There’s no doubt that Sacrifice’s latest album, Volume Six, is one of the most anticipated albums of the year, if not the decade. The cult Canadian thrashers first stormed the scene over 40 years ago, releasing a trio of thrashterpieces in 1986’s devilish Torment in Fire, 1987’s breakneck Forward to Termination, and 1990’s well-polished Soldiers of Misfortune. The quality of the material released in the decades to follow varied, considering there hasn’t been much to examine in the first place. Its been 16 long years since Sacrifice’s last album, The Ones I Condemn (2009), and from what I can recall of it (forgive me for not engaging in a precursory revisit), it can be filed alongside the comeback albums from Heathen and Forbidden around the same time: Decent, but far from mind altering.
Fast forward 16 years later and shockingly, the same lineup that treated us to those ’80s/’90s gems remains intact. Rob Urbinati shouts his heart out while ripping it up on the guitar. Joe Rico tears it up alongside him, while Scott Watts and Gus Pynn make up the rhythm section, handling bass and drums respectively. Together, the four stand united, hellbent on thrashing us yet again with their long awaited sixth album, aptly titled Volume Six. However, does it come close to the savagery of those salad days, or merely come off as a continuation of the perfectly OK modern thrash that dominates The Ones I Condemn?
Unfortunately, Volume Six falls into the latter. At its best, we hear the band executing a sort of modernized twist on the brutal thrash of Forward to Termination. Neck-snappers like “Comatose”, “Your Hunger for War”, “Incoming Mass Extinction”, and “Explode” go straight for the throat, channeling the violence of yesteryear, albeit restrained by the evils of modern production and predictable arrangements. You could say these songs sound like modern Kreator, which sound like modern Destruction, which sound like modern Onslaught, which…you get the idea. The strongest of this bunch is “Missile”, which boasts a feral speed undertone akin to Torment in Fire.
When Volume Six doesn’t adhere to this tried and true thrash ethos, it veers off into prog-thrash neverland, derailing the pace of the album entirely. I understand the intent was to channel the adventurism of Soldiers of Misfortune, but instead, droning cuts like “Underneath Millenia”, “Lunar Eclipse”, and “Black Hashish” (a 6 and a half minute instrumental) sound like latter day Voivod throwaways. Again, I’m sure these were incorporated under the impression of giving this release a sense of “depth”, but it just doesn’t cut the mustard for this here old school thrasher.
Despite never reaching the level pure embarrassment that fellow Canucks Razor did with their “comeback” album, Cycle of Contempt, Sacrifice’s Volume Six leaves us longing for the days of youthful naivety. Much like The Ones I Condemn before it, Volume Six is largely one-dimensional, and not in the “good” Reign in Blood way. Even at its strongest, the album feels carefully pinpointed and mapped out, which defeats the purpose of thrash metal to begin with. Perhaps the “Flames of Armageddon” will burn brighter on album #7 come 2041.
5 out of 10
Label: High Roller Records
Genre: Thrash Metal
For fans of: Kreator, Destruction, Onslaught
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