Metal Album reviews

Rock on Promo review of our sick ass e.p.

Aw hell yeah, hows it goin Sa-Da-Ko peoples?!
We are busy as hell this week, sortin more T.Shirts, makin sure the Cougar is roadworthy, fitting actual seats in the back with actual seatbelts, and ensuring the set is enough to flatten a few buildings!! And what's this all in aid of I hear you ask... well, I'm glad you enquired as to the nature of our industriousness... We are takin the "I see them" tour down south for a couple of dates, This Friday (26th) we are delivering a sucker punch to "the pig in Paradise" in Hastings, following it up with a roundhouse kick to the face on Sunday (28th) at "the Gaff" in Islington.



So as you can imagine, we are all lookin foreward to taking the Sa-Da-Ko slobber knocker down to a new audience, and also as very hard workers in the music world ourselves, its allways good to get a bit of recognition for your efforts, and this came in the form of a lovely little review of our album, Zer01, from the team at Rock on Promo, reviewed by Roz Edwards... So, how can you get to this website and read it??? Well we have put the review in its entirety just below, but, as ever click on this badboy link, and tell em Sa-Da-Ko sent ya, and check out their other offerings cos its dead good and what not!!! :)

When you think about the heavyweights of the local music scene, they don’t come much heavier than Sa-Da-Ko, and their debut album Zer01 is definitely a hard hitter. It doesn’t take long to notice a definite Slipknot influence, but as long as you draw the line between influence and imitation that’s no bad thing, and Sa-Da-Ko certainly have enough of their own style to pull it off. Not to mention some seriously talented musicians.

The album is well produced, successfully loading as much overdrive onto the guitars as possible without sacrificing all clarity of sound. Sadly the vocals haven’t fared quite so well: it’s not often you find a singer sounding better on stage than in the studio, and although the overall effect still works, the vocals might have been better left raw.

There’s definitely something satisfying about Sa-Da-Ko’s music, especially Red, a murderous anthem that never fails to get a pit going even in the smallest bar. With an opening lyric like “You never looked better than when you were lying in a gutter in a pool of blood,” you can either run screaming or go ahead and scream along, basking in the horror. At Rock On Promotions we think the latter is always the better option. Sticking with horror, Zer01 then descends into the twisted remnants of what might once have been a lullaby. Smother is a fitting follow-up to Red: if the aftermath of a brutal murder was ever expressed in sound, this is it.

Ju-On is another heavyweight with a catchy chorus, followed by Echo Relocation, which slows things down a touch to create a real sense of torment. Li features one of the most addictive riffs of the entire album, and Name Your God is a powerful closer. There really isn’t a bad song on the album, and if anything the biggest downside is that, at just over 30 minutes, it’s all over too soon.

- Roz Edwards

Anyhoooo, check the site out, and if any of you stinky buggers are about London way, pop in an come and see us Fri or Sun...

one love Sa-Da-Koers

A Madmans view on Sa-da-ko

We’ve had a few reviews lately, but I really wanted to show you this one not because it’s a positive one, but because this guy hits the nail on the head regarding to achieve with our sound. I met this chap via the SN app twitter,

I started following his blog not so long ago and I’ve enjoyed his rants and views immensely, if you’re looking for honesty, metal love and genuine point’s view in your blogs then check him out!! You can find the Madman by clicking the links on the side over on the right hand side….

Not something for the train journey
There are some nice things in the world. A cold beer in the sunshine on a hot day, the smell of a fresh steak on a barbecue, the scream of Metro Station's fans as the lead singer is pushed under a train.

There are some things that aren't nice, like people with halitosis yawning, genocide, warm lager. And Sa-Da-kO.

Not to be confused with commuter time-hemorrhage Sudoku, Sa-da-kO are a five-piece death/grind band from way up North. There's a distinctly oriental theme to these bruiser's blogs so I can make the educated assumption that the name is taken from the scary long-haired chick that crawls out of the TV at the end of The Ring. However, this is a big hit with MADman as I'm a huge fan of Japanese culture, so was intrigued to dig into their MySpace. And they are not nice

Demo tunes "rEd" and "Name Your God" open the set of eight songs in the kind of noise you'd expect if Lamb Of God walked up to Atreyu in a chainsaw factory and called their mum's a bunch of slags. The immediately harsh guitar slaps you round the chops and in my opinion, vocalist Jim Arnold absolutely shreds his throat to open the demo. In fact, it seemed a bit rude sitting down whilst listening to "Name Your God" and I felt I should try and get a wall of death going with Hot Chick. There's a vocal break that has Dimmu Borgir-like qualities and reminded me a great deal of the initial slow down in "The Serpentine Offering", only with less Nordic atmosphere.

The third tune "The Struggle" didn't felate me in the same way as the openers but, with similarities to Disturbed's "Sons Of Plunder" on the intro, it's still worthy of some ear time. My one possible criticism about the first four songs is that "Ju-on" could have gone into a mental halfbeat breakdown after the first couple of bars; this tune has the potential to create fucking carnage in the pit so I would have liked a to hear a bit of variation here.

"It Grows" shows a Black Dahlia Murder style to Jim's vocal and, if properly produced, should be on a demo. I can see legs, arms, bottles of piss and babies being chucked around a pit once this piece reaches full swing. "False Prophecy" gives us a traditional "bit from a horror film" intro, with a poor woman being terrorised by some sort of mean demon types, before we get toe-punted in the cock by Jim and the crew as the song kicks in. Interestingly, this number takes us back to the horror narrator midway through, giving an interesting depth to an otherwise pretty traditional thrash chugger.

The last couple of tunes lose the initial impact for me but overall, this is a fucking fantastic display of garage death metal. If Jim Arnold can hold on to his vocal chords before they rupture into some kind of pissing gore shower, I can see myself banging my head off of a stage in front of this bunch of reprobates in the not too distant future.

Reviews

Tony at http://www.metalunderground.co.uk/ was kind enough to review of our current demo tracks.......

http://www.myspace.com/sadako01

Sa-da-kO, 5 piece from Southport in the North West.Listening to the tracks on my space, there is a mix of everything in the music, they use a combination of brutal vocals backed up some clean vocals, on some of the songs, and I loved some of the guitar work, as some of the musicianship is of a good standard.Its obvious that a lot of work has gone into the writing of the songs, when I first listened to the tracks on my space, the music didn’t impress that much but after a few listens, it grew on me, and taking into consideration that it will sound much better on CD.Give the band credit for trying something a little different would say give the music a few listens before making a judgment as it is a grower.

3.5/5

Ok, so not the greatest of reviews, however there is an understanding what the band is trying to achieve here, there are too many clones!! Too many bands, who write the same, produce the same, use the same equipment, use the same plug-ins and market the same.
I’m drawing a line in the sand now and I’m promising that the new album is a step up, not a departure, not a “radio friendly sound” but a complete overhaul and completely focused recording.

I love reviews it helps mold and focus us as a band and gives us an import view of ourselves removed from the confinements of the studio or the practice room, you can read more of our reviews via Garage band but more importantly have your say on face book, twitter, blog whatever, let us know and unite.