As concept albums go (this being based on Brian Bates 'Way of the Wyrd' fantasy), this is way up there. 'Lord Of The Rings' may never have a musical equivalent but this is pretty close from the UK thrashers who also offered the fantastic and sinister 'A History Of A Time To Come'. 'Dreamweaver' is very much a dark fairytale of black thrash, grim vocals yet also some truly brilliant interludes, acoustic atmospheres, sound effects and dazzling lyrics which are spewed out like some harsh fantasy novel. Sabbat are superb musicians, a vastly underrated band who slipped by the wayside, and I guess for fans it may have been a little difficult to have sung along to such treasures as 'The Best Of Enemies' or 'How Have The Mighty Fallen', but this is hypnotic metal, full of imagery, the vinyl version worth the money alone if you get the lyric sheet, and the cover art is to die for, a crackling fire, tales of wizards and magic and dark forces, nightmarish creatures and weird beliefs, it's all here, enshrouded in the mystical thrash serenades of a band who at best could be described as a supreme Venom, but very much in a field of their own. Some truly epic thrash attacks here, don't be put off by the idea it's a concept record, because after a few seconds you'll be washed up in the dreamy, phantasmagoric cauldron. It's hard to believe that as I write this, the album is almost twenty years old, and despite metal re-inventing itself time after time, there's just nothing quite like the smell of late '80s thrash metal.
8/10
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