By: Jay Broderick - The 1980s... inarguably, the Golden Age of Heavy Metal. While the NWOBHM was rooted in the 1970s, it was the 1980s that saw bands like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden entrench themselves in the hearts of new heavy music fans. Then bands like Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax brought their brand of Speed/Thrash Metal to the masses, and eventually became known as "The Big 4". The heavy music scene was becoming massive during that time, and bands were cropping up from specific areas like The Bay Area of San Francisco, and New York City. And then there was Toronto, Canada!
There were a number of bands that appeared on the thrash scene in Toronto. Slaughter (the real band), Infernal Majesty, and Razor were leading the way for Toronto metal bands, but it was Scarborough's Sacrifice that reigned during those glory days. Now, 39 years after their debut full length Torment in Fire, Sacrifice continue their dominance as Canadian Thrash Metal Gods with their most recent album recording Volume Six. With an official February 21st release date on the horizon, I have an advanced listen. Let's check it out:
Volume Six
A haunting, brooding bass guitar strum sets the atmosphere for the album's lead track "Comatose", and then at the 22 second mark, we're smashed in the face with a surge of energy that is synonymous with Sacrifice's mantra. With a simple, but very cool effect at the minute 48 mark, Urbinati's cry of "LOOK OUT" echoes through the speakers, ahead of a Joe Rico guitar lead that sets us up for the final stanza. As the track ends, we hear the quiet beeping of a hospital's Vital Signs Monitor... and then the unsettling, constant beep of the flatline. It's a powerful track that is imperative to setting the tone for the rest of the album.
"Antidote of Poison" is the first single to be released from Volume Six, and it continues the onslaught of the album's lead track. The guitar's "da-da-da-da-du" strum pattern hooks us in at the opening notes, and I quickly realize it's been far too long since we've heard these iconic sounds. Structurally, the track has everything that makes thrash metal what it is. High tempo, time changes, and lyrically, a message to choose either to allow yourself to suffer, or to take control of your shit!
Volume Six continues to build from one track to the next with the 3rd song. "Missile" was released as the album's second single on January 28, 2025. It's gallopy rhythm is hard hitting, and Urbinati's gravelly vocals lead us down a path of unrelenting power. With Urbinati and Rico going back and forth with their own guitar parts, there's no break within the first 10 minutes of Sacrifice's sixth studio album.
Typically, when I do a new album review, I highlight the opening track, any released singles, and then one or 2 other tracks that I feel are highlights of the record. And then an album like Volume Six comes around. This record has 11 brand new songs (the 2022 standalone single "World War V" does not appear on Volume Six), that get increasingly better as the album progresses. Track after track, Sacrifice builds a multi-layered album that transcends time. To pick out one or 2 highlight tracks in this case is impractical. But the need to discuss 2 other tracks specifically, screams out to me.
"Black Hashish", save for the magical vocals 'Fire, Inhale, Exhale' from Urbinati's daughter, that blend seamlessly with the music, is the second instrumental on Volume Six (the other being the cataclysmic "Lunar Eclipse"). It's the longest song on the album clocking in at 6:33. The tempo comes down a bit, and we get a break from the beating we've taken over the previous 29 minutes, but the arrangement here is what is so immersing. Again, I re-emphasize the sorely missed music that we just don't get very much of anymore. I remember once upon a time when bands would always add an instrumental track to their albums, and "Black Hashish" easily ranks up there with the best. And as a final piece of trivia that I hold dear, Sacrifice dedicates this track to Scarborough, the town they grew up in. It also happens to be the town I grew up in. If you're a fellow Scarberian, you'll know the pertinence of the dedication!
Volume Six closes with a cover of Toronto Punk band Direct Action's "Trapped In A World", and features guest vocals from Toronto Punk singer, producer and DJ Brian Taylor. It's another addition that makes me long for "the good ol' days" of heavy music.
Track Listing
Comatose - 3:21
Antidote of Poison - 4:09
Missile - 3:27
Underneath Millenia - 4:26
Your Hunger for War - 5:03
Incoming Mass Extinction - 2:01
Lunar Eclipse - 2:03
Explode - 3:51
Black Hashish - 6:33
We Will Not Survive - 3:54
Trapped In A World (feat. Brian Taylor) - 2:10
Sacrific'e's Volume Six is ~AFIRE~!!! With its themes of impending doom on songs like "Your Hunger for War", "Incoming Mass Extinction" and "We Will Not Survive", the heavy riffs, the bass leads and the battering drums, it's a recording that we haven't heard from anybody, in years. It easily rides alongside the band's best work.
release date: February 21, 2025
Sacrifice Online
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