Blood for the Blood God
Original thrash metallers Sabbat get a smallish crowd by the order of the day and are probably not helped by 3 Inches of Blood pulling out, meaning that Sabbat have to come on early.
I remember first hearing Sabbat on a flexi disc that came with White Dwarf magazine and thinking they were pretty unlistenable! Well things have moved on since then, the extremities of metal have been pushed further and further back, which means that when Sabbat perform much of their back catalogue it actually sounds quite time by today's standards. It's a good performance with plenty of energy and movement and whilst the tunes are still fast and furious you can easily pick out the tune thanks to good sound in the arena.
After 'Hosanna In Excelsis' vocalist Martin Walkyier seems a little put out that the crowd aren't as receptive as he'd like to the fact that the band are playing some of these songs for the first time in many years. Perhaps he has over estimated the appeal of the band but it does appear that only the front few rows are really into it today. Overall it's an enjoyable set but you wonder how long they could get away with trawling out the back catalogue (which wasn't that big anyway) before they have to get back in the studio and then you have to question how relevant they would be in a scene that has moved the goal posts a long way.