As one of Japan’s first thrash metal bands, to say that Sacrifice are a seminal would be something of an understatement. Formed in Tokyo in 1985, they first came on the global radar thanks to their debut long-player, Crest Of Black, released two years later. Sophomore effort, Total Steel, found them on an upward curve, but the band really hit their stride with third album, Tears. Released in 1992, and playing to no one’s rules but their own, Sacrifice re-wrote the rulebook with Tears to unleash an album that would forever honour them in the hallowed halls of heavy metal. Out of print for aeons, Tears gets a long overdue reissue via Relics From The Crypt (a subdivision of Dying Victims) to bring this seminal album to a whole new generation.
Japan is often viewed as a nation of copyists, but that’s a rather simplistic viewpoint; while it’s true they draw from established themes, they are wise enough to put a unique spin on things. That’s exactly what they did with their debut album where they filtered the European thrash of Venom and Hellhammer through their own sensibility. By the time they dropped their second album, they incorporated elements of crossover thrash via Carnivore and latter-day The Exploited. However, when Tears dropped they had found their own groove and were rocking it hard. While the band haven’t completely torn up their roots (the intro to opening track ‘Never Land Never Again’ recalls the Cro-Mags’ ‘We Gotta Know’, only drawn out to impossible lengths), there’s a strong focus on their own talents and Tears is the sound of a band who are confident in their own abilities. ‘Never Land Never Again’ is a strong opener, a beast that shapeshifts over the course of seven-and-a-half minutes. It’s a mean and moody beast that seethes with anger and finds the band in restrained mode, delivering a sludgy rocker that undoubtedly threw many listener’s into a tailspin. However, the following ‘Breaking The Silence Of The Night’ found the band on more familiar territory, Sacrifice unleashing the hounds with a thrasher that put all the needles firmly in the red. The cues are still European; this is a dirty brand of thrash more in tune with early Celtic Frost (as opposed to the squeaky clean Exodus), the vocals, too, are gritty and seemingly inspired by the deathlike growl of Kreator’s Mille Petrozza.
What elevates Tears above it’s two predecessors is its streamlined approached. With a few exceptions Sacrifice have dropped the elongated introductions that cluttered their debut album in favour of a more direct attack. They’re used more sparingly here, such as on the aforementioned ‘Never Land Never Again’ and also on ‘Broken Heroes’, but here they are a means to create atmosphere, a sense of place and time, rather than filler extending the running time. And while these songs do veer towards the epic (there’s no three-minute blasts here), it feels as if every note counts and there’s not one extraneous chord here.
Sacrifice would go on hiatus after the release of this album. They reconfigured in 2013, but there’s been no new album. Until that fourth record drops, Tears will fill the foil.
- Tears is released via Relics From The Crypt/Dying Victims on 19th December 2025.
Track List:
- Never Land Never Again
- Breaking The Silence Of The Night
- Your Soul
- Broken Heroes
- Time Slips Through In Front Of Your Eyes
- Do I Fight For God
- Hardest Life
- Down To You
