SADUS — Out for Blood (review)

Album · 2006 · Technical Thrash Metal

4/5 · 2020-11-26
UMUR

"Out for Blood" is the 5th full-length studio album by US, California based thrash metal act Sadus. The album was released through Mascot Records in February 2006. It features the same lineup, who recorded "Elements of Anger" from 1997 in Darren Travis (guitar, vocals), Steve DiGiorgio (bass, keyboards), and Jon Allen (drums). While 9 years is definitely a long time between album releases, some of the members of the lineup have kept really busy in the intermediate years. Both Drummer Jon Allen and bassist Steve DiGiorgio worked with Testament guitarist Eric Peterson on the Dragonlord black metal project, and DiGiorgio also worked as a session musician on several other projects in those years, including Testament, Control Denied, and Iced Earth (...among others). It seemed at this point that Sadus had become more of a project to the members than a full-time band, and it probably had a lot to do with their lack of commercial success and recognition. The former is not so strange given the relatively extreme nature of the band´s music, but it´s a real shame that they were only ever able to gather a rather small cult following, because the quality of their music has always been pretty high. Sadus are certainly one of those acts who didn´t get what they deserved.

Stylistically the material on "Out for Blood" continues the aggressive and technically well played thrash metal style of "Elements of Anger (1997)". There is good rhythmic variation on the album, so there are both furiously fast-paced thrash metal parts, as well as both slow- and mid-paced grooves in the music (although the latter style is more dominant here). "Elements of Anger (1997)" was quite an atmospheric release too, and while "Out for Blood" is generally not as atmospheric, there are a couple of atmospheric moments on the album (sometimes the subtle use of keyboards/synths provide that), which is great for the variation of the music. Darren Travis sounds as angry as ever, and his distinct sounding snarling vocal style is one of the great assets of Sadus music. He can go from a deep growl to an almost hysterical sounding screaming vocal style in seconds. Mostly he just sounds pissed off and ready to bite your head off.

"Out for Blood" features a powerful, raw, and detailed sound production, which suits the material perfectly. DiGiorgio´s busy bass is as always placed high in the mix, and it works well and is one of the features of the band´s music which gives Sadus their unique sound. The sharp riffs and powerful organic drumming are worth a mention too. Sadus are a band with a clearly defined sound, and although they´ve developed that sound considerably throughout the years, it´s still unmistakably the sound of Sadus no matter which of their albums you put on. "Out for Blood" overall follows the more groove oriented and heavy direction of it´s predecessor rather than the furiously fast-paced and aggressive direction of the band´s early releases, but that´s only natural if you´ve followed their musical development.

So "Out for Blood" is another high quality release by Sadus, where they continue to develop their trademark sound while still staying true to their roots. Like most of Sadus releases before it, "Out for Blood" went by largely unnoticed and was probably only picked up by their dedicated cult following, so I´m here to advertise that if you´re a fan of technically well played and aggressive thrash metal with a unique sound and pretty good diversity in the songwriting department, "Out for Blood" is worth your time and money. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.