Author: Rok Klemše
Artist: Sabaium
Label: Self-released
Released: 2010
Runtime: 39:03
Rating: 4/5
Sabaium are without a doubt one of the longest continuously active metal bands in Slovenia. They put out their first demo, Monument of Death, back in 1995, when they were still called Catacomb. The following year, after renaming themselves Decayed Catacomb, they released a second demo, soon followed by a third, and in 1999 the band was finally renamed and reformed as Sabaium. They’re still going under that name today as one of the busiest bands on the local scene (in the studio and on stage), and last October they spawned their fourth bastard child, Connection Lost.
But you’ve got to love your bastards too, and the deep love that went into Connection Lost is plain to hear, because this fourth album is the peak of everything Sabaium have done so far. The return of original vocalist Milko Kraner surely had a lot to do with it, bringing a rebirth and a fresh spark to the crew and giving them a good kick in the ass. Sabaium are still anchored in the waters of melodic death metal, but this time they mix it with gothic metal tricks for the first time with real success. On the previous record, Gravity Divine, the blend of the two genres still sounded rather clumsy, but on Connection Lost the band has managed to find the right junction between two worlds of metal. The gothic and at times even doomy touch comes from Milko Kraner’s truly excellent vocal performance, with clean vocals that are mighty and fresh and at moments sound like a slightly higher-pitched Nick Holmes (Paradise Lost) in his prime. On the instrumental side, the darker side of the album is represented by the keyboards of Vesna Kupčič. They only occasionally sound a bit awkward, and otherwise they build a mystical atmosphere and improve and enrich the overall sound, which you can hear nicely in Edge of Darkness, where the keyboards add an oriental flavor. They indulge in a bit more of that old annoyance in Programmed Greed, where they sound too artificial, plasticky and synthetic. If those two poles stand for gothic gloom, then melodic riffs, harmonic passages and a raw, aggressive but intelligible and varied growl throw you straight into the world of Gothenburg metal. The faster, more adrenaline-fueled moments of the album are handled by tracks like Invisible, whose opening is a perfect “hommage” to early In Flames, while the riffs in the intro of Control Domain and the spectacular, crushing title track, surely one of the album’s best moments, also went to the Swedish school of melodic death metal. The overly frequent use of pinch harmonics may bug you a little, but you quickly forget about it thanks to the fantastic solos, which are probably the tastiest and best-composed ones David Kupčič has ever put out. That’s exactly why I’d have wanted even more of them! The rhythm section doesn’t exactly discover new worlds, but it rounds off the whole thing nicely, and it’s great to hear that Dali Sterniša’s fantastic production gave the bass guitar a mighty, thick sound that doesn’t stand out from the average but fills out the sound nicely.
Sure, on Connection Lost Sabaium aren’t reinventing the wheel, since they mostly travel through familiar, well-trodden territory of melodic death metal and darker, dark metal if you will. Still, the new record is the crown jewel of the Sabaium discography, marked by a phenomenal vocal performance (from both vocalists!) and some excellent guitar and arrangement ideas. Despite the album’s title, Sabaium have found the right connection between the genres they sail through and have put out the best record of their career.
Lineup
Jure Vandur – rhythm guitar, vocals
Milko Kraner – vocals
Aleš Šketa – bass
Vesna Kupčič – keyboards
David Kupčič – lead guitar, rhythm guitar
Jure Handler – drums
Production
Dalibor Sterniša
Tracklist
1. Scars
2. Nothingness
3. Invisible
4. Infected
5. Connection Lost
6. Edge of Darkness
7. Control Domain
8. Programmed Gree
9. Submission to Machines
