Sadness
Ames de marbre (CD) 1993 Witchhunt
Hailing from Switzerland, another band from the country of cheese wishes to explore further the path set by Celtic Frost. Sadness shows a lot of musical similarities with their fellow countrymen Samael, but moves more into a dark/gothic direction. 'Ames de marbre', their debut album, is in my eyes their most succesful attempt at creating an own musical identity, blending elements from dark/black/doom metal and gothic rock with ethnic influences. The lyrics deal with the usual occult themes that preoccupy gothic artists, but their poetic beauty reveals an original point of view. Mostly slow and doomy, but at times dreamy and atmospheric or even sinister and threatening, though always dark and always mysterious, Sadness succeeds in combining all the cliché elements of dark/gothic metal, without that the whole results in a big cliché! Highlights of this album are the heavy 'Opal Vault', with its oriental drive, the long epic 'Tears of sorrow' and 'Red script', a track full of variation and contrasts.	1. Ames de marbre 2. Lucurs 3. Tristessa 4. Opal vault 5. Tears of sorrow 6. Red script 7. Antofagasta Approx. 36 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou
Danteferno (CD) 1995 Godhead
This second effort from Sadness gained a lot of power and heaviness but, it's sad to say, lost also a lot of its originality and its emotionality. The atmosphere is still dark and mysterious but unfortunately, the songs are too straightforward and not varied enough to keep one's attention alive during the whole work. The guitar riffing is uninspired, like the lyrics, the female vocals, the screams and the general atmosphere of the songs. Also the emotional power of the first album of this band seems to be completely lost. Listening to 'Danteferno' doesn't evoke any emotions at all, it feels like trainspotting: you watch the songs pass by and you don't even care… the only song that seems to stand out at first, is 'Aphrodite's Thorns', featuring very special female vocals, but after a while, those vocals also start to work on my nerves, because the song is simply too long and the singing becomes very boring and irritating. In short: if you want to check out this band, check out their excellent debut album 'Ames de marbre' and avoid listening to this album as the plague if you haven't listened to their debut album first, as it might prejudice you against that first album.	1. Danteferno 2. The mark of the eldest son 3. Tribal 4. Delia 5. Below the shadows 6. Shaman 7. Aphrodite's thorns 8. Talisman Approx. 42 minutes
Reviewed by: Kostas Panagiotou