UMUR "Envenom" is the debut full-length studio album by Japanese black/thrash metal act Sabbat. The album was released through Evil Records in March 1991. The original pressing was only for 500 CD copies (and some cassette tape copies), but the album has subsequently been reissued several times by different labels on both CD, vinyl and cassette tape.

The music on "Envenom" is old school raw thrash metal with a blackened edge. The latter style is mostly heard in the raspy raw vocals, because the rest of the music is thrash metal to the bone. There is the occasional use of more melodic higher pitched raw vocals, but the black metal rasp is the dominant vocal style on the album. It´s artists like Bathory and Hellhammer that come to mind, so it´s safe to say Sabbat aren´t out to invent the wheel on this release. What they do deliver is a very effective, raw, and well played thrash metal attack (with the occasional nod towards speed metal) with occult/satanic lyrics, which is abundantly clear from songtitles like "Satan Bless You", "Devil Worship", and "King of Hell". The tracks are simple, but catchy and memorable. It´s hard not to bang your head while screaming along to one of the anthemic choruses. Yes it´s that infectious...

The musicianship is generally strong but I´d like to mention the many well played guitar solos as one of the assets to the band´s sound. The raw organic sound production is another great asset which provide exactly the right environment for the music to shine. The 12 tracks, 50:34 minutes long album might be a couple of tracks too long for it´s own good, but other than that it is a very strong debut release by Sabbat and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

Wilytank "Hey, Wilytank. If you liked 'The Dwelling' so much, what is your opinion on Sabbat's other albums? You know, the ones that aren't 'The Dwelling'?" That was a question asked by myself to myself. Granted, I do really like all of Sabbat's material, 'The Dwelling' sticks out for being an hour long song. But let's go back in time. In the 80's, Sabbat released a few demos (EPs?) showcasing their thrashy, oriental black metal. When the 90's came around, the only original member left was Gezol. Sabbat would then acquire Zorugelion, Temis Osmond, and Elizaveat; all big names in the band's history. When 1991 rolled around, Sabbat finally unleashed their first official full length, 'Envenom', onto the world.

'Envenom' still reflects upon their 80's sound, but the songs here are all new (save for "Black Fire" appearing on some versions of this album). Another nice change is that they cleaned up their production a good bit, which is good since demos like 'Born By Evil Blood' and 'Desecration' had some really deplorable production. Otherwise, they still have a comfortable amount of grittiness to black up their sound. The bass is still fairly audible, a typically noteworthy detail in Sabbat's more well known demo era songs such as "Black Fire".

One thing that is absent from 'Envenom' and I wish wasn't is a decent amount of cleaner vocals. Sabbat's clean vocal songs in their demos like "Black Fire" and "Mion's Hill" were really good. On 'Envenom', there's only Gezol singing clean on "Eviler" and Temis' higher pitched, semi-clean vocals over Gezol's growls on "Carcassvoice".

Musically, this album is very well crafted. There's super thrashy pieces like "Satan Bless You", "Eviler", and "Reek of Cremation"; punkier licks "Evil Nations" and "Carcassvoice"; the much slower "King of Hell"; and mid paced tunes "Devil Worship" and "Deathtemptation". "Deathtemptation" in particular gets my utmost praise. It's probably the best crafted song on this album. The lead guitar is very impressive; the song starts out with an awesome solo, and a double solo appears later after the second refrain. I also really like the oriental sounding guitar during the first parts of the refrains of the song.

Unfortunately, I cannot give 'Envenom' a top tier score. For all its excellent moments, the album just doesn't as hard of a kick as some of Sabbat's later albums. "King of Hell" is actually skippable. I also really wish the harsh vocal production was better; I could barely hear it most of them most of the time. There's still lots of fun to have with this album though; and for those just getting into Sabbat, this isn't a bad entry point.