Sabbath Assembly returns via Svart Records with their sixth album “Letter of Red”. Consistent in their releases, they faithfully serve Occult / Gothic rock, and this time the production features Randal Dunn of their fabulous “Restored to one” debut, which featured the deity of psychedelic-doom Jex Thoth. If you like the kind of doom that is soaked in the psychedelia of the ’60s, then you should stop reading right now and listen to the incredible melodies of Process Church of the Final Judgment hymns. A religious cult from the late ’60s that used to praise Satan and Christ, believing in the victory over fear through love, the hymns of which Sabbath Assembly processed with chilling results. Since then a lot has changed in the band, with Dave Nuss (drums) their creator and only steady member and Jamie Myers taking over the vocals since 2011, following harder and more metal musical paths. What started with 2017’s “Rites of Passage”, which is a more 60’s-70’s prog rock approach with a gothic wrap, continues successfully and culminates in “Letter of Red”. Jamie Myers’ vocals sound like a kind of chorus throughout the album, while the music is a mix of metal, 70’s psychedelic doom and gothic. Sharp riffs, several changes (you can refer to King Diamond. Maiden, Ghost), interesting compositions that certainly carry something of the aura and atmosphere of The Devil’s Blood. As occult and evil the musical content is like an invocation to Satan, so earthly and real is the lyric part, concerning ISIS, opiate addiction, or isolation in adolescence, among others. Very good work, not easy-listening (in the absence of dynamism), must be listened to as a whole and requires a lot of listening for complete enjoyment and understanding. Ι singled out, without being the best of the album, “The Serpent Uncoils” as a new evil Barracuda with the galloping riff and The Devil’s Blood chorus, and the 7 minute epic “A welcome below” with its exquisite scaling and final melody, that completes an album that finds the Sabbath Assembly collective high in the Occult Rock scene.
