The second release from Christian technical extreme metallers Believer is a mammoth thrash force that sadly gets little mention these days. Sanity Obscure was originally released back in 1991, now remastered by Metal Mind Productions, and listening to this album (or any of their releases for that matter) today can still give you goosebumps, thanks to the incredible musicianship and songwriting that it contains. This is progressive thrash, speed metal, progressive metal, technical metal, whatever you want to call it, but it's extreme and ironically quite Christian as far as the lyrics go. At just under 40 minutes, Sanity Obscure seems to end just as quickly and it begins, with the breakneck title track blasting away with furious drum blasts, intricate guitar riffs, and venemous vocals. Fans of Slayer, Death, early Metallica, and Exodus, if you have not heard this band, make sure you put this album on your wish list. For pure riff-o-rama, it's hard to beat this release, guitars flying all over the mix with reckless abandon, brutally heavy riffs as well as nimble leads hitting you from all angles. The production is massive, sounding even clearer here on this remaster, and on tunes like "Nonpoint" and "Stop the Madness" every riff, every drum beat, every bass line, litterally jumps out at you with such sonic clarity it's mindboggling. Prog rock fans will love the mix of classical and metal on the gem "Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)", complete with female operatic vocals, violin, and cello, the end result like some sort of merging of Metallica, Epica, ELO, and Kansas. Way ahead of its time. For all out thrash brutality, look no further than "Dust to Dust" and "Idols of Ignorance", two crushing examples of how heavy this metal juggernaut could be.
Sanity Obscure also happened to be Believer's first release for Roadrunner Records, and after touring in support of the record the band had some personnel changes but regrouped for the equally inspiring Dimensions album, which turned out to be their last. More on that one later.
As they have done with all their remasters, Metal Mind offers up a stunning digipack with full-color booklet containing an essay, photos, and full lyrics. Plain and simple-this is a mandatory purchase for lovers of extreme technical metal, and a long forgotten classic.
Track Listing
1. Sanity Obscure
2. Wisdom's Call
3. Nonpoint
4. Idols of Ignorance
5. Stop the Madness
6. Dies Irae (Day of Wrath)
7. Dust to Dust
8. Like a Song
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