Sabbat - History Of A Time To Come (1988)

Artist: Sabbat

Release Title: History Of A Time To Come

Release Type: Full Length Album

Release Year:1988

Artist Genre: Thrash Metal

Artist Origin: U.K

Track Listing:
1. Intro 2. A Cautionary Tale 3. Hosanna In Excelsis 4. Behind The Crooked Cross 5. Horned Is The Hunter 6. I For An Eye 7. For Those Who Died 8. A Dead Man's Robe 9. The Church Bizarre
Total playing time 46:27

When Thrash Metal started making shockwaves in the underground scene in 1984 and 1985 the main ports for the movement were the U.S. and Germany, and England after creating the metal genre was lagging behind with this new extreme subgenre and only really had one respectable name with the band, Onslaught. Come 1988 the Thrash scene started seeing copycats and bands simply taking the Metallica and Slayer blueprint and regurgitating it. You can hear an mp3 album upload of the track "Behind The Crooked Cross" above. This mp3 albums track upload perfectly showcases the quality on show here.

The UK band Sabbat appeared in the same year and were a real breath of fresh air utilizing pagan themes and an innovative lyrical approach from frontman Martin Walkyier. Influence can be heard from Venom and also the NWOBHM band Hell who were a big influence on the band. This album has an impressive dark and mysterious vibe with the odd guitar tone and elaborate medieval style poetry spat out by frontman Walkyier in an upper class English voice making it sound like "Shakespeare does Thrash!" It might sound ridiculous at first but it really works and gives an atmosphere of the album being churned out by Druids sometime in the Dark Ages in England and without a trace of Spinal Tap's "Stonehenge" cheese with it!

Themes, Vocals and Atmosphere aside, this album has RIFFS and a fuckload of killer ones. This functions brilliantly as a brutal thrash album as well as it does an atmospheric druid inspired one and definitely ends up being one of the stellar, standout albums of the genre that has to be heard if you enjoy thrash at all. Check out mp3 album downloads of the tracks I recommended and buy it from Amazon if you take a shine to it.