Artist: The Great Sabatini
Album: Napoleon Sodomite
Label: Sludge Hummer
Release Date: April 15th, 2011
Format: 7″ Vinyl Record
I picked this 7″ up at a basement show some years back. My band opened for The Great Sabatini, who were on tour from Montreal. They put on a hell of a show, heavy, noisy, angry, tight, and unrelenting! I snagged a copy of this 7″ along with their full length LP, “Matterhorn.” The full length has made it into heavy rotation for me, but this 7″ I only listened to a handful of times. Then forgot, or lost, in my old organization system, or lack thereof. As mentioned in the previous posts I have new shelving for my vinyl hoard and these lost gems keep popping up in my collection.
Released on, what I believe is the bands own label, Sludge Hummer. The cover features artwork from Wurmzilla, who also pulls guitar duty. The artwork itself consists of line drawings and a unique “band” around the slip cover to hold the 7″ in the case. This is great design work equally using beauty and function! I really love the illustration of the monster and girl on the back cover as well. One of my favorite parts of this project is getting to sit down, feeling 13 again, and really look at all the aspects of the art of the release. Then I put it on my Marantz, loud as F, and just soak it all in. All too often I found myself not really appreciating all the little touches that are put into these beautiful physical objects I hoard. My pretties!! My precious!!!!!!
As stated earlier, I have a previous love for these dudes already, and this release was nothing but a happy little surprise for me. The Great Sabatini are kings of noise rock riffage, with guitar tones that are tight and complex. Napoleon Sodomite is the leading track on the 7″, and the guitars and drums start right in, slamming you in the face. This track showcases that these Canadians have a mastery of all things heavy.
The end of the first side brings a short track titled “Helter Skeletor.” This track feels like the interlude and gives a chance for the ears to breathe in some weird. It comes in at under 2 minutes and features droning guitars alongside a banjo-stomp riff. Kind of hilarious and weird, making for an excellent transition into the second side, and closing track, “Trap Sequence.” Again, the guitars and drums hit you right in the gut. Powerful chords and pounding drums quickly lead into a meandering riff and then drop off bringing the contrast of both quiet and loud into this song.
I have yet to pick up the 2014 release “Dog Years” from these dudes. I did not know it was out until jumping on their Bandcamp for this review. Damn! Now it’s on my list! Click the links below for more info, streams and yadda yadda from these guys.
The Great Sabatini on Bandcamp
The Great Sabatini on Facebook
