SABBAT – MAD GODS AND ENGLISHMEN [4CD/DVD BOXSET]

I first came across Sabbat when a flexi disc of Blood For The Blood God appeared in a Warhammer magazine way back in 1987.

From that moment I knew that the sound of British Thrash was changed forever. If you can imagine Cradle Of Filth mating with Kreator, they would’ve created Sabbat. However, Cradle OF Filth wouldn’t be the band they are now without Sabbat. As Sabbat paved the way for bands like them.

1988 arrived along with Sabbat’s blistering debut album History Of A Time To Come and what a genre-busting debut it is too.  It’s a full-on, in-your-face metal album that is unrelenting. Their second, Dreamweaver arrived in 1989 and showed a more mature band and cemented their reputation as being one of the best British thrash bands of that era.  

Dreamweaver continued from where A History Of Time To Come left off. It’s slightly more proggy and melodic especially when it comes to the twin guitars of Simon Jones and Andy Sneap.

The live 1990 album Live In East Berlin is included in its entirety for the 1st time ever and sounds really good and couple that with the inclusion of the live DVD (only released on VHS previously ) The Beginning Of The End is fantastic. I  owned this on VHS back in the day and played it so much that my video recorder took a fancy to it and decided to make it theirs forever by eating it. At least I no longer have to rewind it back to my favorite track of I for an Eye.In this box is an early Friday Rock Show session that helped the band get signed to Noise Records. It may only be 3 tracks but it’s an absolute belter. 

All the albums in this set are the 2007 remasters and they’re sonically really good. Nice and clear, but the production is still lacking. But that’s par for the course of late 80s thrash metal records as no one had a clue as to how to produce this music properly.

To have a box of Sabbat in the hands is just brilliant. A worthy purchase. I cannot comment on how the vinyl sounds but it does look really nice. Hopefully, it sounds as good as it looks. The CDs sure do and the 34-page booklet you get with this box contains liner notes and of course the obligatory lyrics for the albums. A lovely inclusion.

Score 9/10
Track List:
Disc: 1
1 Intro (2007 Remaster)
2 A Cautionary Tale (2007 Remaster)
3 Hosanna In Excelsis (2007 Remaster)
4 Behind the Crooked Cross (2007 Remaster)
5 Horned Is the Hunter (2007 Remaster)
6 I for an Eye (2007 Remaster)
7 For Those Who Died (2007 Remaster)
8 A Dead Man’s Robe (2007 Remaster)
9 The Church Bizarre (2007 Remaster)
Disc: 2
1 The Beginning of the End (Intro) [2007 Remaster] 2 The Clerical Conspiracy (2007 Remaster)
3 Advent of Insanity (2007 Remaster)
4 Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares? (2007 Remaster)
5 The Best of Enemies (2007 Remaster)
6 How Have the Mighty Fallen? (2007 Remaster)
7 Wildfire (2007 Remaster)
8 Mythistory (2007 Remaster)
9 Happy Never After (Outro) [2007 Remaster] Disc: 3
1 Intro (Live in East Berlin 1990)
2 The Clerical Conspiracy (Live in East Berlin 1990)
3 Hosanna In Excelsis (Live in East Berlin 1990)
4 Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares? (Live in East Berlin 1990)
5 Behind the Crooked Cross (Live in East Berlin 1990)
6 I for an Eye (Live in East Berlin 1990)
7 Wildfire (Live in East Berlin 1990)
8 The Best of Enemies (Live in East Berlin 1990)
9 For Those Who Died (Live in East Berlin 1990)
10 A Cautionary Tale (Live in East Berlin 1990)
11 The Church Bizarre (Live in East Berlin 1990)
Disc: 5
1 A Cautionary Tale (BBC Radio 1: Friday Rock Show)
2 For Those Who Died (BBC Radio 1: Friday Rock Show)
3 The 13th Disciple (BBC Radio 1: Friday Rock Show)
Disc: 6 – DVD
1 Intro (Live in East Berlin 1990)
2 The Clerical Conspiracy (Live in East Berlin 1990)
3 Hosanna In Excelsis (Live in East Berlin 1990)
4 Do Dark Horses Dream of Nightmares? (Live in East Berlin 1990)
5 Behind the Crooked Cross (Live in East Berlin 1990)
6 I for an Eye (Live in East Berlin 1990)
7 The Best of Enemies (Live in East Berlin 1990)
8 For Those Who Died (Live in East Berlin 1990)
9 A Cautionary Tale (Live in East Berlin 1990)
10 The Church Bizarre (Live in East Berlin 1990)
Label – BMG
Release – 19th May 2023

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