.
The song seems to be about the end of an era, at the hands of evil, and how faith was not enough to prevent it, although there is hope of a resurgence in the future.
Night prevails as a new day is born. We thought our faith would save us.
There's a revolution in the underground, escaping the terror that brought man down.
THEOLOGICAL VOID begins in a slower and more contemplative vein, again with the bass guitar being very noticeable, but picks up speed after the first verse, even though it's never at full throttle. And back to square one. After the fourth minute mark begins an instrumental part full of details, which paves the way for a guitar solo which makes you feel like being in a madhouse.
The lyrics are rather philosophical and seem to talk about a genocide on Earth created by humanity, and the creation of an alien and strange new breed.
Forever watched from the sky, report on mankind reads: diseased to die from within. We've condemned all next of kin.
Spawning the seeds of an alien nation, the master race, the pure creation.
PAINT THE WORLD BLACK may be, leaving the title track aside, the slowest and most somber and depressing song on the album. Its name says it all. In my case it is also the least remarkable song. Clean guitars prevail and there are even some keyboards (???). Not a bad or terrible song, mind you, and it has its appeal as a rarity in all Sabbat's history, but as far as I am concerned is the nadir of the band's career. Like a lament turned into song.
The lyrics are about someone who has fallen from grace and recalls their past with sadness, while staring horrified at their present.
His kingdom has fallen down, as his thoughts take him back - for one who once treasured life, now to paint the world black.
Luckily enough everything gets better. DUMBSTRUCK is a good instrumental song, with a weird and hypnotic beginning in which Negus' double bass is again of note. It speeds up significantly before reaching the first minute. The best moments, in my opinion, are those in which the band shreds its way towards the end, with no solo parts and not much complexity. Those solo parts come soon after and, as mentioned about the second song, they look deranged and over the top.
Dumbstruck's ending seems to merge with the beginning of THE VOICE OF TIME. The rest of the song mixes mostly fast thrashy parts and some slower ones in which clean guitars and some keyboards are again present, right before the frantic finale.
It's tough to discern the real meaning of the lyrics, but I think is about someone who has just died and beholds what they have left behind.
Like the dark to a dying flame, departing as the shadows came. In days to come you'll fly with me, joined in effervescent sleep. Shrouded by the cloak of night, coalesced as one until twilight.
DREAMSCAPE is the longest track both on the album as well as in Sabbat's discography. It's a fast number in which the furious riffing (even without the rest of band playing along) and the non-stop enthusiasm of the drumming are the standout points. There are again some minimal keyboards during some doomier sections and the solo parts feel again as unsteady and manic. I've never thought about which one is my favourite song on the album, but Dreamscape ranks very high and its nine minutes just fly by.
Regarding the meaning of the lyrics, truth is I have no clue, apart from the song painting a dreamy landscape, something among life, dream and death, as its own title suggests.
Wake me before I die, a death so calm when viewed from outside. Cast unto eternal sleep, reborn a void non-entity. Reminisce of days gone by, beneath the flood of the moon-lit sky.
The noise of an interference-filled conversation by radio plagues the beginning of WITHOUT A TRACE, another long song in which a more or less speedy tempo is interrupted by some clean guitar playing (those guitars might even be acoustic here) and the following frenzied guitar solo by Sneap. The sound of the sea finishes the song and connects it with the next track.
This song is about the squad known as FLIGHT 19, five General Motors Eastern Aircraft Division TBM Avenger torpedo bombers that, after a US Navy overwater navigation training flight from Fort Lauderdale (Florida), dissapeared over the Bermuda Triangle on the 5th of December, 1945. All fourteen men in the unit were lost, as well as the thirteen members of the crew of a Martin PBM Mariner hydroplane which was sent from Naval Air Station Banana River Base (also in Florida) to search for them.
One by one they're gone, from beneath the sun. Pulled within and never seen again.
Later on that fateful day, the rescue mission tries to reach the location of the five missing avengers.
Twenty seven people left, but at what cost? One thousand have since joined the limbo of the lost.
Sabbat once again finish off an album with a short acoustic piece (the title track this time), although this time is not entirely instrumental. MOURNING HAS BROKEN closes the album (and the band's discography by the way) on a gloomy but brilliant note. As strange as it may be that a thrash band ends an album with a song like this, this one is very good.
I want to believe that the title is a play on words regarding the sentence Morning has broken, which is the name of a christian hymn first published in 1931 (related to the scottish tune BUNESSAN), because of the need to have a song to be grateful for each new day. From that point of view optimism is drawn, but the title of the song turns it into the exact opposite, but this is just my understanding though.
Time has taken its toll, as the world grows old. The last words have been spoken. Mourning has broken.
As I have stated before, as mournful as the last stage of the band was, coincidental or not.
It's funny how something I recently read, written by someone about Dreamweaver, not only I agree with, but I also think it can be taken further, being accurate for all of Sabbat's music and even more so for this last record. That person point was that, leaving aside the fact that thrash metal is not for everyone, even within the genre itself Dreamweaver still isn't for everyone, as if wanting to point out that if you are into this kind of music and you want to dig deeper into it, you better start someplace else, for this record is not exactly easy-listening. I think something like that is even more accurate when it comes to Mourning Has Broken, an album difficult, weird and different.
I've already spoken about it being a commercial and artistic flop, but the artistic side of that failure is subjected to everyone's opinion and that sensation is very likely to having been reduced with the passing of the years. After all, the album has a mark of 7.4 on METAL ARCHIVES, based on five reviews, which is quite good.
As for what I said about the band's disowning of this album, it can be summarized in Sneap saying it is an album he does not listen to. He says there is some mad guitar playing on it, but if everything sounds thrown together is because it was. It shouldn't have had Sabbat's name on it.
In fact, Sabbat somehow denied the legitimacy of this chapter of their own history by excluding the album off from the discography on their extinct website. And it was also forgotten when remastering and reissuing their albums in 2007, something which I find inappropiate and pityful. Even the non official site of the band hardly speaks about it beyond putting their timeline together. And little more.
I bought a very cheap copy on Amazon UK a few years back, and every time I think about it, it makes me happy, not only for owning their whole discography, but also because I don't think it's easy to find nowadays. It's important to remark that the sound is nowhere near close to that of the two remastered albums though. At least it can be found on Spotify and ITunes since not so long ago, and that little something is more than nothing at all, isn't it?
Needless to say, in the reunion of the original lineup (plus Jack) they played no songs off this album.
Sabbat were scheduled to tour Germany, together with Candlemass, in May 1991, but everything was cancelled, I don't know why. They would play three shows in England with this lineup, the last three days of May, and those would be the band's last shows in a very long time.
Andy Sneap admits being the main reason for their disbanding at this point. In his own words, after two shows he was so disgusted at how awful they sounded that he decided that Sabbat ended there.
On the 31th of May, 1991, played their last concert, in Derby, and a handful of shows scheduled in June around England were also cancelled.
Sabbat were done after just six years, although to many people and to all intents and purposes, the end had arrived one year prior, when Martin had left.
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| Horned is the hunter |
LIFE GOES ON
What happened to the eight members of the band who took part on Sabbat's three albums, after the disbanding?
Martin Walkyer founded Skyclad, in Newcastle, together with the late drummer KEITH BAXTER and the ex-Satan musicians GRAEME ENGLISH (bass) and STEVE RAMSEY (guitar). This is what I meant before when I said Satan and Martin would end up crossing their paths a few years later.
Skyclad are still active today, without Martin since a very long time, but they recorded no less than ten studio albums (among some other stuff) between 1991 and 2000 (that's what I call a busy schedule) with him at the front. There is not much I can say about the last five, for I hardly haven't listened to those albums, but the first five (released by Noise as well) are overall high quality stuff with barely anything to forget about. They have been reissued not so long ago with the same treatment as the Sabbat's albums (bonus tracks, interviews, etc) and they are worth listening, above all (in my humble opinion), the first (with its amazing front cover artwork by artist GARRY SHARPE-YOUNG) and the fourth ones (Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth , 1991, and PRINCE OF THE POVERTY LINE, 1994).
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| Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth |
It has already been explained how Martin wanted, after Dreamweaver, to grow apart from what Sabbat were doing at the time (long and complex songs), to focus on a simpler and more straightforward songwriting, to earn some money from music at last. He also said that once he had solved his financial issues, he wanted to start a new project which he wanted to be a departure from thrash metal. And I wanted to point out that concerning these assertions, there were some contradictions.
I'll elaborate on this: Skyclad are not Sabbat. They share some traits, apart from the singer, as, for instance, that halo which seems to surround everything related to the band and made Sabbat so appealing. And music-wise they are not the complete opposite. But they're not the same thing either, not by a long shot, or at least that's the way I see it. Skyclad, somehow inadvertently, created (or at least made visible) that monster called folk metal, through the progressive inclusion of violins (how could anybody forget hits like THE WIDDERSHINS JIG or SPINNING JENNY), etc, but on their first records (mostly on the first one) remained linked to thrash metal and I'd be surprised if that had not been their first purpose when they began with Skyclad. Good proof is an scorcher like THE CRADLE WILL FALL, which, while not being Sabbat, keeps that furious and speed metal flair.
Although Skyclad would neglect the more extreme side of their music, while digging deeper in the folk one, they would remain a heavy metal band (and a very good one) and their thrashy beginnings can always be traced back to their formative years. That goes against what Martin had said about moving away from thrash metal, although people change their mindsets all the time and that is what could have happened to him, for the first Skyclad, as I've said before, shared some features with Sabbat and were still rooted in thrash.
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| Skyclad, during the early nineties |
And there is also the financial side of all this. Skyclad don't usually have songs as long as those on Dreamweaver, for example (their tunes range from three to five minutes long, with some exceptions), that goes without saying, but their music is far from being radio-friendly or subjected to chances of massive success, no matter how many bands of the same style would appear during the next years, when folk metal was trendy and at its highest. The fact that Skyclad began using some very non-metal (at the time) instruments was not going to help either. I wasn't expecting Walkyer to devote to pop or country music after leaving Sabbat, but in that sense, his chances to leave his dire straits behind were scarce. And that would prove true soon after, unfortunately.
Those difficulties were serious at the beginning of the nineties, with the birth of his son, which seemed to force him, in his own words, to quit music for a while until everything would get better, so the new-born situation wouldn't catch him unprepared. But in 1991 Skyclad had already released their first album, so that reasoning (understandable, no doubt) kinda loses its footing.
Skyclad's lyrics, although not as long as Sabbat's either, are crafty as well, and Martin's ability for irony, puns and social criticism through his lyrics was nothing short of amazing. As expected, his texts are head and shoulders above the average run-of-the-mill lyricist to be found in metal music and far beyond, I'd dare to say.
With all this in mind is a pity that, being that young, they couldn't or wouldn't be willing to leave their differences aside and carried on with Sabbat (no violins whatsoever, mind you). But at least we had Skyclad.
Martin, in addition to the several projects he would be part of and which will be talked about later, would also cooperate, on stage or in the studio, with some other bands, like the aforementioned Cradle Of Filth, SKILTRON, PYOGENESIS, etc.
Simon Negus joined a band called GLORY BOYS, which I know nothing about. Given that is not on Metal Archives I'm going to take for granted that is not a metal band (in principle, for the guidelines of that website to decide which bands should be on it and which not are sometimes quite odd).
Frazer Craske quit music completely for very long.
Simon Jones returned to Holosade, if not right after leaving Sabbat, very soon after, for the band recorded a demo with him in 1994 (A CIRCLE OF SILENT SCREAMS), which was supposed to become the second album of the band, something that never happened. Metal Archives also names a band called PHANTOM, but that is all that there is about it.
I cannot find any info about Neil Watson subsequent to his tenure in Sabbat, so maybe he quit music too.
Ritchie Desmond had recorded a demo called THEOLOGICAL VOID (no connection with Sabbat's song, as far as I know) with Desmatron in 1987, also playing guitar, and another one as a session musician (on guitars as well) with Sunken Meadow (INITIAL REACTION, 1990). He recorded one more (as a session musician too) in 1993 (just vocals), with 13 CANDLES (HAPPY DEATH DAY). And that is as far as my knowledge of his career reaches.
Wayne Banks and Andy Sneap founded the thrash band GODSEND, also based in Nottingham, together with IAN ETTRIDGE (drums) and ROB REID (vocals). According to Metal Archives, they recorded a demo called HEAVIER THAN A DEATH IN THE FAMILY (1993) and the EP titled GODSEND (1994). But I find that that info conflicts with this video I've found and I'll leave a link to below.
The description says it is a whole album called as the first demo, and recorded between May and August 1992 (it's also on the video). I thought at first it could be a video with all the songs from the demo and the EP together, but their titles don't match those on Metal Archives. Some of them do, of course, but there are others which are missing, and at the same time there are some other songs which are on the video but not on that website. And to add insult to injury, the video says the singer is one JAMIE SIMS (instead of Rob Reid), who does not appear on the web at all.
Everything is very confusing, but is just an oddity which has nothing to do with Sabbat. Wayne Banks has carried on with his musical career and has been really busy touring and recording with a lot of people, both as a permanent fixture and as a live or session musician. As soon as 1992 he recorded PREVALENCE OF PAIN, with the german power metal combo REPRESSION.
More about Andy from this moment on.
1995
During the first half of the nineties, Skyclad were the only meaningful Sabbat-related source of news. There was some gossip about Sabbat reforming in 1995, but in the end that amounted to nothing. I don't really know if that ever was an actual possibility, for I don't have any more info, but Sneap said Martin and him spent a good few years without talking to each other and that's why 1995 seems pretty soon for any kind of contact between both camps.
2000
After some more irrelevant years, Martin joins Cradle Of Filth on their cover of For Those Who Died in 2000, as I said before. That cover also appears on a compilation of the band called LOVECRAFT & WITCH HEARTS (2002), as For Those Who Died (Return To The Sabbat Mix), but I don't know about any differences between the two of them. The significance of Sabbat's connection with COF has already been stated.
2001
Martin leaves Skyclad and reforms Sabbat with Simon Jones and Frazer Craske. They also bring guitarrist PETE WADESON and drummer JAY GRAHAM (ex Skyclad) to the fold. They soon changed their name to RETURN TO THE SABBAT, due to Sneap preventing a reunion under Sabbat's name.
On the 25th of March, Return To The Sabbat begin rehearsing in Nottingham. Martin explained they chose that moniker out of respect, and their intention was for the band to last and to be even better than Sabbat themselves. He believed the clash of egos had taken the best from the band and had prevented it from being bigger. He wanted to make a record to make up for all those Sabbat fans disappointed in Mourning Has Broken. He also said they had asked Sneap to join, but he couldn't do it because he was too busy working as a producer. Regarding Simon Negus, Walkyer said he did not even know if Simon was still playing, and maybe he hadn't touched a drumstick in fifteen years or so, so the idea of recruiting him was not feasible.
Before making their debut, Wadeson leaves, and they play BLOODSTOCK on the 28th of May, in Derby. They played a few more times until the end of the year (out of England too) and there was even talk about recording an album, but it did not go forward. Before the end of the year Jay quit too.
2002
At the beginning of 2002 is Simon Jones' turn to jump ship, because of the birth of his first-born and his desire to focus on his family. By the end of January Jones is replaced by ANDY NEWBY, who makes his debut on the 12th of March at The Old Vic club, in Nottingham.
On a press release issued on the 18th of April, Sneap presented his side of the whole thing. He said that someone from Earache had talked to him about that reunion the previous year, and that was the first thing he knew about it and the reason why he called Martin to see what was going on. The conversation got heated and Andy told Martin they could not use Sabbat's name, for Martin and Craske had quit, leaving Andy and Negus to face debts and a lot of problems of all kinds (the main reason to carry on with the band and make a third album, which did not work), so Negus and him, in theory, owned the band and its name.
He also said that soon after, Martin y Frazer visited him to talk him into joining the new band, and he refused, for nobody had talked to Negus about it. He did, later on, and also had a conversation with Jones as well, when he knew Jones was also on board. Suddenly everything looked more likely, having even made amends with Martin on a personal level. He went on vacation with this in mind and answered yes, but also making clear that he could not be available a hundred per cent, so the Martin camp finally told him he was too busy and they were going to do it without him.
All that very roughly, but at least their personal reletionships seemed to having gotten better.
Return To The Sabbat kept on touring on a very relaxed basis until the end of 2002 (with bands like Candlemass, Cradle Of Filth or BAL-SAGOTH), and they did Bloodstock again on the 31st of August.
2003
Plans for the recording of a show the band was going to play in London (The Garage) on the 22nd of March, along with Bal-Sagoth, BLOODSTREAM and MITHRAS are confirmed. They wanted it to be released on DVD, with some extra stuff, through the Nottingham based company TB, and the provisional title they had in mind was SO IT'S DONE!
On the 1st of February they recorded three songs in London, for the TOTAL ROCK show, and that session was aired on the 21st of March (again in November, the 3rd). As for that DVD they wanted to release, they managed to play that show, but no video footage came out of it, although Martin would comment, in 2004, about the possibility of a very limited release.
On the 23rd of April, talks with several european promoters are announced, because they had the intention of playing abroad again, in countries like Holland, Serbia or Belgium. This did not seem to take place either, for the band played just a handful of dates before the end of the year, and only in England and Germany.
Which was going to be their last show (a Christmas party that Earache threw in Nottingham, at the Rescue Rooms, with DEICIDE and AKERCOCKE) was advertised in December, and the logo that appeared on the bill was Sabbat's instead of Return Of The Sabbat's. That show took place on the 22nd of December.
Return To The Sabbat disband and Martin starts the folk metal band THE CLAN DESTINED.
2004
They considered re-recording Blood For The Blood God, but that did not come to fruition either. Asked about a CD release of Sabbat's old demos, Martin said it was difficult, for the master tapes were lost and the quality of the stuff to work with was very poor. He said he was in touch with Andy regarding re-recording old material, maybe as extra material of some hypothetical reissues of the albums, but nothing was sure as of yet.
The Clan Destined released their only effort, IN THE BIG ENDING, on which Martin was flanked by Jay Graham, ISCARIAH (ex IMMORTAL) on bass guitar and rhythm guitar, and LEE CASSIDY also on guitar. It is a six songs release that Metal Archives classifies as a demo recording. I won't be the one to deny it, but it's quite shocking, for listening to it does not make you think of a demo, given the quality of the sound, more in line with a proper recording.
There were also some star guests on the record, such as Andy Sneap and the legendary american shredder JAMES MURPHY, known for having played with the likes of DEATH, TESTAMENT and OBITUARY, among others.
Anyway, there are later reissues, and the 2008 one includes the videoclip for A BEAUTIFUL START TO THE END OF THE WORLD, in which there is footage of the band playing at Bloodstock in 2006 (Metal Archives states that the second guitarrist on that very day, along with Simon Jones, was RON WALKYER, Martin's son). Taking into account that, as I'll proceed to explain later on, Andy and Martin worked on songs for this band in 2008, maybe that consisted in finishing all the songs that once were a demo, and that's why what can be listened to sounds that good, unlike what a demo recording usually sounds like, I mean.
On the other hand, if Sabbat's non-official site says that this project ends in 2005, and nothing else is said about it until 2008, where does that Bloodstock slot in 2006 come from?
The timeline of this band is a tad confusing so, be that as it may, this is the info I can provide the reader with, in the year the music was first released. More on this in later interviews in 2008, when this project started once again.
2005
Sabbat's non-offical website has a very interesting 2005 interview with Sneap (source unknown), in which he stated that Sabbat's albums were OK but looked outdated to him. He sounded more enthusiastic when talking about his job as a producer, but you can tell there was still some bitterness regarding everything that had happened with Sabbat, come 1990.
Martin's project, The Clan Destined, stopped existing on the 19th of April.
In November, ZERO TOLERANCE magazine issued a Sabbat's retrospective because of the 20th anniversary of the band's inception.
2006
2006 is the year when Sabbat finally came back to life with the Dreamweaver's line-up, to open for Cradle Of Filth during some dates in December (together with DEATHSTARS).
It all started in theat barbacue which took place on Andy's birthday (go back to For Those Who Died, in the History Of A Time To Come review) in which DANI FILTH and PAUL ALLENDER (COF members) encouraged Martin and Andy to reform the band. There were some difficulties when it came to contact the remainding musicians, due to most of them having grown apart from each other for very long.
On the 8th of September Sneap said that, despite having to remember the old stuff, they had rehearsed thrice and everything sounded very good. They were not thinking about the long term or even with what the future would bring (although they would have some offers to record an album). For the time being, opening for COF was a decent chance for the five of them to get together again and have some fun.
Martin denied rumours of Sabbat wanting with this reunion to jump on the bandwagon of the thrash revival which was hot during those years, and also the chance of recording something new, claiming it would be impossible to reproduce the frame of mind they had when younger, which made Sabbat's music become what it is. He also said those were very likely to be the last handful of shows he was ever going to play, so they struck him as a very suitable way for him yo thank his most loyal fans, and for younger people to see Sabbat on stage.
Before those three shows with COF, they played on their own in Nottingham (The Rig, Rock City) on the 16th of December. They were also on the Christmas issue of TERRORIZER.
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| They're back |
2007
On the 27th of February, as I said before, the reissues of both the first two albums are released. I believe that was the year in which I began listening to them (better late than never), although I already knew about them, mostly because of Walkyer, because I liked what I had listened of Skyclad until then (I recall buying the vinyl of their first album, Wayward Sons Of Mother Earth, in 1996). It is weird though that I can't remember where my curiosity came from, because I'm positive it was not because of those reissues and I had no idea about the reunion back then. I think it was 2008 when I purchased those two albums, luckily enough, for Dreamweaver is still affordable on Amazon UK but the first one is much more expensive.
Mid-April (on the 14th) they play in Germany, in the KEEP IT TRUE festival, and Frazer leaves the band right after the show. He said to not be motivated enough, in addition to (in his words) constant arguments between the usual suspects. His decision was respected because it was all about having fun, and if his mind was somewhere else the best for all of them was to leave him be. No rebuking or negative atmosphere.
He was replaced by the english musician GRAHAM (GIZZ) BUTT, who has played with many acts before and since (among them WAR DANCE, with whom Sabbat had already played in the past) and was member of the crew which aided Sabbat in those shows with COF. The guy is actually a guitar player (and even an occasional singer), so his joining the band on bass took Sabbat's sound to another level.
In interview with METAL CHAOS they talked about that, and also about the festivals they were about to play in. They said they would go on as long as they had fun and they did not lose any money.
Gizz debuts on the 7th of July, in the DAY OF DARKNESS festival (County Laois, Irlanda), and they played eight very well-chosen festivals before the end of the year, like WACKEN, in Germany, or Bloodstock, focusing on playing quality events and having more fun this time, according to Simon Jones.
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| With Gizz, second one from the right |
Linked below is this entertaining video interview (from 2007 more or less, for there is footage of Gizz playing with Sabbat) of an inspired Andy Sneap, made by journalist RENE ACKERMANN for the CONTRABAND CANDY channel. Andy talks about Sabbat's history and there is footage from the early years and of them playing after the reunion. The interview took place at BACKSTAGE studios (Ripley, Derbyshire), property of Andy. By the way, I'm pretty sure this girl, Rene, is one of the two ladies who appeared with Andy and Martin on the cover of Terrorizer that I linked above, on the occasion of them being interviewed for the 2006 Christmas issue.
2008
They played two more festivals in February (Norway and Germany) and in March it was announces that both Martin and Andy were joining the reformed (or should I say resurrected?) Hell. On the 9th of March Andy said that all those people keeping an open eye for new music from Sabbat should know that Hell was going to be the only project Martin and him were going to work together in, at least for the time being.
Kev Bower, Hell's guitarrist and co-founder, posted about the reunion and an incoming Sneap-produced album on his blog. He highlighted Andy's work as a producer, their mutual friendship and how he had gone above and beyond the call of duty (aided by nowadays technology) to bring the voice of long missed David Halliday back to life, so he could also be part of this project. Walkyer was going to be the obvious choice as the singer, because in Bower's words Martin had seen Hell back in the day almost as many times as Andy had, and he understood what needed to be brought to the table in that regard. And who better on guitar to replicate Halliday's licks and solos than his most notorious pupil?
I've mentioned before in passing Sneap's work as a producer. Saying he's one of the most renowned heavy and extreme metal producers is an understatement. In fact, this is very likely to be the part of his career he's the most famous for in the eyes of many. He's got dozens of albums to his name, be it as producer, mixer or whatever, and he's worked with bands as paramount and well-known as Testament, Kreator, ARCH ENEMY, ACCEPT, Exodus, NEVERMORE, MEGADETH, CARCASS, JUDAS PRIEST and many more.
He's got his headquarters in the aforementioned Backstage Recording Studios, which have been its stepping stone for the domination of the world of first class metal productions. This is not the side of his I'm the most fond of, although he has taken part in many albums that I like and this is obviously something truly important for him, and besides, I have no clue about what it takes to record an album and the technical aspects of it (beyond knowing what I like and what I don't, based on my own personal taste), but I have to talk about it, due to his reputation in this field of expertise.
He has even won a swedish Grammy award for his work on the album DELIVERANCE (2002), by the swedish band OPETH. He mixed the album.
He has also taken part in many side projects along the years, both as a session and live musician, or as a mere guest. He's got credits on albums of DIMMU BORGIR, THE SCINTILLA PROJECT, KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, etc.
Sabbat traveled to play the States for the first time in April (four dates). In a previous interview given to KEITH BERGMAN, Martin talked about this landmark in their career, Hell, the recent decease of his dad one year earlier and how this loss was related to The Clan Destined.
Also in April, he was interviewed by METAL COVENANT. The Clan Destined was again one of the topics, as well as religion, literature and the USA.
After their stay in the USA, Martin talked about it with SUITE 101. Regarding an hypothetical new album of Sabbat, commented that, when Andy and him had talked about it they both agreed that it was a pity the band couldn't have done a third album (with Martin) when they were younger, but there was no way they could do that now, for many years had gone by and they had a different mindset. Trying to regain what they once had would be something contrived and only feasible taking how the band would have evolved into account, and this would mean something completely different. Maybe a project like The Clan Destined, but the fans would never accept that as the same band.
On the 8th of June Sabbat played London again (Scala). They would play once more in 2008, in the dutch festival LOUD FROM THE SOUTH, in Eindhoven (30th of August).
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| Circa 2008 |
Before the end of the year, Martin and Andy finished material for The Clan Destined, and Martin did his vocal parts for Hell's album. But the outcome was not the one they were expecting and the band said the whole thing sounded more like a bunch of unreleased Sabbat's throwaways than what Hell should sound like. Martin was replaced by actor DAVID BOWER, Kev's brother (more on this at the right time).
2009
On the 22nd of February they played the HELLFIRE festival in London (Carling Academy), but his show in Wales' HAMMERFEAST, scheduled on the 24th or 25th, April, was canceled, because Andy had to produce Megadeth's ENDGAME (2009).
They visited Athens on the 8th of May, together with Exodus and ENTOMBED, and they closed the year playing-wise, with a slot in England's DOWNLOAD (former DONINGTON PARK) on the 14th of June.
Martin devoted himself again to The Clan Destined and Frazer Craske joined the London-based death metal band RAVENS CREED, with whom he did a couple of studio albums, among other stuff.
2010
In April they were to play four dates in the UK, with Arch Enemy and ENSLAVED, but they were called off (reasons unknown).
In summer they embarked on a six-dates minitour in August, called MAD GODS AND ENGLISHMEN, in which they played with the english bands IMPERIAL VENGEANCE and CINDERS FALL. In an interview with CACK BLABBATH, Andy showed his satisfaction about the answer, even when it was during the time of the year when most festivals take place.
Note that Sabbat began to play Blood For The Blood God again this year, being it one of the highlights of their shows.
Asked (again) about Sabbat's future, Andy said he thought they were near the end of the road, for not many songs out of just two albums could be played, and that he would be willing to work on a new album were everyone willing too, but they had talked about it and he felt like all the work was going to fall solely on his shoulders, and that was not the way to go.
On the 6th of November they played the DAMNATION festival, in Leeds, and twice more also during that month, in Glasgow (Ivory Blacks, on the 18th) and in London (The Underworld, on the 21st), before another set of british dates with Arch Enemy (and CHTHONIC) would be again canceled, for unknown reasons as well.
2011
During the first months of the year news piled up but none of them were good for Sabbat's future. I believe the ending was something they all wanted and they came to an understanding about, and not something forced by problems as it was in the past. And namely Sneap had foretold it the previous year... Sabbat were coming to an end.
Sabbat's agenda ceases as well as their official website and everything Sabbat-related on some other online meeting points. Martin dusted The Cland Destined off again.
2011 is also the year in which Hell's music sees the light of day at last. My point is that their first proper album is released (although is weird describing as new or first something which had been developing since the beginning of the eighties), because they had already released demos in the past.
In an interview with METAL DISCOVERY, Andy talked about the reasons behind Martin finally not being part of Hell, besides admitting that it was painful to him to tell Martin that he had to leave the project.
This is why I think now is the right time to talk about Hell, for not only is something related to Sneap (and somehow to Martin), and therefore to Sabbat, but I also said at the beginning that Hell's story is worthy telling. Let alone the huge respect the members of Sabbat had for them and how influenced they were by this band.
Hell were formed in Derbyshire, in 1982, from the ashes of Race Against Time and PARALEX. They recorded some demos between 1982 and 1986, and a single as well, in 1983 (SAVE US FROM THOSE WHO WOULD SAVE US), but were vastly ignored by the record companies and the media. Despite those setbacks Hell developed a cult status thanks to the cassette trading.
They pioneered something as popular nowadays in the black metal scene as wearing corpse paint, and their theatrical side was remarkable as well, because they used fireworks and some props (exploding bibles, a pulpit with a gargoyle and so on), for the rejoice of the clergy of the time.
Hell were back then the aforementioned David Halliday (vocals and guitars), Kev Bower (guitars) and Tim Bowler (drums), plus bassist TONY SPEAKMAN.
After a lot of hard work they got a deal with the belgian label MAUSOLEUM RECORDS, but two weeks prior the recording of their debut album Mausoleum went bankrupt and everything went to hell (no pun intended). Despondency led Bower to leave the band (being briefly replaced by SEAN KELLEY) and Hell disbanded soon after, what led Halliday to take his own life at the beginning of 1987. The cruel irony of the whole thing is that Mausoleum would rise from its ashes in 2001 and it's still alive and well, working with many artists.
As I said before, the band came back to life in 2008, with the idea in mind of recording their first album, to which they would have the help of Andy Sneap as guitarrist and producer, and Martin Walkyer as singer. The Walkyer thing could not come to fruition, so a little bit by coincidence (because he was due to do just an off voice on one of the tracks), entered actor David Bower (aka DAVID BECKFORD, Kev's brother), to do all the vocals and join the band as the singer. And what a catch he was! He may not be the best singer out there, not by a long shot (not that he needs to be either), but the guy is worth seeing, and so are Hell's live concerts, especially when the band has the chance to put into parctice their insane show.
Andy Sneap would also join as a permanent member and they made their debut in Nottingham (MFN Club) on the 20th of May, a week after the release of their first album, HUMAN REMAINS.
The band began playing some festivals and touring nonstop across many countries, both as an opening act and as the headliners, with many well-known bands like Kreator, BLACK SABBATH, SAXON, Accept, Arch Enemy, etc. Their album also got great reviews and some accolades and awards. Justice had been long due to Hell and Halliday's legacy and they were beginning to harvest what they had always deserved.
On the 22nd of November, 2013 they released Curse And Chapter, their second album (with the same lineup and produced by Sneap as well), and they kept on with their same busy dynamics for a while, until 2016.
Their current status right now remains unknown, and so it says Metal Archives. It's some kind of limbo, although it was said in 2016 that they were working on a third album. Hopefully they will carry on with the band, because besides the high-quality of their music, everything that has happened to them during this second era of theirs has been an utter success.
They also came to Spain and I was lucky enough to attend a show of theirs in Madrid, at La Riviera, on the 29th of November, 2014, when they were billed with Kreator, Arch Enemy and DRONE (I don't even remember this combo and I don't know who they are either, so I guess I was late for them). They played before Arch Enemy and for a very short time, only seven songs if memory serves, so it was not what I was wishing for in that regard, and it goes without saying that they did not have their usual props, etc, but hey, I got to see my respected Andy Sneap playing!
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| Hell. From left to right: Bowler, Kev, David, Speakman and Sneap |
Hell are not Sabbat. They are usually labeled as traditional heavy metal (and they certainly are) but they add an extra something to their music, and hints of thrash, speed, doom and black metal can be heard, besides using keyboards and samplers. Their show makes them play in a league of their own and you can tell in their videoclips and concerts. Truth is, famed danish singer King Diamond is what first comes to mind after having a first visual contact with Hell.
They do share with Sabbat those multiple tempo changes within their songs and their inclination to the theatrical, which while in Sabbat was a tad restrained and secondary, in Hell is another level. I've never been fond of bands using make-up or costumes (leaving what I think of their music aside), and I'm more into the music itself, but Hell are an obvious exception, for they are very good music-wise and they are quite an experience as well (videos linked below, highlighting a live one).
Regarding the lyrics they also share some topics with Sabbat, such as history, religion, the occult, etc.
Both albums (released by NUCLEAR BLAST) are comprised mostly of songs from their first era (the first one in its entirety and I believe there are four old songs on the second), with modern sound and new arrangements, and that's why if they ever record again they will have the task of writing a whole album of new stuff. Both albums are very enjoyable and the editions I bought back in the day are a treat, for they both are packed with extra stuff.
On Human Remains, there is a second disc with demos recorded between 1982 and 1986, with Halliday's vocals. I'm leaving a link to its Wikipedia site, because the effort the band put into the whole thing to do Halliday some justice (at many levels) is really praiseworthy, and speaks volumes about the respect and the affection which surrounds this project (the liner notes are very telling about all this). They even split the royalties in six parts so one of them could go to David's family.
Not to mention the huge amount of details and stories related to the cover and the recording process. It's worth reading.
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| Human Remains |
Curse And Chapter's special edition contains another huge booklet and also a very good live DVD. And I happen to like its cover (the artist was DAN GOLDSWORTHY, who was also in charge of the first album's front cover artwork) even better than the one on Human Remains.
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| Curs & Chapter |
I'll finish this chapter about Hell by saying that the first album runs as just one single and very long song, with no interruptions between tracks and many spoken interludes between them, something that can also be found on almost the whole second album. The ending of the last song on the first album connects with the beginning of the first song on the second.
DARKHANGEL / LIVE AT BLOODSTOCK - 2013 (stilts, horns and fire included)
2012
No news from Sabbat. Hell would be riding their wave of success for a few years.
As for Martin, due to the lack of progress (once again) of TCD, he started another project called MARTIN WALKYER'S SKYCLAD (because Skyclad themselves, as far as I know, have always remained active) which I'm not sure it even managed to play any shows.
2013
What I'm about to comment makes me feel embarrased for them, but it's Sabbat-related anyway. In fact, it's Sabbat at its purest, unfortunately.
Apparently, in March 2013, Andy Sneap and Martin Walkyer had a chat via Facebook (which means within reach of anyone following them) which ended up being a heated quarrel about Hell, money, the past... you name it. It also had a mediator (James Murphy), and it began with a sudden post from Martin badmouthing Sneap and calling him a money-grabber.
Well, to each their own. That argument is public for everyone to see and judge for themselves. They behave like kids sometimes, and it's a shame. Martin finished his stellar performance saying he'd just written his memoirs, called SOMETHING FOR THE WEAKENED, in which he promised to kick some major asses, before deleting the entire thread.
I don't know what happened to those memoirs but I'm not aware of them having been published.
Martin starts his umpteenth project, MARTIN WALKYER GOES SKYCLAD, with the italian band ELVENKING as backing band. I don't know neither what happened to Martin Walkyer's Skyclad, nor why one thing led to another, or even the relationship between both bands, if any (everything it's getting a tad puzzling now).
2014
In an interview with DECIBEL MAGAZINE that Andy did in January, he confirmed that Sabbat were again a thing of the past.
Martin bagan selling, via some friend of his, Sabbat-related stuff of his property on Ebay.
Some Martin Walkyer Goes Skyclad dates were postponed to February and Elvenking left the project, so Martin started singing Venom covers with the english thrash band M-PIRE OF EVIL as backing musicians.
Is it me or there is always something weird going on with this fella? I've already said I think he's a genius when it comes to his work, and I dare not pointing him out as the culprit of everything weird or wrong that has taken place in the little big history of Sabbat, but at the same time so much instability regarding his bands, so many comings and goings and so much unfinished stuff, make me think that there must be something in his personality which prevents everything from reaching a happy ending.
During the summer it was Simon Negus who started auctioning Sabbat stuff and Andy, in a chat with the TALKING BOLLOCKS podcast, stated that Sabbat were over and he was happy with Hell. He though it was for the best that Martin and him would go on separate ways
2015
2015 was completely hogged by Martin, news-wise, with some more of his ups and downs and projects doomed before they even started.
He joined THE DEAD SOUL COMMUNION in January, a new band founded by guitarrist DANIEL FINCH (ex DEVILMENT), with plans to perhaps record an album in the short term. He also dusted off Martin Walkyer Goes Skyclad in April, with new members, besides saying in June that he missed the good old days of Return To The Sabbat, when he enjoyed playing the old Sabbat songs even more that he did when Sabbat themselves reformed.
In July it was announced that he was writing material for The Dead Soul Communion, but before the end of the year he'd already left that band (I cannot believe it).
In October he sang in the last show of Martin Walkyer Goes Skyclad, at the english festival BEERMAGEDDON (Worcestershire). Nothing new concerning The Clan Destined.
2016
The only relevant news (and not very much) of the year regarding Sabbat (apart from Andy's work as a producer and with Hell), were that Neil Watson sold his copy (one out of only five, I believe) of the instrumental demo previous to Mourning Has Broken, that one recorded by Sneap in April 1990. It was comprised by five songs on which, as it was said before, Steph Brookes played bass.
Those songs were (according to the names on the tape, whose title was MOUNING DEMO, instead of Mourning, but it's unknown whether it was an error or a joke) Without Trace, Voice Of Time, Paint The World Black, Demise Of History and Dreamscape.
RICHIE DESMOND would sing those songs on his own, in a New York studio, and that was his first step to be in the band.
At this point in time is crystal clear that Sabbat are something of the past, and they are very likely to remain like that. Apart from bootlegs and memorabilia which see the light of day, there are only a couple of things to highlight during the last five years or so.
The most current, although less important, is that in 2021 Adam Firman has talked about the possibility of perhaps recording the old Hydra songs, once the pandemic is over, benefitting from the acquired experience and the current technology. He wonders what Craske and Walkyer would think of it or if they even had any interest. He would be all to it, because as much as he thinks he was poorly treated, he claims to having always behaved with dignity and having maintained his friendship with them.
Concerning this, the person in charge of the non-official website of the band, says that he has obtained from Firman the surviving unreleased Hydra recordings, something he's very grateful for. The reason why is that, according to this person, he thought those recordings were going to be interesting for obvious reasons, but poor. But it is the other way around. He claims that there was more potential in Hydra's beginnings than in Sabbat's, and highlights the band's confidence on stage, despite its youth and the lack of experience, as well as their rapport with the audience.
And last, but not least, the one thing that mostly explains why there has not been anything new or remarkable regarding Hell during the last years: Andy's joining the one and only Judas Priest.
It all started back in 2018, when Andy helped (as co-producer, together with TOM ALLON) the british legends in the recording of FIREPOWER, their brilliant and last studio album to date. It was released on the 9th of March, but one month prior, guitarrist GLENN TIPTON had announced that he was suffering from the Parkinson disesase and couldn't tour with Priest because his condition prevented him from playing the most technically demanding songs (although he made special appearances in some shows here and there, to play easier tunes).
That's when there was some controversy, for ex Priest guitarrist KK DOWNING, whose relationship with the band neither ended nor has continued afterwards in the most friendly of manners, suggested that perhaps Sneap could have contributed to Firepower in many more ways besides production, like implying that maybe Tipton could not finish the album or even play on it. I don't think that's true and Downing would explain his words soon after, but be that as it may, Sneap, out of confidence of the band towards him for having worked with them on the album, would join Priest as live guitarrist, along with IAN HILL, SCOTT TRAVIS, ROB HALFORD and RICHIE FAULKNER, with whom he fulfilled all their live commitments and still works with.
It's uncertain though, whether he's a fully-fledged member of the band or he's only helping them out with more or less involvement (Metal Archives says he's only a live musician). There were plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band in 2020, with a new tour which had to be postponed for now because of Covid 19, until 2022, and the band is thinking about releasing at least one more studio album, on which Tipton would participate, one way or another, despite his condition, and which is planned to have the same producing team of Firepower.
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| Pounding the world with the mighty Priest |
So Andy seems to be still busy with them.
I've read many Priest fans saying nice things about him regarding his tenure with the band, but also rude and inappropiate stuff about his stage persona or his chops as a guitar player.
First of all, I think that these kinds of things are more sensitive because of Priest being absolute legends. In all likelihood the most important and influential metal band ever. Period. Moreover, they also had Tipton and Downing within their ranks, who not only have remained untouched and playing on all their records since the bnd's inception in the early seventies until 2011, but also happens to be of the best and most famous guitar duos in metal's history, so any comparison is going to be a losing battle for their replacements in the eyes of the fans, no matter what. But I count myself among those fans and in my opinion there is no need to be such an extreme freaks.
Something similar happened when in the late nineties, american singer TIM (RIPPER) OWENS replaced Rob Halford for a few years. Halford's shoes were obviously very big to fill and the polarisation concerning Owens was extreme. Still is, with neverending debates on social media. As for the guitar players, Faulkner benefitted himself from the fact that he got to play alongside Tipton during a few good years (he replaced Downing after his departure in 2011). Fans were going to still have at least one of the legends on guitar, thus freeing Faulkner from some of his understandable pressure. But Tipton is not available anymore and that fact leaves Sneap in an even more difficult position, for none of the famous axemen are on the stage as the reference anymore.
I'm not comparing him to Tipton or Downing as a guitarrist, for that is a tall order. Not even to Faulkner, who is mostly the lead guitarrist in Priest nowadays, I don't know whether it is out of seniority, being more skilled on guitar or both. But I think is safe to assume that, taking some of Priest members age into account, and the state of things after Tipton's diagnosis, wasn't it for Andy is very likely that there was no Priest anymore. There are millions of guitarrists, but Sneap is not only that (which, indeed, is very important), but he's also risen to the enormous challenge of replacing Tipton without delusions of prominence and without wanting the fans to forget Tipton (a behaviour that would be both foolish and impossible), while knowing he's going to be the target of harsh criticism (something unavoidable anyway). And all this also means that other side projects of his are put on hold or forgotten.
I'm pretty sure the Priest family is very fond of him for all he's done, and I think that's all that matters. The choice is easy. Priest with Faulkner and Sneap or no Priest at all. Had there been more options, those must have been scarce. So badmouthing Sneap (or Faulkner for that matter) nowadays, due to his stage persona, the comparison with Tipton and Downing and crap like that looks laughable to me.
Maybe, when this is all over, Hell will again resurface (*so far, Sneap is still working with Priest, who will release a new album in March, 2024, called INVINCIBLE SHIELD).
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| With Faulkner |
And this is all that there is. I've written a lot, haven't I?
I have the impression that I've made some kind of diary, not very spontaneous, with everything that happened after Sabbat's first break-up in 1991. Truth is, I wish it had been different, for sometimes I think that I've talked mostly about Sneap and Walkyer's careers, instead of chronicling the whole band.
But this is as far as my writing skills can reach, and besides, the raw material is what it is.
At first I thought about shortening everything concerning those years, but I discarded it for several reasons:
The first one is that is many years what we are talking about, and that makes it quite a task to summarize.
There's also the fact that, if their younger days during the eighties have been told in detail, there is no point in changing the strategy to talk about the rest. More so when after 1991, bands as important as Skyclad or Hell (plus the Judas Priest affair) have taken centre stage, which is something important enough to not be cast aside.
And the most important reason is that Sabbat came back to life in the XXI century, and that deserved an analysis which was up to the task.
It's not exactly my case, even if the dates more or less coincide, but I'm happy that that reunion (even if it seems to have made the differences between the two main characters deeper) helped more people to get to know (and see on stage) Sabbat, a totally magical, essential and underrated band. The reissues of their first two albums also help, and as far as I am concerned, I keep them like the treasures they are (I'm not forgetting Mourning Has Broken either).
And I hope every link works properly, for some of them take you to Sabbat's non-official website and it seems to be a tad unstable.
Its contents sometimes pop up as they should, but some other times the link takes you to the main site of some kind of very stripped-down version of the web itself. If that's the case what needs to be done is searching for the topic the link was supposed to take you to, and when the next site pops up, you just go to advanced settings, so you can allow your device to enter that specific site. Next time it will all be fine. But anyway, this changes from day to day according to what I've experienced... the section which was faulty can work like clockwork the next day. And the other way around. Weird.
All links taking to any other place should work just fine.
I also hope this journey has been enjoyable, despite its length and the amount of names, dates and stories included. It has been for me. Definitely.
Sabbat is, without a doubt, a band for any extreme metal enthusiast, but also for those who look for something else in thrash metal. Despite the sometimes erratic, unpredictable and impractical behaviour of some of the main characters in this story, may the short but glorious life of Sabbat during the eighties (and their subsequent legacy) live on and go down in history as a tribute to good music. And to wits.
I HAVE WEALTH BEYOND MEASURE, AND MY TREASURES ARE WORDS, FORGED BY TIME IN A TALE OF SUCH BEAUTY THEY CRY TO BE HEARD...
MAD GODS AND ENGLISHMEN
The day is the 23rd, April, 2023. Almost two years have gone by since I wrote this entry when I receive a whatsapp message from my buddy JESÚS MAIDEN, as cool a guy as any and a very high qualified individual when it comes to metal music, warning me that on the next 19th of May, following the trend marked by recent releases by Tankard and Voivod, Sabbat's complete (almost complete in this case, because you can imagine something is going to be missing, and you all know what that is) discography with Noise is about to be released in a box set called MAD GODS AND ENGLISHMEN.
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| Mad Gods & Englishmen |
Anxiety gets the best of me and, after showing my gratitude for such a valuable and quick information, I begin to absorb details about the contents of the box, formats, where to buy it and, last but no least, how much it's going to be.
We are all presented with a superb opportunity to get to know this band (those who haven't yet), and the band with a chance to increase its legendary cult status (and who knows what else, dreaming is cheap), but it also means a chance to own Sabbat's most remarkable body of work inside a brilliantly presented Package which also includes previously unreleased stuff. And, now that I come to think of it, given that those two bands I have already mentioned have been given the same or similar kind of treatment and the fact that Noise International turns, if I'm correct, forty years old since its inception, is very likely that there are more of the same initiatives with some other bands of this essential label.
There will be a CD box set, and also a vinyl one, and the contents go as follows:
- History Of A Time To Come.
- Dreamweaver.
- The whole Live In East Berlin show in audio format for the first time (because almost the whole show had already been released, joining all the live extra tracks from the previous reissues of the first two albums, except A Cautionary Tale and Wildfire, which were missing) and, also for the very first time, the same show on DVD (the one which was, back in the day, released on VHS as The End Of The Beginning).
- BBC Radio 1: Friday Rock Show Session (previously unreleased).
- A book called FROM BARD TO VERSE, with lyrics and pictures aplenty (many of them also unreleased).
- A two-sided poster.
The Berlin show is a double vinyl affair in the vinyl edition, while the book goes from twent-four pages in the CD box set to thirty-two in the vinyl one. And I believe the first two hundred boxes of each format come with a patch.
Certainly great news. I would have loved that Mourning Has Broken would have had the same kind of treatment (or in the near future), but it's no surprise at all that is missing here. This, and maybe having remastered and added their demos and those few things they had prior to the release of their first album (I know that's asking too much but in Sabbat's case their discography is really short), would have completed a daydream release.
But I'm not complaining. Quite the contrary.
I had to wait until almost half June to lay my hands on both artifacts and, needless to say, the wait has been worthy.
I haven't listened to the vinyls yet and I still have to check the DVD but I will voice my general impression.
The CD's box was a little dissapointing at first, because the discs are stuck inside your average cardboard box with no lid, as it was an envelope, so you have to be careful to avoid dropping the contents, unlike those from the Tankard or Voivod recent CD editions, which you can open and close and are much easier manipulated. I was afraid the same was going to happen with the vinyl edition but no, this one has your proper box with a lid, and watching the much bigger beautiful cover on it makes for a nice first impression.
That issue is unimportant when compared to that of the booklet, or book in the vinyl edition, because I thought it would contain a biography of the band with pics aplenty (it was advertised that way, I think), liner notes and so on, but it has turned out to be just a lyrics book for both studio albums (with no intros, etc), with the credits, and when it comes to the CD's booklet the font is just too small. It gets better with the vinyl edition, because of the size and also the appearance, which is quite good, but I wish it had come with something extra, at least in the vinyls box, given both studio albums contain their own lyrics sheet as well.
The posters: the CD one is obviously not very big, although very nice, but the other one is quite something, for it contains a different picture of the band (compared to that of the CD's box) and on the reverse, the cover of History Of A Time To Come again, but much bigger and also with Noise's advertisements about the release of the album from back in the day. It has to be framed, and had it been Dreamweaver's cover it would have been much better.
As for the music, which is what matters, those three live tracks from the BBC don't sound awesome, but that is exactly what happened back them, so no complaintes, and this record is worthy as a curiosity, enhanced by the fact it contains the song The 13th Disciple, an early version of the final Horned Is The Hunter.
I like the Berlin album very much, because I have seen its cover in passing but taking a closer look on the vinyl I see the Berlin Wall with the album's title on it, while behind the wall the Brandenburg Gate is seen, but the carriage it has on top has been replaced by an image of Satan, or maybe Satan himself, beside the german flag. That's cool. And having the whole show from that day is the icing on the cake (A Cautionary Tale was only on the VHS edition, I think, and Wildfire had not been released yet) although concerning the DVD, Wildfire is nowhere to be seen.
Its contents are another matter. The set list is flawless, mind you, and it is fitting as a live document of the band previous to their first disbanding, but being much better, sound quality wise, than the BBC disc, I don't think it does the band any justice, neither as live performers, nor what's on the studio albums. In particular when it comes to Sneap's soloing (he's also very likely to having gotten better ever since), which is really hidden in the mix, and on the whole everything sounds muddy and very low, being difficult to tell the instrument from one another. But it is what it is. Nothing I did not know about before, for these songs, as already mentioned, were already on the previous reissues.
But the main point to me here, above all, is the impression caused by listening to Dreamweaver once again, while driving. The Clerical Conspiracy still remains one of the most brutal, stunning and honest (tag which fortunately applies quite often within the extreme metal realm) song in all thrash, and having the opportunity to own these vinyls, after so many years, is quite an event.
*It's February, 2024, when I devote some time to update this piece and post the pictures, the unofficial Sabbat web, which I have referred so much to, seems to have ceased existing.
Thanks very much for reading. I'll see you.
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Comenta si te apetece, pero siempre con educación y respeto, por favor. Gracias!
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