On the Radar: The Great Sabatini
Posted in On the Radar on April 25th, 2011 by H.P. TaskmasterNoisy Quebecois four-piece The Great Sabatini got together in 2007 and already have a couple tours under their belt, but their new and cleverly-titled Napoleon Sodomite EP is the first I’m hearing of them. The three-song release (vinyl and download, I have the latter) is full of harsh tones, weighted low-end and the occasional in-your-ear yell from guitarist Sean Sabatini.
And in case you’re thinking otherwise, no the ban
d name isn’t an ego trip on the guitarist/vocalist’s part. Each of the four members — Steve on drums, Joey on bass, Rob on guitar and Sean — have taken the last name Sabatini, so I’m thinking it’s like a Voltron thing. When they all come together, it’s great. If that’s the theory they’re working on, Napoleon Sodomite seems to bear it out. The three-minute opening title track hits with Converge-style bombast and modernly doomed groove, and “Helter Skeletor,” which follows, is a banjo and rhythmic chain instrumental piece that sets up the end of the last cut as well as giving the whole affair an even more demented feel.
“Trap Sequence,” the last of the bunch, is also instrumental and longer than the other two songs put together at 5:59. The pace gradually builds to a noise-laden finish before the banjo returns to ride the song into oblivion. All told, the EP is barely enough to get a sense for what The Great Sabatini are doing, but their darkened atmospheric noise should be familiar-sounding to those who take it on. There’s still an individual edge, there, however, and if the musical adventurousness that rears its head on “Trap Sequence” is anything to go by, the Montreal outfit will be well worth keeping on the radar in the days to come.
Get a sampling of The Great Sabatini‘s wares on their Facebook page, or the ReverbNation player below:
Undoubtedly en route to somewhere as they perpetually seem to be, nomadic duo Jucifer (originally from Georgia) stopped in at Akdar Studios in Bernville, PA, in June 2009 to put the four tracks to tape that would become their portion of a Choking Hazard Records split with Montreal natives Show of Bedlam, for whom the split marks their first outing. Jucifer’s four songs are raw and more aggressive than their Relapse studio material has been over the last couple albums, and Show of Bedlam take traditional doom rock plod and add a modern sense of foreboding to it that comes across through the roughness of their own production.
It’s well past two in the morning. This afternoon I had three false starts for reviews that I just couldn’t get moving no matter how many times I wrote a crappy opening paragraph. It happens. Sometimes you have to put it away and go have a glass of orange juice. When I got around to checking out Aun‘s Motorsleep (Alien8 Recordings), it became clear it was music for the quiet hours.
