Review by Ben for Sadus - Illusions (1988)

This is shredding! For some reason I'd never managed to hear Sadus until the last couple of weeks. I'd always assumed that they were a technical, almost progressive thrash metal band, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Illusions is ripping, face tearing thrash metal in the style of Kreator and Sodom at their absolute fastest. Steve Di Georgio's bass is awesomely present. The riffs are one after another unrelentingly mosh worthy and Darren Travis' vocals are some of the best I've heard in the genre. He manages to sound completely and utterly psychopathic while keeping things together, like an angry Mille from Kreator. Last but certainly not least, Jon Allen's drumming is insanely good, managing to mix things up at extremely high speed.

The album lasts under thirty minutes, Reign in Blood style. And just as on that classic album, it doesn't feel at all disappointing that it's so short. It just makes you want to press play again. Certain Death, Torture, Hands of Fate and Illusions are all cracking tracks, but there really aren't any low points on what this blistering and thoroughly entertaining album. So glad I finally checked it out!