Although it is often mistaken to be
Sadus
' second album, 1991's
Chemical Exposure
is actually their first, having been released independently by the band back in 1988 (under the title of
Illusions
) -- before their association with
Roadrunner
led to its renaming and reissue three years later. In every other respect, however, the two LPs are one and the same, but let's backtrack a bit. Produced by
Metal Church
guitarist
John Marshall
,
was initially and understandably considered yet another Bay Area
thrash metal
album -- though a very accomplished one at that, and bolstered by an unusually clear sound for an independent release. Yet, in retrospect, the album stood balanced on a knife's edge between the already fading (though few were aware of it)
thrash
scene and the
death metal
movement about to replace it. Indeed, much like
Sepultura
's similarly transitioning (and astonishing)
Schizophrenia
LP of 1987, key
tracks like
"Certain Death,"
"Torture,"
"Fight or Die,"
and even the rather funny
"Sadus Attack"
still played by the former style's unfailingly frantic, break-neck speed rules, rarely ever slowing down to preempt the latter's greater dynamic diversity. But the young
players' already awesome technical abilities clearly belonged with the next generation of post-
deathsters, and their jaw-dropping displays on additional offerings like
"Illusions,"
and the title cut boasted a slew of escalating songwriting and performance complexities that were quite beyond the earlier Bay Area scene's limits. Actually, if there's any one thing hindering
' inclusion with the next wave, it would be
Darren Travis
' screaming/spitting lead vocal style, which, though hardly musical in nature, still derived from earlier
frontmen such as
Slayer
's
Tom Araya
and
Kreator
Mille Petrozza
(see the very
-like
"Hands of Fate,"
another old demo reworked), instead of the Cookie Monster growl typical of
. Nevertheless, and regardless of all this mostly academic, cross-subgenre debate, the fact is
was a very fine debut -- fine enough to merit two releases obviously. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia