The Devil's Sperm Is Cold

This is the bitter truth. Admittedly, back in 1989 it was - hopefully - still relatively fresh, but it was probably never as refreshing as a competently arranged dose of black thrash metal. So here comes Sabbat, the lunatics from Japan with a discography longer than the Chinese wall. Take that, communists! The re-issue of “The Devil’s Sperm is Cold…” glitters with white (but not sperm-white) vinyl, an inner sleeve which contains the lyrics and impressive original Venom-posing of the three musicians. But that’s not all; both pieces show the skills of the then pretty young trio. Both songs cross the six-minutes-mark without suffering from repetitive structures. Instead they depict a pretty complex, but not progressive approach. Tempo shifts and breaks ensure a dynamic and diverse appearance, and, almost surprising, the lead vocalist sounds more or less demonic while mixing a pretty deep voice with some high-pitched screams. Unfortunately, some Asian lead singers do not have a really metal-compatible voice, but here everything is fine.

I am also pleasantly surprised by the sound. “Hellfire” and “Immortality of the Soul” can rely on an organic, vigorous and pretty sharp production. It puts especially the abilities of the man at the guitar in the right light. He throws slicing or galloping riffs, wild solos and even an almost melancholic / oriental line into the crowd - and he seems to do it with a sadistic grin. No doubt, he and his comrades rumble on a high level and fans of bands like Deathhammer or Nifelheim should not shy away from this 7”. The B side is good, but “Hellfire” is even more entertaining. In a nutshell, Sabbat present two fast but not frantic, comprehensible but not simple and vehement but not totally unmelodic songs with absolutely stereotyped lyrics. Given this fact, they prove that the mix of musical talent and pronounced madness can result in a nice portion of fairly extreme metal. Those who love black metal, thrash metal or black thrash will have a good time with this amusingly titled single. This is the sweet truth.