SACRILEGE
“SIX6SIX”
Album Review By Iron Mathew
9/10
Sacrilege are a heavy rock band from the UK, formed in 1982 during the NWOBHM movement. The band released a couple of demo’s in 1983 before disbanding the following year. Founding member Bill Beadle resurrected the band in 2007 and recorded a lot of songs which have been released across four albums with the compilation album ‘Ashes To Ashes’ released in 2015. Their brand new album ‘six6six’ was released soon after.
Expectant fans who had their appetites whetted by the compilation album did not have long to wait for the new album. Opening with the sinister, dark and menacing ‘Death March six6six’ the new album immediately sets an evil tone, one that is heard many times throughout. Kicking off proper with the swashbuckling swagger of ‘Welcome To The Dragons Den’, Sacrilege are back, and doing what they do best. Hard edged, chugging guitars and in insane want to foot tap and head bang. A throbbing rhythm will keep both rockers and metal heads happy as it storms on to a conclusion. Slowing the pace is the moody and very heavy ‘Lucifer’s Soldiers’ echoing the legacy that Black Sabbath created during the 1970s. ‘In Hell’ maintains the doom metal style but increases the menace with a superb vocal performance and just for a moment you tremble, as if in a dimly lit room with a number of eerie, unexplained noises. Oh wait, the unexplained noises are Sacrilege…
Mid tempo, heavy and thunderous is the next twist the album takes, with the stonking ‘Sanctuary’. Guitar driven and foot stompingly addictive, ‘Sanctuary’ will have you nodding your head, all the while smiling like the kid who got the candy. ‘Forever After’ is a fusion of everything Sacrilege sound like: chugging guitars, a thunderous, pulsating rhythm and clear vocals. And talking of the vocals, there is a definite hint of Ozzy Osbourne here. A bombastic, energetic intro heralds the arrival of ‘I Can’t Be’, which is a mid tempo, very heavy song that pounds and pounds at your senses with its relentless rhythm. A much stronger vocal delivery then heard previously on the album, this is NWOBHM at its best.
‘Paranoia’ has a superb guitar intro, leading to what some fans would call a ballad. Possibly, however I would say, an atmospheric opening that builds into a hard rock power metal stomp. It will always be an individuals view on what a song sounds like and ‘Paranoia’ has suspense and menace at every twist and turn. As an introduction to ‘Eyes Of The Lord’ there is a chilling, spoken word prologue to set the scene. The song itself is over eight minutes in length and meanders its way majestically through superb guitars and a thunderous back drop. This is chugging heavy metal at its best and a cracking insight to the sound of Sacrilege. Clean and clear guitar solos, catchy and infectious hooks, an anthemic style chorus and a “bring a smile to your face” rhythm, as your head nods back and forth in appreciation. ‘Eyes Of The Lord’ is as good as any of the long epics that British legends Iron Maiden have released. The album ends as it began with a reprise of ‘Death March six6six’.
Overall, a fusion of very heavy hard rock and doom metal to let everyone know that Sacrilege and the sound of true British NWOBHM is still alive.
This review was written for Frenzy Fire [http://www.frenzyfire.co.uk/fa_sacrilegereviews1.htm]
TRACKLIST
Death March six6six
Welcome To The Dragons Den
Lucifer’s Soldiers
In Hell
Sanctuary
Forever After
I Can’t Die
Paranoia
Eyes Of The Lord (Prologue)
Eyes Of The Lord
Death March six6six (Reprise)
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