These guys first came to my attention during a sweltering evening in July 2022 when the Austin trio were the first band on in a bill in Bristol that also included the brilliant Night Demon and Midnight. Sadistic Force are a blackened speed metal outfit who play music which is exactly as you’d expect from their name. It’s brutal, fast, energised, unrelenting.
Midnight Assassin sees founder James Oliver draw deep into the darkest recesses of his imagination and research to produce a sophomore release that is indeed, dripping with sinister undertones. The man says that “Midnight Assassin is a record steeped in blood and terror,” and he’s not wrong. There is a thrilling, explosive start with “Corpsewood Curse”, a chilling story about two gay men who moved to Georgia in the late 1970s who were brutally murdered at their home in Corpsewood Manor (it’s a real true crime story worth checking out on the internet). From there on, it’s a relentless assault on the ears as Oliver’s demonic croaking roars soar above the tumultuous sound that is unleashed. For a three-piece, Sadistic Force certainly bring the noise.
We get songs inspired by serial killers, stalkers and necrophiliacs, as Sadistic Force take you down a road you may rarely wish to take. Combined with their limitless energy, they bring their live sound to the studio. There is all the intensity here that was in that room in Bristol, as Sadistic Force clearly only have one speed. Fucking Fast!
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But don’t be thinking this is all bludgeon and bluster. These boys can play. Oliver is a mean guitarist, throwing the solos out in the title track like a virtuoso, whilst the combination of Blaine Dismukes and Jose Alcaraz on bass and drums respectively provides a ferociously tight rhythm section.
The songs come hard, fast, and without opportunity for breather. There’s the powerful Motörhead vibe of “Nuremburg Nights”, the rage of “The Butchers Apron”, and the frantic finale of “Howl of the Horde” which brings Midnight Assassin to a close. It’s visceral, raw, powerful, and compelling. If you like the blackened speed of bands like Hellripper, Nightfighter, Midnight etc, then Sadistic Force should be added to your list. They do nothing new, but they do what they do exceptionally well. Throw in a typically awful album cover, which only adds to the overall feel of the record, and you have a release that you’ll return to time and time again.
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Midnight Assassin is out on October 13th
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Sadistic Force: official | facebook | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube
