Sacrifice Glad They Didn't Go "Alternative"

11/04/09 6:11pm

by Jared Story (CHARTattack)

Toronto thrash trailblazers Sacrifice are back with The Ones That I Condemn, the band's fifth full-length album and first since '93's Apocalypse Inside.

The disc is more re-animation than reinvention, and definitely picks up where Sacrifice left off.

"It had to sound like Sacrifice," says vocalist/guitarist Rob Urbinati. "I think it does. That's what people have been telling me anyway. It's definitely recognizable so that's cool.

"We didn't want to write again unless it was going to be comparable to our older stuff. We didn't want people saying 'it's not as good' or 'they are just going through the motions.' It had to be great, in our eyes anyway. I think we surpassed our own goals in how the recording came out and the songs and all that stuff."

Urbinati and guitarist Joe Rico formed Sacrifice in 1983. They welcomed bassist Scott Watts and drummer Guss Pynn to their ranks. That line-up released three albums — 1985's Torment In Fire, 1987's Forward To Termination and 1991's Soldiers Of Misfortune. Those albums are considered classics in the first wave of Canadian heavy metal, along with releases by Anvil, Voivod, Exciter, Annihilator and Razor.

But Pynn left the band after Soliders came out and Watt followed suit shortly after Apocalypse Inside. That, combined with the changing climate of metal, was why Sacrifice split up.

"A lot of our peers had gone off and added alternative elements to their music or did something that altered their style and we didn't feel comfortable doing that. I'm glad we didn't continue the first time around because the pressure with the bands then, it seemed everybody changed, but we decided to stop instead of doing that."

But you can't keep a good band down. In fall of 2006, the classic line-up of Sacrifice reunited for the Day Of The Equinox II Festival at Toronto's Opera House. That show, originally intended as a one-off, was the catalyst for the band's continuation.

"That had a lot to do with it," Urbinati says. "I don't think we expected the reaction we got. There were people coming from all over the place for that reunion show. I think we underestimated our position in the metal world. It went really well — probably the best show we ever played."

With The Ones That I Condemn as uncompromising, unrelenting as its previous albums, it's good to see Sacrifice back. But is the band back for good?

"The only pressure we have on ourselves is just to have fun," Urbinati says. "It feels more like when we did our first album. It's just really fun. We're having fun hanging out and playing our instruments and playing a show here and there. We really have no aspirations or goals to where this is going. We're completely happy with where it is right now."

To celebrate the Canadian release of The Ones that I Condemn (which came out Oct. 27 on Sonic Unyon), Sacrifice will play at Winnipeg's Garrick Centre on Nov. 7 alongside prairie punks Propagandhi. You can also see them in Toronto on Nov. 21 at The Opera House.