THE SABIANS
Shiver (TMC)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson

---

Sometimes you just know from the first few notes that you're going to like something. Sometimes you find out a few minutes later that you were wrong, but that probably won't be the case with The Sabians if you like it hard and heavy. Um, I'm talking about rock. Their sophomore release begins with a powerful bass line, not too fancy but stuffed with exploding atoms. About four seconds later the troops arrive, and it's going to be 43 minutes of impassioned, creative hard rock that sometimes veers toward metal and carries just a few too many trace elements of that genre to ever be confused with the alt clones. That should be no surprise, since The Sabians formed from the ashes of Sleep, one of dark metal's most important bands. There are so many creative ideas on Shiver you'll probably miss several on the first few listens because you'll still be getting your mind around one of them when another fires past. Me, I'm all in favor of such a thing.

© 2003 - DJ Johnson