Sabbat - Mourning Has Broken (1991)

I was never convinced that Sabbat would move on without the vocal witchery of Martin and I was right - as many were. 'Mourning...' is very much a more straight forward heavy metal album that sits a little awkward with Desmond's vocal style. Sneap's guitar work is always masterful and a joy to the eears but long gone are the oaken slabs of Wiccan thrash, instead replaced by Priest/Maiden/Dio style croons such as the eight-minute 'Theological Void' and the acoustic influences of the title cut and rocker 'Without A Trace.' Sabbat's first two records were always going to take some beating and I'm unsure why the band just didn't go under a different name, because compared to the mighty 'A Histiry Of A Time To Come' and bewildering 'Dreamweaver' this is a a very tepid affair. 6.5/10