SADUS
SADUS “The Shadow Inside”
by Thor
Bay Area thrash vets SADUS are back with their first full-length album in 16 years!
SADUS didn’t quite break through to the extent their geographical and aesthetic thrash cohorts did. They were always a little more extreme than contemporaries like EXODUS and TESTAMENT were. They also came onto the scene a few years later than those other bands, when you could practically smell the Teen Spirit wafting around the bend. And they weren’t anywhere near as prolific with their output as their thrash counterparts were. Again, this is the band’s first LP since 2006. So, to get “The Shadow Inside” now is not only a surprise, but also a bit of a curiosity.
This current iteration of the band plays a style that leans into OSDM tropes quite a bit, not entirely unlike their early material. Darren Travis’s blackened, witchy vocals contextualize both his neck-breaking tremolo-picked riffing and drummer John Allen’s machine-like hyperpolka into a snarling, violent recipe of inky black death-thrash. There are even some blast beats sprinkled throughout!
Given the band’s musical direction, recording at Trident Studios with Juan Urteaga, who cut his teeth recording death metal bands like VILE and CATTLE DECAPITATION and later thrash stalwarts like EXODUS and MACHINE HEAD, was an inspired choice. “The Shadow Inside” boasts an organic sound, emphasizing the drum room mics, for example, and capturing performances that don’t sound sloppy or inferior, but do sound “live”. The approach results in a big sounding album that feels a bit as if the band is jamming in your living room. It’s not a bad way for a metal fan to spend an hour.
SADUS’ “The Shadow Inside”—out now from Nuclear Blast—is a worthy addition to the band’s short but impressive canon. Fans of old school death metal and thrash metal that’s in line with that of POSSESSED and DARK ANGEL will find a lot to like here. Highlights include “Scorched and Burnt”, “Ride the Knife”, and “It’s the Sickness”.