Thrash metal from Pennsylvania, USA. Some of the members have also played with Sardonyx and Fountain Of Tears. Their sound is reminiscent of Believer.

TESTIMONY OF APOCALYPSE/PRESUMED DEAD (1990/1989, 2005) RETROACTIVE

'Testimony Of Apocalypse' was one of the first Christian thrash metal albums I heard. I bought a cassette tape when it was new, and played it all the time. The music is furious thrash metal, and at times it's quite technical as well. The vocals can get a bit monotonous at times, but Mike Torone does have a perfect thrash/death metal aggressiveness to him. Sacrament did have a fairly unique sound. Certainly this is some of the most brutal thrash metal to even come out in the Christian scene, and this album received a fair amount of praise in the secular market as well. The original R.E.X. versions has been out of print for a long time. Luckily Retroactive Records reissued it in 2005, together with the bands 'Presumed Dead' demo, from 1989. The demo includes songs that ended up on both the bands albums, but also tracks that never left the demo stage. And since the band changed singers in-between albums, here we get to hear "Separate From Iniquity" from 'Hunts Of Violence' sung by the first singer. This re-release was limited to only 1000 copies, and has already become a rare collectors item too. Also please notice that the track-list above is correct, and not the one on the trey card.

Killer tracks: Slave To Sin, Hellfire Denied, Repentance, Valley Of Dry Bones, Blood Bath

HAUNTS OF VIOLENCE (1992) R.E.X.

Produced by Kevin Ayers (Haven) and with Doug Mann and Gavin Morkel (the producing team behind Believer) as executive producers, 'Haunts Of Violence' was Sacraments second, and final, album.

'Haunts Of Violence' sees Robert Wolfe replace Mike Torone on vocals. Mike suffered from infections to the vocal chords, and had to stop singing altogether.  Robert has a very different approach to singing. Whereas Mike was more of the brutal death metal style variety, Robert delivers rapid and sharp machine gun barks, and it fits this kind of thrash metal to a T. I keep reading that people compare this album to Slayer. I can understand that, but to me, musically I find that 'Haunts Of Violence' has a lot in common with the thrash metal version of Mortification. Sacrament's music is more guitar-oriented and their approach is more technical. But the feeling of all the songs just blending into each other, getting almost impossible to tell apart, is similar. To me this album is a perfect example of the fact that great musicians doesn't always guarantee a great record. There is nothing wrong with 'Haunts Of Violence'. In fact, a song-by-song rundown uncovers many great tunes. But if you listen to the entire album in one sitting, it tends to get just a tad boring after a while. There is just not enough variation, despite the technical playing. This is mostly due to the monotonous vocals. Still, if you like well produced, sharp, precise and to the point trash, you can do a lot worse then 'Haunts Of Violence'.

"Separate From Iniquity" was originally recorded for the bands 1989 'Presumed' demo. Here they re-recorded it to fit the new vocalist.

I heard about this album as a new release, but could never find a copy in my local shops. It tortured me for years, as I really wanted to hear it. Again internet was my rescue. I tracked down a used copy, and paid top dollars for it, only months before M8 re-released it. When I bought it it was out of print.

Killer tracks: Haunts Of Violence, Souls In Torment, Separate From Iniquity

Sacrament also appear on:  

V/A - 'ARGH!!! The Official R.E.X. Sampler'

Related artists:

Sardonyx