Sabbat (GBR) - Dreamweaver (1989)^{Release ID: 2932}

English thrash metal front-runners Sabbat & I have had an interesting relationship over the years. I originally came across them through their 1989 sophomore album “Dreamweaver” in the very early 1990’s & they peaked my interest enough to see me investigating their 1988 debut album “History of a Time to Come” shortly afterwards too. It’s been many years since I last heard the debut but I remember really getting into it back in the day. “Dreamweaver” has been the one that’s gone on to gain most of the accolades though & I don’t recall myself being quite as infatuated as a lot of the gushing online reviews I’ve read in recent times. I certainly enjoyed the album but I can’t say that I ever placed it in the top couple of tiers of the thrash metal hierarchy. It’s been a very long time between drinks though so it’s about time I reached an informed position on one of the more senior thrash records of the late 1980’s.

Sabbat had maintained a steady lineup since “History of a Time to Come” which can’t be a bad thing although they’d since added a second guitarist in the relatively unknown Simon Jones. I won’t argue with that approach as dual guitar configurations have always been the way to go for extreme metal bands as far as I'm concerned. Label Noise Records once again dragged Sabbat over to Berlin for the recording sessions & gave Roy M. Rowland another chance at producing the album following some presumably positive experiences with “History of a Time to Come”. Rowland’s production experience wasn’t limited to Sabbat & also included records like Kreator’s “Terrible Certainty”, Laaz Rockit’s “Know Your Enemy” & “Annihilation Principle”, Midas Touch’s “Presage of Disaster”, Pariah’s “The Kindred” & Satan’s “Suspended Sentence” so he certainly knew his way around a studio. I have to admit that I was expecting something a little cleaner when going into my first revisit of “Dreamweaver” though as Sabbat just seem to give off this proggy vibe which is more about their image than anything musical. The reality is that “Dreamweaver” sounds pretty raw with the guitars slicing the listener like a finely sharpened blade.

“Dreamweaver” bursts out of the blocks with the first two tracks being the most effective on the tracklisting & seeing me holding out significant hope for a high-quality thrash metal journey. Atmospheric spoken word intro piece “The Beginning of the End” sets the scene nicely before album highlight “The Clerical Conspiracy” sets off at a rate of knots & shows Sabbat’s riffs to be underpinned by a Venom-inspired speed metal backbone that holds both energy & urgency. Unfortunately though, I find that “Dreamweaver” never again meets the promise of those early moments, instead feeling a lot more middling for the remainder of the album even if there aren’t many tracks that I consider to be legitimate failures. The lengthy “The Best of Enemies” is the exception to the rule as I find myself getting bored pretty early on which can’t be a good thing. Some of the other tracks offer great sections but they invariably fail to deliver a truly compelling holistic package.

The concept album format, cover artwork & focus on Skyclad front man Martin Walkyier’s lyrics lead one to expect a sound that’s much more progressive than the reality which isn't all that sophisticated or challenging, despite the lengthy song durations. Walkyier’s vocals dominate proceedings as they’re quite distinctive but, if I’m being honest, he can be a little irritating. He kinda sits in the snarly middle ground between Venom’s Cronos & Destruction’s Schmier but potentially overplays his hand a little in the interest of the storyline. He’s also quite monotonous in his delivery so can feel like he's spewing out a constant barrage of words. The riffs rely heavily on aggressive tremolo-picking & sheer speed but are not as interesting as one would hope so the lengthy track durations can tend to drag a bit.

Don't get me wrong, “Dreamweaver” is a pretty good thrash record & I’m probably being a little harsh on it due to the fact that its merits seem to be so unjustly inflated. I’d suggest that you probably have to become involved with it from a lyrical & thematic perspective in order to reap its full rewards though as the remainder is simply not as classic as it’s made out to be. Fans of Holy Terror, Hydra Vein & early Skyclad will no doubt find “Dreamweaver” to be of interest but I can’t see it challenging the Big Four any time soon.

Sabbat were and obviously remain, the UK's best thrash band (although if Sacrilege had made more albums like Behind the Realms of Madness that may not have been the case). I was completely floored by their debut, History of A Time To Come and it is still one of my favourite 80's albums. Dreamweaver was the band's second and, unfortunately, the last to feature frontman Martin Walkyier. As much as anything it was Walkyier's dense paganistic lyrics and singular vocal style that gave the band their identity. Sabbat's other main man was guitarist and now much-respected producer of bands such as Kreator, Nevermore and Arch Enemy, Andy Sneap.

Dreamweaver's thrash is of the fairly technical variety with a certain amount of complexity to the songs. Walkyier is also a verbose lyricist, I mean, most of these songs have a LOT of lyrics which are delivered relentlessly and occasionally feel rushed in the attempt to fit them all in, Walkyier spitting out words like a machine gun spits bullets. As such, this is a decent record and does thrash when it wants to but, to be honest, it isn't an album that deserves the reverence that a lot of people show towards it and certainly not as much as the debut, a record I still believe has more character than this, with it's tendency to become a bit samey. 

Walkyier departed the band after this album due to a difference with Sneap over the more prog-oriented direction the guitarist seemed to be taking them towards and probably made the right decision. For me, if I ever feel the need for Sabbat (and I still occasionally do) it is History... I invariably reach for, not this.