The horror of the human animal has long been examined, celebrated and embodied within the lasting pursuits of infamous Genoa, Italy-borne progressive death metal quintet SADIST who’ve promised violence, steroidal brawn infused into this admittedly heavier and groovier tenth full-length album. Rather than their time spent time summoning and delivering the beast that we already know ‘Something to Pierce‘ almost stands out more for the landscape it creates, adding loft and briefly surrealistic interest to its slithering grooves. Rhythms which stalk and growl in deceptively simple ways do bring a certain level of violence to the band’s signature here but the main draw, the pull of their often outlandish and broad-minded sound, comes from its exploration of signature progressive metal sounds.

Sadist formed circa 1991 and regular readers should be up to speed on my admiration of this band’s long-running penchant for progressive death metal per their previous LP (‘Firescorched‘, 2022) as I’d given extensive thoughts on their discography in review of that ninth studio recording. The band’s sound goes where founder, songwriter, guitarist and engineer Tommy Talamanca wills it as his virtuosic interest in music and unique rhythm spans jazz fusion, Middle Eastern/African rhythms, arabesque melodies, and of course a big part of the signature developed beyond their 1993 debut LP (‘Above the Light‘) has been keyboards which bring an extra-surreal touch that characterizes each of their albums, ‘Something to Pierce‘ included.

Part of the thrill of the previous album centered around the hired rhythm section who’d contributed to its kinetic, inventive energy and I’d felt like it was a point of interesting revival for the band, stating: “[…] we can view Jeroen Paul Thesseling (Obscura, ex-Pestilence) as a vital connection between the past and present alongside drummer Romain Goulon (Spectral, Isgherurd Morth) as a font of technique and vitality, both of whom act as a vitality boost to ‘Firescorched‘” and in some sense Thesseling‘s playing now feels like it is missing from ‘Something to Pierce‘ yet there is no real flaw to the rhythm section here: bassist Davide Piccolo and drummer Giorgio Piva both of death metal band Fate Unburied. This time around much more attention is paid to Talamanca‘s curious creations and the broad ranging talents of vocalist Trevor Nadir who has been with the band since ‘Crust‘ (1997). With no fear of the band losing their signature touch and no new expectations set for what this tenth LP would be all about I’d more-or-less went in at least expecting parity with ‘Firescorched‘.

Sadist are aware of the “love it or hate it” nature of their work at this point and that’d probably date back to the unique sounds they’d brought to ‘Tribe‘ (1995) and if you’ve followed their gig since then you’ll understand why they’ve never pulled back on the boldness of their ideas. If you’ve headed into this tenth album expecting something in the direct vein or stylistic lineage of Atheist, Sadus or Nocturnus which is either ‘old school’ obsessed or beholden to the ancient ways you’re not in the wrong category but this isn’t a backward-sighted deal and instead the prerogative of Talamanca has always been to develop his own sound within its own ambitious vacuum; The brilliance of ‘Something to Pierce‘ lies in its reach for increasingly exaggerative vision which uses progressive death metal as both gluey linkage for stylistic experimentation as well as a rock song-shaped container for said explorations. As such you’ll find a series of vignettes, tech-death breakthroughs and spastic atmospheric surrealism which raises high the frost and fire of its sometimes keyboard-assisted loft much in the way that ‘Tribe‘ did (see: “Deprived”, “Dume-Kike” and “The Best Part is the Brain”) but keeps it transitory in tone and within the ~3-5 minute range.

‘Something to Pierce‘ doesn’t attempt to curate a theme or concept so much as find a more violent current beyond the already over the top ‘Firescorched‘ and this gives Sadist free movement between pieces, sporting variety with purpose rather than building ten shapes from the same type and consistency of clay. The effect is that of an unnerving playlist, eerie grooves and dramatic vocals (per the return of guest Gloria Rossi) creating tension and flamboyant disarray around technical, sharply cut prog-death pieces. I don’t know that opener (“Something to Pierce“) will pull the pre-’93 death metal purists in immediately due to its spongey central groove but we know to trust that Talamanca‘s interest in rhythm won’t sit in one place too resolutely, and to me this achieves a first impression which is heavier, more direct in some sense but with a sound that is designed to flesh in and out of focus on the riff, atmosphere and in feature of surreal tangent.

Groove is king here in Sadist‘s jungle, a dank pit of shadows and writhing life as we roll through Side A of ‘Something to Pierce‘ and encounter the briefly sparking slap bass and percussion of “Deprived” and the far more extensive rhythmic twist n’ rush of “No Feast for Flies“. While I’d found all of this thrilling in its atmosphere and accoutrement this time around there’d not been as much to sink into beyond the float of their grooves and the progressive metal pomp which rolls through each song. The weirder stuff arrives a bit later on but the smooth, jazz fusion’d rhythms of “The Sun God” are well representative of an album which begins less about “the riff” and a wrought stream of rhythm guitar focused ideas and moreso where they can take a serpentine groove within a few minutes. While a lot of this hits upon what I’ve always liked about Talamanca‘s style, what folks would’ve described as “world music” inspired prog-groove/death metal (again, see: “The Best Part is the Brain”), there wasn’t much that’d really struck me with some kind of thrashing or unexpected brain-pinging interest ’til “Dume-Kike”, the longest piece on the album which also kicks off Side B. Signaling some heavier, more involved rhythms to come and making great use of an atmospheric detour to transport the ear this’d felt like an especially signature moment right at the center of the experience.

Otherwise I’d felt the most eccentric choices are faceted in the back half where “The Best Part is the Brain” is my favored highlight on the album and the guitar runs of “Nove Strade” recall something like the opener to Ancient Rites‘ ‘Rvbicon‘ sans any operatic vocals and the melody it develops as its basal hinge point. I don’t know if this type of face value description conveys the sense of a playlist, a set of the best ideas from this tangential streak of a production/writing session, rather than an album curated as a statement beyond a curious and entertaining listening experience. ‘Something to Pierce‘ is at this point unmistakably the work of Sadist, a fantastical and yet familiar font of progressive metal with an aggressive groove at its core with some cinematic/soundtrack feeling weave to its work.

While the full listen of ‘Something to Pierce‘ is entertaining and touches upon everything I’d liked about the band’s previous handful of releases to me it’d read as an album in passing, an overflow of ideas building upon the freshened standard set by ‘Firescorched‘ and not a record that inspired outright fixation beyond the elements that’re distinct to Sadist. It was an experience akin to greeting an old friend who is thriving in their groove, you love to see it and can appreciate the wheels turning but that success was guaranteed by the years of work put in, today it doesn’t land like a colossal stamp upon time immemorial or a shock to the system. There is no crime in producing an album that lives via its novelty, and the impressive quality of their work is still there, though this one didn’t hit me with the level of riffcraft that’d typically stick to me as much as I’d appreciated the production values and the atmosphere that carries through the experience. A moderately high recommendation.

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