Sadist is an Italian
death metal
Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...
band formed in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
, Italy, in January 1991. It debuted with ''Black Screams'' in 1991, then released three albums. The band went on hiatus after releasing the album ''Lego'' in 2000. They reunited in 2005 and released their
self-titled album in 2007. Sadist has released three more albums since then. In total, the band has released nine albums and one EP. They are currently signed to
Scarlet Records. Guitarist and keyboardist, Tommy Talamanca, has been a constant member throughout the band's existence, as the main composer and co-producer of their musical output.
Trevor Nadir has been the main singer of the band since 1996.
History
1991–2000
Sadist was formed in early 1991 by
Tommy Talamanca (guitar, keyboards) and
Marco 'Peso' Pesenti (drums), who had left the band
Necrodeath
Necrodeath is an Italian extreme metal band from Liguria. It is one of the first extreme metal bands originating in Italy. They take inspiration from Slayer, Dark Angel (band), Dark Angel, Possessed (band), Possessed, Venom (band), Venom, Kreat ...
to start a new project. Inspired by progressive rock and thrash metal, Talamanca developed the musical concept for the group,
while Andy Marchini (bass) and Fabio Bocchiddi (vocals) joined. While playing locally, the band recorded a short demo and were signed by the indie label
Obscure Plasma Records. They released the ''Black Screams''
EP in September 1991 which took the material from the demo tape. The EP was later released in 1992 by
American indie label Wild Rag Records as a three-track version. The band toured
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
and
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, until Bocchiddi left the band a year later and Marchini took over the vocal duties.
The band signed a record deal with Nosferatu Records for a two-album contract and released ''Above the Light'' in 1993. Marchini left the band and was replaced by bassist Chicco Parisi and a new singer, Zanna. In late 1993, the band recorded the music video for the song "Sometimes They Come Back" from the ''Above the Light'' album and began a tour that spanned France and the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.
In early 1994, Sadist supported
Carcass during the Italian shows of their "Heartwork" tour; a few months later, they supported
Samael in France. While on tour, the band worked on songs for their new album and, in May 1995, entered Rhythm Studios in
Bidford on Avon,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, where they started recording their second album.
In 1996, ''
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
'' was released in February, distributed by Sun Rising Records for Europe and
Toy's Factory
is a Japanese record label founded in the late 1980s as a subsidiary of the entertainment company VAP, based in Japan. On May 30, 1990, it was established as an independent company. It is an associate member of the Recording Industry Assoc ...
for
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. The band toured to promote the new album in France, Italy, and the Netherlands until June, and their second video, "Tribe," was broadcast all over Europe. In November, Sadist headlined Mindviews Belgian Metal Convention and later was featured on the Japanese
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...
tribute with their version of "Wrathchild." At the end of 1996, drummer Pesenti left reform Necrodeath. He was replaced by Filippo 'Oinos' Ferrari. Singer Zanna was replaced by Trevor Nadir,
while bass player Andy Marchini returned.
In early 1997, the band started recording sessions for their third album. Before the album was released, Oinos left the band and was replaced by Alessio Spallarossa. At the end of 1997, Sadist signed with label
Displeased Records
Displeased Records was a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label had many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also re-released albums by Agathocles (band), Agathocles, Cryptopsy, In ...
and released ''
Crust'' that same year. The album was also distributed in Japan. In 1998, the band released their third music video, "'Fools' and Dolts." Shortly afterwards, the band travelled to
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
to play at a European festival
Wacken Open Air
Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a Heavy metal music, heavy metal music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken, Schleswig-Holstein, Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all ...
.
In 1999, the band signed with Impact/System Shock and produced the new album ''
Lego
Lego (, ; ; stylised as LEGO) is a line of plastic construction toys manufactured by the Lego Group, a privately held company based in Billund, Denmark. Lego consists of variously coloured interlocking plastic bricks made of acrylonitri ...
'' by themselves at Nadir Recording Studios. The response to the album was not as favourable as previous albums, and the band went on hiatus. They reformed in 2005 and signed with Italian indie label Beyond Productions. A video for the song 'One Thousand Memories' appeared in February 2008.
They re-released ''
Above the Light'' and ''
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
'', both remastered at Talamanca's Nadir Studios.
2005–present
In late 2006, the band began recording sessions for a new album. The self-titled album ''Sadist'' was released in April 2007 and featured a guest appearance by
Claudio Simonetti from
Goblin
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monster, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearan ...
on the title track.
The band toured the rest of the year, headlining two Armenian festivals, Highland Metalfest and Rock the Borders. In 2010, the band released the album ''Season in Silence'' - the first on the Italian Scarlet label.
In 2015, the band released the album ''Hyaena'' inspired by African rhythms and featured the Senegalese percussionist Jean N'Diaye.
In November 2018, the album ''Spellbound'' was released, inspired by the films of
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...
, where the songs referred to characters or earlier movies such as
The Mountain Eagle.
In 2019, the original bass-player Andy Marchini left the band while Andrea Nasso filled in on tour.
At the start of 2021, the band announced that the recording on a ninth album ''Firescorched'' had begun, with
Jeroen Paul Thesseling on fretless bass, and
Romain Goulon on drums. The album was released on May 20, 2022.
On 9 January 2025, the band announced their tenth studio album, ''Something to Pierce'', which is set for release on 7 March.
Band line-up
Current members
* Tommy Talamanca −
guitars,
keyboards (1991–2001, 2005–present)
* Trevor Nadir −
vocals
Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...
(1996–2000, 2005–present)
Current session and touring members
* Davide Piccolo - bass (2023-present)
* Giorgio Piva - drums (2023-present)
Former members
* Andy Marchini −
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Wood
* Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
, vocals (1991–1994); fretless bass (1996–2001, 2005–2019)
*
Marco 'Peso' Pesenti − drums (1991–1996)
* Sibylle Colin-Tocquaine − vocals (1991)
* Fabio − vocals (1991–1992, 2000–2001)
* Zanna − vocals (1995–1996)
* Chicco Parisi − bass, fretless bass (1995–1996)
* Oinos − drums (1997–1999)
* Alessio Spallarossa − drums (1999–2001, 2005–2020)
* Andrea Nasso − bass (2019–2020)
* Romain Goulon −
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
(2020–2024)
Studio musicians
*
Jeroen Paul Thesseling - fretless bass (2020–2021)
Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
* ''Above the Light'' (1993)
* ''Tribe'' (1996)
* ''Crust'' (1997)
* ''Lego'' (2000)
* ''
Sadist'' (2007)
* ''Season in Silence'' (2010)
* ''Hyaena'' (2015)
* ''Spellbound'' (2018)
* ''Firescorched'' (2022)
* ''Something to Pierce'' (2025)
EP
* ''Black Screams'' (1991)
Videography
* "Sometimes They Come Back" – ''
Above the Light'' (1993)
* "Tribe" – ''
Tribe
The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...
'' (1996)
* "'Fools' and Dolts" – ''
Crust'' (1998)
* "Tearing Away" – ''
Sadist'' (2007)
* "One Thousand Memories" – ''Sadist'' (2007)
* "The Lonely Mountain" – ''Hyaena'' (2015)
* "Den Siste Kamp" Ft. GnuQuartet (2017)
* "Accabadora" – ''Firescorched'' (2022)
References
External links
* .
Sadist official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sadist (Band)
1991 establishments in Italy
Italian death metal musical groups
Italian musical quartets
Musical groups established in 1991
Musical groups disestablished in 2000
Musical groups reestablished in 2005
Scarlet Records artists
Season of Mist artists