Sacrifist

Sacrifist

Track Listings

1. Stronghold

2. Cold Rolled/Iron Dub

3. Suspension

4. Rivet

5. Death Star

6. Hook

7. Nine Secrets

8. Crossing

Sacrifist,Praxis,Subharmonic,Heavy Metal,Popular Music,Rock,Rock/Pop

Average customer rating:

In Defense of 'Sacrifist'

turbulent space ride complete with vomit bags!

dissapointing at best

A bit disappointing

another winner!

Sacrifist
Praxis
Manufacturer: Subharmonic
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music
General | Rock | Styles | Music
General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Metatron

Zurich

Transmutation (Mutatis Mutandis)

Warszawa

Secret Recipe

ASIN: B000003ZN7
Release Date: 2006-04-11

Tracks:

Stronghold
Cold Rolled/Iron Dub
Suspension
Rivet
Deathstar
Hook
Nine Secrets
Crossing

Album Description

"Speed/thrash metal at its noisiest...combines Buckethead's ultra-heavy guitar riffs and shredding solos with sounds of shattered glass for an unbelievably aggressive experience. There's also a short dub interlude and a hip-hop freakout with lots of scratching and high-pitched shrieks...though this is a great disc, it will put most beginners off by its mind-numbing intensity." - ALL MUSIC GUIDE Over the years, the name Praxis has been applied to a number of loose configurations of musicians either fronted or produced by Bill Laswell, going back to an experimental 12-inch in the early `80s on Celluloid Records. Since then, a revolving army of innovators has contributed to Praxis projects. This disc includes P-Funkers Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell each contributing one lengthy track: "Deathstar," with Collins' free-form bass explorations, and "Crossing," featuring Worrell's psychedelic improvisation on a distorted Hammond organ. Also thrown into the mix are Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn) and Yamatsuka Eye (The Boredoms) screaming at the top of their lungs, plus Blind Idiot God, John Zorn on some shrill alto parts, and lots of ambient samples from Shinya Tsukamoto's cult film Tetsuo: The Iron Man.

The second disc of Bill Laswell and Buckethead's project Praxis is much less of a band effort, and much heavier in tone. Many tracks are speed/thrash metal at their noisiest, which combining Buckethead's ultra-heavy guitar riffs and shredding solos with sounds of shattered glass for an unbelievably aggressive experience. P-Funkers Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell each contribute one lengthy track: "Deathstar," with Collins' free-form bass explorations, and "Crossing," featuring Worrell's psychedelic improvisation on a distorted Hammond organ. Also thrown into the mixture are Mick Harris (Napalm Death, Scorn) and Yamatsuka Eye (The Boredoms), screaming at the top of their lungs, plus John Zorn on some shrill alto parts.

Customer Reviews:

In Defense of 'Sacrifist'.......2007-06-27

I'm certain that 90% of the world's population would scratch their heads if I ever brought up Praxis in a conversation. I won't elaborate on what Praxis is since anyone with an open mind and an Internet connection can just put the name into a search engine, but I will say that Praxis has never operated within the confines of a band per se. After all, Bill Laswell and Buckethead have always been at the core of Praxis' endeavors (I can't tell you how many times the hands have changed from album to album and even tour to tour). I think that's why their "biggest" outing was 'Trasmutation'. While it is arguable that Praxis defies definition, its diversity was on full display in its most concentrated, albeit conherent, form on said record. You had Bootsy Collins' space bass, Buckethead's mind-numbing guitar licks, and Brain's turntable horseplay to savor on every level. However, die-hards always ignore and/or sometimes attack Praxis' sophomore offering, 'Sacrifist'.

It is because of these attacks that I must speak up for 'Sacrifist' for my own sake, if not for the sake of those impressionable listeners yet to hear the beauty that is 'Sacrifist'. I will say that it is not Praxis' best album, but it is an extraordinary work of art that accomplishes what few works of art manage to do: it divides the audience. I believe that if an album, book, or film is universally praised, it can't be considered art since there is no dissenting voice to challenge its merits. However, 'Sacrifist' has been called weak, messy, confusing, and unlistenable. I am here to say that 'Sacrifist' is all of those things and much more, but what disturbs me are the reviews that imply the lack of redeeming qualities or underlying genius.

Bill Laswell put together a supergroup for 'Sacrifist' in the same context that a depressed housewife loads the best contents of her freezer into a blender for one hell of a delicious (yet fattening) shake. Bootsy Collins, Buckethead, John Zorn, Yamatsuka Eye, Bernie Worrell, and Mick Harris are present on one disc, and the results are controversial. For instance, the whole mood of 'Sacrifist is summed up in 1 minute and 34 seconds by the opening number, 'Stronghold', which is punctuated by meandering sax notes, speed drumming, insane guitarwork, the unrelenting grind of a buzz saw, and the viscious banshee calls of Yamatsuka Eye (who sounds like a troll hopped up on Mountain Dew and PCP). 'Stronghold' soon gives way to a schizophrenic medley reminiscent of the late 70's Canterberry movement, and it is at that point where 'Sacrifist' may put listeners in an uncomfortable position due to its unpredictability. After all, it's hard to pigeonhole the merits of a record that contains speed metal, snippets of jazz, industrial grooves, and psychodelic Hammond organs. So while 'Stronghold' may lead you to decide if the remaining 8 songs are worthy of your attention, the rest of the album is surprisingly progressive and diverse, hence the error in judgement that many critics and elitists reserve when scrutinizing the record as a whole. In fact, if it weren't for the presence of Bootsy and Zorn, I'm sure the critics would have ripped it apart, but such a notion would be a disservice to the other musicians. To be honest, I found the blood-curdling screams of Yamatsuka Eye to be charming and in some instances, hilarious. The absence of Brain is unfortunate, but the unique stylings of Bernie Worrell make up for that in spades.

'Sacrifist' is a short disc, but nothing short of sweet. Each musician featured on the disc is given a chance to shine in his own way, and whether you walk away from the record with a smile or a grimace, you'll be glad you paid 'Sacrifist' a visit. There hasn't been nor will there ever be anything like it.

turbulent space ride complete with vomit bags!.......2005-12-03

OK i am biased, big buckethead fan, definitely more than appreciate bootsy and laswell as well. I just got this one and I really must say it is on the same tier as Metatron and Transmutation if you like those. The screaming on here is soooo over the top it is both simultaneously scary and funny if you can imagine that. Everything is built around carefully concocted absurd music, but so well done and full of great hooks that you will find yourself pumping your fists and yelling right along until the adrenaline subsides. The laswell-induced mix knows when to say when, and then lets gentle melodies briefly soothe bruised brains. 1/2 star docked for the obligatory "lets let bernie worell play for 12 minutes since we need to still add about 12 minutes to the album."

dissapointing at best.......2005-05-13

I am a huge fan of buckethead, bernie, laswell, brain, and the like. I own dozens of their various albums from throughout the years. I even drove down to Columbus recently to see one of two scheduled praxis shows, (which only lasted about an hour, to my shock). But when I bought this, I was truly dissappointed. After hearing Death Cube-K, it was no longer a secret that these guys put out some pretty farfetch'd material, but this record sounds like something me and some of my buddies could have thrown together in a few hours on a home recording. It is undoubtedly the worst production I've ever heard. Every song has either an abrasive, squealing, out of key saxaphone blaring non-stop, or incessant screaming and screeching in the background. In fact, this is the first Buckethead related album I ever heard that I would consider to be close to unlistenable. Buck is barely audible, and other than one track, I'm not really sure what Bernie did on this entire album.This is definietly for the collectors, hardcore fans, or completists, like myself, who just love these guys and want to hear everything they do. Like another reviewer said, buy metatron or transmutation first, if you start with this, you'll never listen to these guys again.

A bit disappointing.......2004-11-07

Ok, so maybe my expectations were a little high. But I think it was relatively justified - firstly, the previous Praxis album 'Transmutation' was pretty spectacular. Not only that but this one had John Zorn (probably one of my main obsessions at the time I heard about this album) on it. Add to all that the fact that it was near impossible to find.

So I finally found it (and luckily it didn't cost me anywhere near the US$42 which Amazon is currently quoting), probably got it with a few other (better) albums, because I think I just listened to it a few times and then put it on the shelf.

Years passed and yesterday I decided to pull out all my Praxis albums for a listen. Let me say it bluntly: 'Sacrifist' is weak. As other reviews said, it's the metal album, but it's just so weak, particularly for a metal album. While 'Transmutation' has hardly dated at all since it's '92 release, this one dated almost immediately.

The ideas for Praxis have always been minimal but on 'Sacrifist' they're nearly non-existent. I guess the fact that the cast included Zorn, Mick Harris, Blind Idiot God, Yamatsuka Eye, Buckethead, Bootsy Collins and Bernie Worrell was enough for Laswell to just relax and let the musicians do their thing.

There are some cool moments, but generally it just comes off sounding noisy and under-developed. 'The Hook' which Laswell wrote with Zorn is one of the biggest culprits, one chugging riff (which for some reason for me sounds like metal meets country music) with squealing sax over the top.

Perhaps controversially, I think that Eye is one of the best things about this album. He's used sparingly and is often the most interesting thing happening at the time (particularly the non-metal bits). Bootsy and Bernie seem to be generally missing in action, only prominent for a track each. And Brain is sorely missed on this album.

So the bottom line: only get this album if you're a Laswell completist or you're one of those people that needs to fill that last gap in their Praxis collection or something. Despite the great lineup and the fact that it is so hard to find, it is not the holy grail.

another winner!.......2004-07-25

this cd is heavy,yes,but not as heavy as cuckoo clocks. it has breaks from the riffage to allow laswell and bootsy to weave in some of their trademark sounds,and some rampant screeching from that yazuuki guy or whatever his name is from that crazy punk band "melt banana".so when everybodys reviews say it's heavy,just keep in mind that you DO get a break from the hyperactivities for a bit before the next song begins.bucketfans and funkateers alike will enjoy this rauchous romp through these musicians' dark sides,as I have.(actually I think the sepultura riff on the second to last song is a SAMPLE off the arise cd.)

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