TODAY IS THE DAY - Sadness Will Prevail
October 10, 2002, 21 years ago
(Relapse)
One of the harshest, most insane and infectious releases I have heard all year. For some, the last thing we need is a new Today Is The Day album, let alone a new Today Is The Day album that is a double CD, each disc clocking in at over 70 minutes, the two comprising a monumental terror-filled trip into pure unadulterated madness. Sadness Will Prevail (which features a new line-up revolving around band leader Steve Austin) shows the band/consortium at the height of their powers; no one in the underground scene today would have the balls to conjure up something of this magnitude, but then again, Sadness is not an easy album to absorb. Austin continues to battle whatever demons plague him, offering varying musical colours that weave, screech, plunder, pierce, and gnaw at the senses without remorse. Undoubtedly this is the most varied musical output Austin has conjured, where the bleak harsh moments are contrasted, fighting against serene and very beautiful moments (members of neo-classical chamber act Amber Asylum make an appearance). Admittedly though, no matter how much of a testimony Sadness Will Prevail is to the bleak nature of humankind, this is an album that's extremely hard to digest, for good and not-so-good reasons alike.
