Christ, this is completely fucking vile, and I love every minute of it. From what I understand, this is a CD re-issue of SadEx's "The Magus" MLP with some bonus tracks thrown in. The thing that really makes my jaw drop when listening to this disc is the fact that the stuff dates back to 1986! It's really unbelievable. However, I'm not totally up on my SadEx history, so someone let me know if I've got that date wrong.

Even though it sounds like it was recorded in a decrepit bomb shelter under 14 tons of dirt and scrap metal, this disc is a fine slab of completely unholy blackened proto-death holocaust. Granted, you'll have to turn it up fairly loud and listen closely to catch everything through the miserable sound quality, but I think it's completely worth it. Most of the tracks completely rape and slaughter at high speed, with the ripping vocals of Rok blasting over the onslaught. SadEx was a fairly technical band for that time; some of the riffs are along the lines of Morbid Angel/Possessed, and it really blows my mind that these guys (at least in my eyes) never really did get the full attention that they deserved.

Admittedly, I could say more in praise of their early efforts, but instead I think I'll just sit back and blast the track "Sadistikly Executed" one more time while looking for some of their newer material. If you have a taste for early, raw proto-death, you just might want to check this one out.

© 1998 baalberith