Sabbatical Visionslaught

Sabbatical Visionslaught is surprisingly Sabbat's very first dvd release - or video at all - to be widely and easily available in their 20+ years career. So I was looking forward to see how this kind of Sabbat dvd would look like, and I can say I'm half-pleased and half-disappointed. By itself, Sabbatical Visionslaught is definitely a cool release worth owning for the Sabbat fan, but I kind expected to see more and a bit differently. Still, it is a very unique official live dvd unlike anything I ever watched and throws you back in the early 90ies and late 2000s to witness the Sabbatical live ritual in all its raw and authentic glory.

Starting first with the basics, what you get in this sweet occult but campyish looking package, is not one, but two complete live shows, a photo slideshow from 1984 to 2004 and a bonus cd with rare and and not so rare tracks. The catch with the two live shows, is that they are only 45 minutes each and are not taken from any special gig, just two taken from the sabbatical archives probably amongst plenty of other ones. A dvd showcasing their infamous Live 666 gig from their Harmageddon vinyl series, or their one hour and a half 10th anniversary show would have been much more appropriate and welcomed as a widely available dvd entry.

Still, the live portion has quite some charm and is enjoyable to watch despite what it could and should have been. What you get here - unsurprisingly considering the type of shows from which those two are from - is nothing particularly professional with plenty of switching cameras all over the place, with a very sharp image and possibly over-produced sound. The sound is probably the best part, it is quite similar to the one found on the aforementioned Live 666 release; it is raw, but just enough, it is from a soundboard recording. The drums might resonate slightly to much, but you can still hear the more or less crunchy, enveloping guitar sound which works very well to convey the songs' mood to the crowd.

Visually, it may not be for everyone. There's quite a bit of static - don't worry, not like a worn out VHS - and the camera angles are limited and may not be the best. The first show, the one from 2000, starts off as making you believe there is only one camera somewhere not too far and more on the right side. But after a couple of minutes, you are switched between several cameras but again it's nothing fancy. Sometimes you may see the guy handling the camera zooming in or out, filming from Gezol to Temis or trying to get both, but it's something I find appealing in this dvd. I never was a fan of those modern and over-produced live dvds, constantly switching between cameras and not letting you digest what you see. That roller-coaster of cascading images can make it hard for me to get into the show, because after all that's what you want from a live dvd, to be able to appreciate a band's live performance without being there, and share the crowd's enthusiasm and fun as best as possible. This stripped down and admittedly amateur approach makes for a more enjoyable experience to me, it feels much more as if you were there, unlike always having either static or fancy camera shots. As for the static, surprisingly, it didn't hinder my enjoyment in the slightest. In fact, I thought it had some charm, as if it gave some rawness to the visuals. The fact that I never really cared for incredibly sharp and good, remastered visuals must help, but that sometimes grainy looking filter feels like it envelops the show in a certain veil of darkness. It may be weird to read such comments, but that's what the static made me feel to a certain extent.

As for the actual show, it really makes you wish you were there or could see Sabbat live. You get an enthusiastic Gezol doing some pretty good vocals considering he sometimes goes a bit too over the top during shows, furiously headbanging when he has the occasion and playing his bass like he is possessed by the music. You also have Temis Osmond doing a very good guitar and vocal performance, doing lead vocals on almost half the tracks. You see Zorugelion occasionally, but he's never as into it as the rest of the band, he does a solid performance supporting the two stringmen in their front-stage metal assault. The tracklist is not particularly representative of their career at that point, having mostly the new tracks at that time, but that's really the only problem as it's all very solid tracks of the Sabbatical tradition. You have to be impressed by the epic Karisma songs, as well as intensely feel the darkness and contagious metal energy of the older ones, ''Devil Worship'' being the high point which you got to notice as soon as you hear the first riff - and that's also where you realize how great the guitar tone is.

And then you go 8 years back the 1992 gig, probably the most problematic one as far as visuals go for someone buying the dvd. I won't lie, it was off-putting at first. There is one camera, from the first row quite to the left of the crowd. It could be in a better place to say the least. And there is also a bit more static and the sound is a bit rawer too. The later part is nothing to be concerned about, but you'll probably be disappointed if you thought the visuals of the first show was your limit. But I got to like this show's camera particularities as it really makes you feel to be there, up to a certain point. Sure, you can't zoom or de-zoom what you see in real life, but this is the closest you'll get at feeling like attending the show you watch. The biggest problem is that you get to only see Temis' side and rarely see Zorugelion - even then it's pretty much only a peek - who already seem to be more into the music. At least you clearly have the best place to see Gezol rip the place apart. Despite all this, I was able to enjoy and find that portion of the dvd appealing, The visuals and audio are much better than any shitty cellphone youtube video you can find of the last show you attended, so it really makes you feel like attending a Sabbat show from back in the day, it's quite something.

The setlist is also quite interesting, the gig taking place in 1992, Evoke just got released and you see the band playing the album almost in its entirety. They also play ''Satan Bless You'' and ''Black Fire'' again as well as ''Evil Nations''. And what is interesting, is seeing the band deviate a bit from what can be heard on the album. Temis contributes additional vocals as well is the lead on ''Evil Nation'' rather than Gezol, which I thought was a nice bonus. The most interesting alternate take ought to be ''Torment in the Pentagram'' though, with the band playing the instrumental ''Sabasius'' in the middle of the song, which makes for an exciting and epic take on the song.

The third portion of the dvd is the photo slideshow. It is quite neat, showing cool early band pictures and up to the Karmagmassacre photo shoot. But unfortunately it is quite short and only features one or two rare photo, it's only a neat little bonus, nothing more. Then comes the bonus cd which is honestly quite disappointing. I already knew this as almost half the tracks are taken from albums, so they are worthless even more considering this dvd is not for the uninitiated of Sabbat. The different versions and mix are also a disappointment considering the differences are either minimal or I can't even find them, or they are available relatively easily elsewhere. You are left with only 3 worthy tracks, all which are indeed only available on very rare releases, namely ''Satan Bless You'' from the Envenom rough mix tape, ''Envenom into the Witch's Hole'' from the Live at Blokula live album, and the Japanese version of ''Hellfire'' from the Antarctic Harmageddon MLP. Even then, these are not new tracks but only rare versions, nothing to make you buy the dvd package unless you are a die-hard, and then you'd still buy it anyway. Still they are a nice addition to anyone who buys the dvd. Well, the ''Satan Bless You'' rough mix version isn't all that interesting unfortunately, but the Japanese version of ''Hellfire'' is definitely the best track of the cd. It is weirdly enough, the easiest and cheapest studio version of the song to get hold of. And then it really sounds great and quite differently than the English version, and personally I think it sounds better too. Oh, and I must compliment the dvd presentation: appropriate music, the background is the very nice photo used on the cover of the Mion's Hill LP, and both pictures presenting the shows are also worthy of mention; it really makes you feel like you're going to watch some kind of music ritual.

Sabbatical Visionslaught is a strange little dvd. On one hand the first show is presented in a very interesting and appealing way, but on the other hand we are offered unremarkable Sabbat gigs from their career standpoint. The two albeit being good, do feel brief. Even if having two shows do make up a bit, it feels like it should be part of a bigger live package, some kind of bonus for a more appropriate standout show. A standout show which I feel should still have been recorded in a similar way to the first one we are offered here - or maybe the second one too if the camera was more centered - so we can better feel the authenticity and energy Sabbat are able to communicate while playing their killer breed of occult metal.