Sadist – Hyaena

Look! A Lion!

Sadist are an Italian progressive death metal band whose origins stretch all the way back to prehistoric times – the year 1991. Since then the band has undergone several lineup changes and at least one prolonged hiatus. They persevered however, and have had a stable incarnation for the last decade. Their latest full-length album is Hyaena.

Sadist are an odd bird sonically. Their progressive death metal billing does little to describe their sound. A better starting point is the loose coalition of Mediterranean avant-garde metal that has erected a murky but tactile touchstone for music that sounds like this. Think Ephel Duath, Zu and Obsidian Kingdom for starters, with a little bit of dark rock, a la Norway’s Virus, thrown in as well. The guitars are big, but the harsh crunch and bite associated with death metal are not emphasized. Wildly unconventional melodic progressions and song structures abound. There is also plenty of jazz influence, as well as a strong allegiance to the idea of concept.

Prominent elements on Hyaena include the keyboard overtures that introduce many of the songs, and the prominence of keyboards themselves in the arrangements. The strained howls of vocalist Trevor Nadir are inescapable, and ever present is the burbling fretless bass of Andy Marchini, which shines in the jazzy and otherwise quiet moments dotting the album. There are some death metal elements – especially in “Eternal Enemies” – but the chugga-chugga rarely persists, usually dissolving into ominous dark rock and other textures.

Things start off well enough with “The Lonely Mountain.” Sure, Trevor’s vocals are an acquired taste, but the rhythms are distinctive, and Sadist display their great sense of melodicism, flashing out enticing chords and pulling them back like a magician’s playing cards. The song twists and turns, finally winding its way to a guitar solo (one of many great ones from Tommy Talamanca), which leads into a lovely fretless bass solo, which gives way to another charming guitar solo, which gives way to a dreamy outro made of woodwind sounds.

There are more moments and songs. The keyboard driven intro to “Scratching Rocks” promises something wonderful and uses infectious rhythms and fine chord progressions to at least partially deliver on it. “Eternal Enemies” is nice and heavy, as are sections of “African Devourers.” “Scavenger and Thief” has a nice momentum to it.

Unfortunately, despite Sadist’s broad palette and unique compositions, Hyaena just doesn’t come together all the way. A lack of hard dynamics in both the songwriting and the mixing leaves things a bit too smoothly contiguous – music this strange should be jagged, or at least more jagged than this. The album is themed around Africa, but the sense of wonder and adventure that evidently animated the band only comes partway through. There are savannah sounds, animal noises, passages of traditional instruments and African language, but they don’t do enough to realize an immersive experience or narrative. Hyaena could have used some editing as well, with fewer songs making for a punchier presentation. As it is, the album feels somewhat diluted, and eventually tedious. Sadist are an interesting group with a unique approach to metal, but Hyaena is just too smooth and featureless to make a lasting impression.