SACRILEGE
“THE COURT OF THE INSANE”
Album Review by Iron Mathew

9/10

Sacrilege are a heavy metal 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. This compilation was quickly followed later the same year by the bands new album ‘six6six‘. 2019 will see the release of the bands seventh studio album ‘The Court Of The Insane’.

Past years have seen a resurgence of the bands that helped forge the iconic NWOBHM genre during the eighties – Sacrilege, one of those bands. ‘six6six‘ in 2015 confirmed the bands intent to return to the limelight, delivering the classic sound of traditional, and British, heavy metal. This years ‘The Court Of The Insane’, sees Sacrilege at their most heaviest, stomping hard, hitting hard, and slamming the listener into walls with their unrelenting savage riffery, all the while delivering enough melodic input to keep fans hooked on their catchy and infectious ten song offering. An offering that stretches for almost one hour – launching with the atmospheric and anthemic ‘Celestial City’. Mid tempo thunder cascades from every stride of ‘Celestial City’; a classic British heavy metal foot stomp.

And that my friends is Sacrilege – a British heavy metal band delivering the classic sound of the iconic NWOBHM. ‘Lies’ is more up tempo and energetic, the kind of vibe that fellow countrymen Judas Priest employ in abundance. ‘Lies’ will have heads nodding hard and fists punching the air in delight. For fans of the NWOBHM this album is gonna go down a storm. The title song ‘The Court Of The Insane’ is a thundering mid tempo anthemic riff monster. Think classic Black Sabbath, early Saxon, and the Iron Maiden song ‘Wrathchild’, and there is ‘The Court Of The Insane’. instantly recognisable as British, by a British band, proudly flying the flag for Britain, the country that actually gave the world “heavy metal music”. ‘Bring Out Your Dead’ opens with the iconic guitar sound of the NWOBHM and is a mid to high tempo gallop of passion and pride. An out and out head banger, ‘Bring Out Your Head’ incorporates a charismatic sing a long chant style chorus. Lowering the tone and tempo, ‘Depression’ is a doom metal style stagger, very heavy with a touch of menace.

At over seven minutes in length, ‘No Bequeath’ is the longest song on offer, and the fifth to stretch past the six minute mark…and continues the feel and vibe of ‘Depression’, adding mood to the menace. But what a guitar sound ‘No Bequeath’ has. If anyone wants to know the unique and instantly recognisable NWOBHM guitar sound, simply play them this song. There is an overall dark metal feel running throughout the album, yet ‘The Prophet’ manages to bring a touch of the heavy hitting hard rock genre to the fore. More catchy and lighter than anything else on offer, ‘The Prophet’ is heavy hitting infectiousness at the highest level. ‘Unhinged Mind’ is a moody and broody foot stomp of the heaviest nature, echoing the sound of seventies Black Sabbath. The most up tempo and energetic offering, is the thundering ‘I Can Hear The Silence’. One hundred percent foot on the monitor styled, a sing a long chorus and a catchy melodic riff – this is NWOBHM at its best. The final song ‘Ride Free’, is a mid tempo hard rocking thunderstorm, the guitar sound a blistering reminder of the classic, iconic and unique sound of the evolutionary NWOBHM.

Overall, a heavy hitting, mid tempo, moody stomp of classic NWOBHM from stalwarts of the British heavy metal scene.

TRACKLIST

Celestial City
Lies
The Court Of The Insane
Bring Out Your Dead
Depression
No Bequeath
The Prophet
Unhinged Mind
I Can Hear The Silence
Ride Free

http://www.sacrilegenwobhm.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Sacrilegerock

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