Sabbat's 'History of a Time to Come' - Occult-themed thrash metal mastery

So, here I am with my first written album review, covering Sabbat’s 1988 debut album History of a Time to Come.

Sabbat were a UK-based thrash metal band who formed back in 1985. They played a very unique style of thrash metal that combined all the best aspects of hard-hitting thrash with a creepy, occult-like atmosphere. They were a truly one-of-a-kind-band for the time period; most thrash bands by the late 1980’s and early 90’s had decided to go for a more epic-themed approach to their songs, with, more often than not, lyrics about socio-political, environmental, and personal themes i.e. Metallica’s …And Justice for All, Megadeth’s Rust in Peace, or Heathen’s Victims of Deception. Sabbat, on their debut, had songs with masterfully written lyrics about subjects such as paganism (Horned is the Hunter), hellfire and damnation (A Cautionary Tale), religious hypocrisy (Behind the Crooked Cross), and witch burnings (For Those Who Died).

The lineup on this album consisted of Martin Walkyier on vocals, Andy Sneap on guitars, Fraser Craske on bass, and Simon Negus on drums.

Martin Walkyier may possibly be more well-known for his time as the frontman of his post-Sabbat folk-metal band Skyclad, but in my opinion, the efforts he would put forth on both this album and its follow-up, Dreamweaver, will always stand as the pinnacle of his work in metal. He has a voice that’s perfectly suited to the band and thrash in general, with a sort of blackened-like rasp to his voice that just gives his lyrics an added hellish edge and bite to them, and the result, when combined with his masterfully penned lyrics, makes for a truly memorable performance. Seriously, this guy is a master lyric-crafter. He pens them in such an awesomely descriptive way, and all of them flow together extremely well. I mean, seriously, just take a look at this excerpt from ‘A Cautionary Tale’:

Faustus seek repentance,
Abjure this evil art,
Cease this wretched wickedness
and cleanse thy foolish heart,
For the evil that once served you
Has made of you a slave,
And transformed your ‘bed of roses’
to a premature grave

Or this exchange from ‘I for an Eye’, a song depicting Satan’s banishment from Heaven and his subsequent hatred for God and Heaven:

Voice of God:

“Mine is the right to glory and light,
And you shall have heartache and pain,
Yours must be Hell
For in Heaven I’ll dwell,
I care not for that earthly domain”

Voice of Righteous Angels:

“For crimes against divinity
For loneliness of purgatory,
Your sovereign rule – Humanity
Mankind shall be your Hell”

Lucifer:

“Why have you done this to me
Tell me what is my crime?
I’m tried and convicted
Guilty the fate that is mine
You say I’m a Devil
Then by Hell the Devil I’ll be”

Just so freaking awesome. Walkyier was truly in a class by himself during his Sabbat days.

Next on guitar is Andy Sneap. These days he’s more well known as a producer and soundboard wiz, as well as the second guitarist of the revived cult NWOBHM band Hell (a band which, incidentally, helped Sneap learn how to play guitar himself, courtesy of the late great Hell frontman, David Halliday). On this album, Sneap definitely shows off his serious chops as the lone guitarist, churning out fast, Slayer-inspired tremolo lines and huge, monolithic slabs of asskicking mid-paced riffery that WILL get you to bang your head. Just check out the breakdown that begins at the 1:27 mark of ‘A Cautionary Tale’ or the riff in the chorus sections of ‘Hosanna in Excelsis’, which combined with Walkyier’s exuberant shouts of:

Hark! The Fallen Angels sing
“Glory to Satan our king
The Holy Church we thus defied,
The Usurper crucified!”

Just make for an incredibly manic fit of headbanging as you shout along with Walkyier. Never has blasphemy against God sounded so kickass; I’m a professed Christian myself and even I can’t help but shout along to that chorus!

Last thing I’d like to talk about with Sneap’s guitar playing is his solos. This is probably the only area in which he doesn’t flat-out excel in. You won’t be hearing him doing any sweep picking or incredibly fast shred passages or anything insane like that. Despite that, however, he does do a very admirable job with his solos. While they won’t necessarily blow you away, they work very well with the songs. Really, it’s just a minor nitpick; Sneap’s main area of expertise clearly lies in the crafting of massive asskicking riffs, and considering the sheer amount of those on display in this album, you can easily forgive his shortcomings as a soloist.

Finally we have the rhythm section of Fraser Craske and Simon Negus on bass and drums, respectively. Craske’s bass, unfortunately, is pretty low in the mix, and you cannot hear it most of the time apart from a few sections where it manages to shine through briefly before becoming buried again, like the section near the beginning of ‘Behind the Crooked Cross’. The drums, however, are very well done. Simon does a very good job on the kit, with his drums pounding away with just the right amount of power behind to give emphasis to the songs, and considering the speed of the guitars and the flurries of notes Sneap dishes out, he does a great job of keeping in time.

On a song by song basis, each of the tracks here, barring the intro, are all great and manage to keep you happily banging your head throughout its entire length. Every song is a standout, although everyone will have their own personal favorites, mine being ‘A Cautionary Tale’, ‘Hosanna in Excelsis’, and ‘Behind the Crooked Cross’. With the combination of its excellent riffing, Walkyier’s signature snarling blackened rasp along with his masterfully penned lyrics, the admirable drum work by Negus, and the overall occult-like atmosphere that permeates the album, History of a Time to Come is truly a magnificent work of thrash metal art. Really, the album’s only detractions in my mind are the solos, the low bass in the mix, and the intro, which, while suitably creepy-sounding, just doesn’t seem that important.

As I mentioned earlier, Sabbat were truly a one-of-a-kind band with a unique approach to songwriting. They were definitely ahead of their time when it came to the material they wrote, and because of that, they unfortunately did not get as much as much attention as they deserved outside of their local UK scene and in Europe. Only a year after they had released Dreamweaver, in 1990, Walkyier decided to leave the band due to growing creative difficulties with Sneap. While the band initially tried to continue on with a new singer, they eventually broke up after the poor reception of their third album in 1991.

Regardless of their disbandment, Sabbat’s first two albums, History of a Time to Come and Dreamweaver, are well-deservedly regarded as masterpieces in the thrash genre, and I wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone that are able to find them, as they are apparently once again out of print. I managed to get copies of the 2007 reissues of both albums when they were still being sold on Amazon, and I’m very glad I did so. Both History and Dreamweaver have gotten a lot of play in my CD player and car ever since I got them, and will no doubt continue to be regular listens for me for the rest of my life.

Overall rating: 96 out of 100