Sadus is one of those bands that I heard for the first time in ’90-91 and thought were a little too extreme for my tastes, at the time. By the time the members had their stints in Death, Dragonlord, Testament, et al, I already fallen in love with ‘Chemical Exposure’ and was also listening to their other releases from the 90’s. I’ll happily admit that Steve DiGiorgio was the main reason I went back and listened to them again, but even though Jon Allen and Darren Travis have continued and released their first album since 2006 without him, their distinctive sound is still here in abundance and makes the album well worth listening to.
Lulled in by the gentle intro, “First Blood” eventually explodes in a flurry of drums and guitars as Jon and Darren work their magic on their instruments and set the tone for what is to come in the anticipated Sadus Attack.
As the volume on “Scorched And Burnt” increases, so does its intensity with Darren’s acerbic vocals spilling forth to let you know you are well and truly listening to Sadus, as the slow but heavy guitars chug over the incessant kick drumming and tom rolls.
I heard “It’s The Sickness” a year ago when they lyric video was released and have been looking forward to the album since. The song is fast and abrasive, as you would want it to be, but with finesse to show it’s not just a wild charge for the sake of it.
Whetting the appetite with more than a hint of speed, “Ride The Knife” is everything you’d expect it to be with unrelenting drum pommelling and quick riff changes and a squawking lead to wrap things up.
“Anarchy” is even faster with Jon’s impeccable footwork being something to behold, as Juan Urteaga’s guttural backing vocals add a little death to its flavour too.
Feeling slow in comparison but still quite up-tempo, “The Devil In Me” also has a pleasant groove to the melodic guitar riff which the drums follow with an airy roll before blasting back into the verses.
Flipping between faster and heavier phases, “Pain” opens with an intricate drum salvo that’s joined by the guitars, then the vocals once it’s settled down to allow for Darren’s slower drawl to be used to better effect than his rapid vocals would be.
Claudeous Creamer adds a lead to “No Peace”, which already has a very quickly played riff that involves precision to get in all the notes it contains in such a short space of time.
I love instrumental “New Beginnings” with its slow and very gradual build up over its 2-minute duration before it drops you straight into the title track “The Shadow Inside” which carries on with an acoustic intro of its own, but as the cymbals crash and the distorted guitar strum in, the gentle similarity roll on the drums keeps time… Until the strumming becomes heavy riffing over soundly beaten drums with Darren’s throaty vocal delivery carrying us to the heady lead solo as a fitting end to the song and album.
Sadus is another band that’s been around for the better part of 4 decades and still living by the DTP credo.
(8/10 Marco Gaminara)
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