SABBAT — Dreamweaver (review)

Album · 1989 · Thrash Metal

3.5/5 · 2022-12-03
UMUR

"Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" is the 2nd full-length studio album by UK, Nottingham based thrash/heavy metal act Sabbat. The album was released through Noise Records in May 1989. It´s the successor to "History of a Time to Come" from 1988 and features one lineup change since the predecessor as Simon Jones has been added as the band´s second guitarist, making Sabbat a five-piece on this release.

"Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" is a concept release, featuring a story based on the 1983 book by British psychologist Brian Bates: "The Way of Wyrd: Tales of an Anglo-Saxon Sorcerer". It´s a story about a Christian missionary named Wat Brand who travels from northern England to the southern part of the country to learn about the pagan ways of the southern Anglo-Saxons and thereby determine the best way in which they can be converted to Christianity. The mission fails as Brand loses his soul and is transported to the spirit world to recover it. Here he is confronted with his soul (who is female), who teaches him the way of the Wyrd (a Pagan understanding of life) and self-discovery.

Stylistically the music on "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" is a continuation of the raw thrash/heavy metal style of "History of a Time to Come (1988)". The material are generally a bit more sophisticated though and occasionally even featuring a slight progressive edge, so while the basic elements of the band´s sound are similar to what they produced on the predecessor, there has been great development of the details of the core sound. "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" in many ways sounds like the mature version of "History of a Time to Come (1988)".

The musicianship is stronger, the sound production is better sounding, and the songwriting more adventurous. The folk influenced acoustic "Advent of Insanity" is a testimony to the new more diverse songwriting direction, although most material on the album are still thrash/heavy metal styled energetic rockers. The execution of the music is a bit sharper but still with a raw organic edge. Lead vocalist Martin Walkyier often sings a lot of words in a short amount of time, which makes him sound like an aggressive little goblin, and while that at times does sound slightly comical, it actually works pretty well and adds a kind of fairytale/magic touch to the music. An atmopshere which go well hand in hand with the band´s general image and the music/lyrics featured on "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)".

"Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" is upon conclusion an interesting sophomore album by Sabbat and definitely a step up from the sometimes slightly primitive and raw debut. Although the songwriting is a lot more sophisticated this time around, "Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays)" is still an aggressive and raw thrash/heavy metal release with an epic scale concept story. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.