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Album Details

• Artist: Sadus
• Album: Chemical Exposure
• Label: Metal Mind
• Year of Release: 1988
• Original Release: 2007
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2008-09-13

Another in a pretty impressive line of under-the-radar classic metal re-issues for Metal Mind, Sadus' 1988 debut "Chemical Exposure" was originally titled "Illusions", and also contains elements from their previous two demos. Sadus are one of the most well-known Bay Area Thrashers, having perhaps laid claim to be the scene's most extreme band for a time. This is also, as any extreme metalhead worth his salt will tell you, where bassist extrodinaire Steve Digiorgio made his first appearance on the scene. He's since worked with just about every Thrash and Death metal band you've heard of. While their sound would mature some over the years, most fans might agree that it was their early work that contained the most energy, the most passion. It certainly still sounds impressive to this day, especially for a band's earliest work.


For this fan, Sadus has always been about two things; the almighty riff, and Steve's superb talents at accenting the riffage with creative and technically sharp bass licks. Just about every song on this disc is an example. From the grinding Slayer-esque "Certain Death" and "Sadus Attack" to the more sharp and technically precise "And Then You Die", the variety is there but this band was never about that sort of thing, really; their aim was to pummel the listener silly with speed, with pure fret-finger blur. Rob Moore and Darren Travis created tempos that few bands dared match with their axes, creating rally points for the equally cranked-up basswork of Digiorgio. The band could also create some haunting sludgy grind stuff, as witnessed on the album's title track, which creates an atmosphere of post-nuclear apocalypse.


The early demo bonus tracks are the rawest of the bunch, something old-school thrash fans might want to spring for the re-issue for. One of the most rapid and precise instrumentally-sound thrash bands to ever grace the headlines, Sadus should be mentioned alongside the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and all the rest of their place and time as one of the absolute best, true innovators and dominators. This is definitely an album that any metal fan should hear at least once, to catch a glimpse at the early, pioneering days of all the extreme metal that's grown to be more and more popular over the last decade. 

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