Sabaoth
Sabaoth
[Stormsouls]
Does the idea of an 80's synth-pop influenced black metal band from Paraguay
sound good to you? No, I didn't think so. Unfortunately, this is what
Sabaoth delivers on their self titled debut CD. I've often seen many people
refer to newer black metal acts as "pop music," but Sabaoth is one of those
bands where that sort of description is wholly accurate. I'm not saying
that to just demean the band, but a lot of the material on here *actually*
sounds like it was lifted from radio songs that you'd hear in the 1980s.
It's really baffling.
As far as I know, these guys have been around since around 1993 or so, and have released a few demos before this particular release. What I'm wondering is this - was their music always so annoyingly happy, or was it just the excitement of getting a record deal that filtered through on this particular disc? For example, check out the ending portion of the first track; I swear I've heard that in an 80s song before. A lot of conventional rock-n-roll type chord progressions and cheesy keyboards pop up all over the disc, and they're usually joyful enough to make Dimmu Borgir sound like Goatpenis in comparison. Some of it is annoying enough to make you want to throw the disc in the garbage, such as the aforementioned ending portion of the first track, and the moronic and predictable first riff in the fifth track, which makes me want to scream in agony. There's also a keyboard part in the second track (it pops up around 1:40) that reminds me of U2 for some bizarre reason. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that these guys must listen to an overwhelming amount of 80's pop music. Perhaps there's little else available in Paraguay except second-hand copies of old Flock of Seagulls albums. When the music isn't busy being "happy" sounding (which is very rare), it generally meanders through completely uninteresting and uninspired basic black metal riffs. The guys are semi-competent musicians, and the production is decent, but the songwriting just drips of complete cheese. It seems as if they've missed the whole point of black metal and decided to write songs about how wonderful life is in sunny Paraguay on their happy little goat farm with the whole family waving cheerily in the background. As Brandubh would say, "BAH."
Here's the bottom line - 7 tracks (45:03 minutes) of complete garbage. Only pick it up if you've collected every mainstream pop record from the early 1980s, and just can't stand not having any more.
© 1998 baalberith
As far as I know, these guys have been around since around 1993 or so, and have released a few demos before this particular release. What I'm wondering is this - was their music always so annoyingly happy, or was it just the excitement of getting a record deal that filtered through on this particular disc? For example, check out the ending portion of the first track; I swear I've heard that in an 80s song before. A lot of conventional rock-n-roll type chord progressions and cheesy keyboards pop up all over the disc, and they're usually joyful enough to make Dimmu Borgir sound like Goatpenis in comparison. Some of it is annoying enough to make you want to throw the disc in the garbage, such as the aforementioned ending portion of the first track, and the moronic and predictable first riff in the fifth track, which makes me want to scream in agony. There's also a keyboard part in the second track (it pops up around 1:40) that reminds me of U2 for some bizarre reason. I guess the point I'm trying to get across is that these guys must listen to an overwhelming amount of 80's pop music. Perhaps there's little else available in Paraguay except second-hand copies of old Flock of Seagulls albums. When the music isn't busy being "happy" sounding (which is very rare), it generally meanders through completely uninteresting and uninspired basic black metal riffs. The guys are semi-competent musicians, and the production is decent, but the songwriting just drips of complete cheese. It seems as if they've missed the whole point of black metal and decided to write songs about how wonderful life is in sunny Paraguay on their happy little goat farm with the whole family waving cheerily in the background. As Brandubh would say, "BAH."
Here's the bottom line - 7 tracks (45:03 minutes) of complete garbage. Only pick it up if you've collected every mainstream pop record from the early 1980s, and just can't stand not having any more.
© 1998 baalberith