Review Summary: It might be hard to come by this CD, but if you do and you happen to like death metal, pick it up without any hesitation.
Sadist, the Italian progressive death metal band have continued to make monstrous music since their formation in 1993 and on their third release
Crust they go a step further in defining their sound and top everything they’ve done so far.
The guitar riffs and solos oscillate between being too technical and too melodic to keep the album constantly feeling fresh as you listen to it. Add to that the jazz influences and rapid transitions, they manage to give every song its own personality. The keyboards subtly add symphony to the riffs for the most part and dominate with intricately carved jazzy melodies in the two instrumentals on the album,
Holy and the title track,
...Crust. The bass on this album is also fantastic, creating its bass lines and initiating the groove on many of the tracks.
However, what requires a special mention here are the harsh vocals. If you haven’t heard Sadist before you will find that his growl is quite unique. When you hear Trevor’s growl, you can probably picture a savage beast who can vocalize English and has its mouth oozing with saliva through its canines. He really sounds like a primal beast. On the track
The Path when he growls
‘With bites your stomach I chop’ you can hear through this voice the inhuman
hunger for such an act. Now that is something which really brings the music to life (or death) compared to the usual cookie monster vocals many death metal bands make use of.
There is not much that keeps this record from being a classic except for the fact that there are a few weaker and less memorable songs on the album.
Perversion Lust Orgasm isn’t exactly the best opening track and
Instinct (even though it has a killer intro) fails for not being able to live up to the standards of the first few seconds of the track.
Crust is an otherwise flawless piece of work and it is a must-have for any [in]sane death metal fan.
Pros:
Cool guitar solos
Brutal vocals
Haunting clean vocals on 2 tracks provides variety
Crafty songwriting
Cons:
Few less memorable songs
