Sadus - Out For Blood

Published Jan. 04 2007

*=Staff's pick	In The Name Of...* No More Smackdown Out For Blood Lost It All Sick* Down Freedom Freak* Cursed* Crazy

Genre	Thrash Metal	Darren Travis	Vocals
Tracks	11	Darren Travis	Guitar
Runningtime	53 Min.	-	Guitar
Label	Mascot Records	Steve Digiorgio	Bass
Release	27 Feb. 2006	Jon Allen	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Similar artists	Atrophy, Atheist, Cynic, Dark Angel

Sadus, the cursed, crazy, frenetic freaks of intensely stylistic thrash and frustrated aggression recoil and bite with their black march of aggression.. The slaves of misery have spawned more decayed outrage and despondent rancour with their acrimonious contempt. In the wake of severity, the Sadus attack has begun, and these sick seizure freaks are out for blood.. Prepare to be consumed and swallowed, in fact, as they espouse their new version of misery. Notice how the scathing musical pestilence and lyrical contumacy of these quixotic atheists is pronounced through their scorn for the manisfestation of inherent evil in a world writhing in a world, corrupted by its own deceptive perceptions.

These words of war may echo many a desolate anquish within, but has the band written the right music to match their mettle angst? Do they adequately thrashout their built up bitterness and hatred; does their brand of exiled metal substantiate with fear to fuel the fire, or have they lost it all? I have always been a fan of Sadus, ever since I initially purchased the thrash classic Swallowed In Black; which is now extremely difficult to procure on CD. Every Sadus release after this never quite measured up to their early efforts. Ten years ago, when Elements Of Anger came out, I was mega-saddened by its slower and more modern progressions. Losing Rob Moore as a second guitarist really depreciated their inertia and fervour. The keyboard samplings were totally unnecessary. After quite awhile, I eventually became accustomed to their new direction. This has helped me evaluate their latest in a new light!

If you are diligently reading this review, then you are aware of the protean talents of bassist Steve Digiorgio. If you have followed Sadus since their inception in '84, then you are aware of the screeching scornful vocals and scowl of Darren Travis and the - in your face - drumming powers of hate hammered out by Rob Moore. These three elements make up the entity known as Sadus. Over the past few months, I have not read too many favorable reviews for Out For Blood. This kept me from purchasing it for quite sometime. Most of the excoriations which I've perused are dead on. The CD is quite uneven, and lacking on several levels. The CD begins with a promising thrash blast, but the lyrics resound the overall feel of the album: "doomed to repeat the past"... This is the case as Sadus emulate their Elements Of Anger style with more slow chugging and atmospheric video game sampling on certain songs. The next few songs are utterly intolerable, namely No More with its Sepultura chanting and ranting, or Smackdown with its Pantera bellicose attitude and a hint of Exodus' confabulated disaster known as Throwdown! Lost It All's lyrics sum up Sadus new direction adequately: "Future's so unclear...unfocused path...". The track Down should be renamed Down-tuned - WTF! This is just sad dudes! Unless you love Hatebreed, skip this carefree dumb shit, masked as metal, which demands a facelift.

Out For Blood does have some ter-riff-ic tracks. Consider the titular squeeze with that Testament crunch and guest vocals by Juan Urtego. Crazy has some bass noodling and soilent singing by Chuck Billy on the chorus; as he grunts with Darren throughout. Crazy serves as an excellent closer for the CD with the fade out soul search: "Am I Crazy?" In the end, the CD is salvaged by four sagacious Sadus suggestions. Songs like Sick and Freak rip and pillage! This is how number one, I would expect Sadus to sound. Picture Dark Angel, Evil Dead, Defiance, and Atrophy with better production. In fact Darren sounds similar to Brian Zimmerman from Atrophy; and at times Jon reminds me of Gene Hoglan. Steve even pays homage to the unquestionable presence of Ron Patterson, while doling out dutiful deference to Tony Choy with his bassick offerings. The best song on the CD is clearly Cursed; a slower, more epic translation. It begins with a very arabesque element and Middle Eastern flavour. The sitar and guitar resemble Slayer's Seasons In The Abyss, and the subject matter is uncertain death. The bass crawl even reminds me of when Steve played with Chuck Shuldiner.. A limited edition also exists with three bonus tracks: A re-recorded version of Black March and covers of Maiden's Invaders and Dark Angel's Merciless Death.

Overall, I expected more of a rise out of these ex-posuers. I anticipated a more chemi-kill team effort from these merciless mentors. The images of speed overlap, and the dark reflections deviate. The key thrash elements are there, just not in abundance. When next these sad dudes are tormented by vicious visions or blind illusions; while creating metal disjunctions,, they should consult the oracle of omission; that they may understand what songs need to be removed from the final product; otherwise certain poseur songs will signify the imminent death of long term fans. In the name of all that is unholy from the bay area, the thrashing hands of hate hold tight their grip 'round the throats of Steve, Jon, and Darren, snapping their necks, breaking, and forcing them into submission. So please seize your freak; for we will tolerate this modern B$ no more!

Production	Vocals	Compositions
6,5	7	6

Summary
6,5 chalices of 10 - Michael the MettleAngel