Sadus
Chemical Exposure

THE REVIEW

We are in 1988 and Sadus is preparing for their discographic debut by releasing "Illusions", initially printed only on vinyl by Sadus Record, and later re-released three years later by RoadRunner under the title "Chemical Exposure".
Globally known for being the right-hand men of Death from the very beginning, to the point that they used the same rehearsal room, they owe a good part of their success to a certain member of the group, a certain Steve DiGiorgio, who left an indelible mark on the metal scene thanks to his sensational performances both with Chuck Schuldiner's band and with other bands of the caliber of Control Denied, Testament, Iced Earth, and many others...

Now let's start talking about the album itself, which can globally be defined as an album that stylistically takes your breath away, presenting itself as a mix between the ultra-fast Thrash proposed by Slayer and the very violent old-school Death that was all the rage among the metalheads of the late '80s. We find four guys who certainly don't need to be asked twice when it's time to thrash, starting from the rhythm section comprised of the possessed John Allen, who behind the drums doesn't even think about slowing down, and the aforementioned Steve D., the real protagonist, who comfortably supports frenetic bass lines, even featuring some explosive solos that demonstrate that the bass in metal isn't just for providing a "frame", not to mention the guitars of Rob Moore and Darren Travis, real shreds, and the voice of the latter, very similar to Tom Araya's in "Reign In Blood", not even remotely a growl, corrosive enough to make an already malevolent album even more wicked.

Just listen to the first few seconds of "Certain Death" to understand how true what I wrote above is: terrifying rhythm changes with brutal accelerations that create a great song... headbanging guaranteed! Not to mention the other two masterpieces like the subsequent "Undead" and the deadly "Torture", but I also have to say that virtually all the songs settle on medium-high levels, making this debut appear as a very good work, even if many don't consider it because they find it sometimes predictable.

Surely the best of the band is yet to come, but, as I said earlier "Chemical Exposure" can ultimately be considered a great album, especially for its significant historical importance, establishing itself as one of the forerunners of progressive Death/Thrash, of which the band will be remembered as one of the absolute dominators of the genre.