Sabbat
England has VENOM. Sweden has BATHORY. Japan has SABBAT! The band formed by Gezol in 1984 is without a doubt most important Japanese band when it comes to traditional Black/Thrash Metal.
In the first few years of existence the band was releasing 7” singles and demo tapes, which obviously have cult status these days. Their first full length album entitled “Envenom” came out in 1991, and was quickly followed by “Evoke” (1992), “Disembody” (1993), “Fetishism” (1994) and the majestic opus “The Dwelling” (1996).
Their unique mixture of black and thrash metal, mixed with elements of old school death metal and traditional heavy metal is often labeled as “Blacking Metal”, and it’s fair to admit they do not sound like anyone else. While the band kept on releasing full lenght studio albums such as “Karisma” ” (1999), “Satanasword” (2000), “Karmagmassacre” (2003) and “Sabbatrinity” (2011), they were also releasing, and still keep on release insane amount of additional EP’s, singles and live albums – SABBAT’s discography includes more than 220 official releases (!), and they’re not stopping. Blacking Metal forever!
Spasms
This new entity hailing from Sweden consists of veterans of the underground scene including members from acts such as Antichrist, Insane and Witchgrave. SPASMS aim for a horror-inflicting blood-chilling raw and ugly heavy metal sound.