Come and delight at the show tonight, see the beautiful and the bizarre
Gargantuan world success of groups like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest aside, heavy metal as a genre is by definition a cult, niche musical style, most of its contributors forever relegated to obscure or rare status.
I have a personal list of the thirty essential heavy metal releases that I draw upon to make recommendations to the casual listener, or the cautiously curious. Obviously, there’s no shortage of big names among that list — which would appear in anyone’s heavy metal list — including the aforementioned Maiden and Priest, and other biggies like Black Sabbath and Metallica.
But many — perhaps most — of the releases are what could easily be described as obscure, certainly to the general public, but even to many who already consider themselves heavy metal fans.
Towering high among that collection of obscure essentials is Hawaii’s Sacred Rite.
Do you remember that classic Powell-Peralta skater video “The Search for Animal Chin”? Remember the Hawaiian segment, where they skated down the canal before relaxing at a Hawaiian restaurant? If music could be said to capture the ambiance of that whole world at that particular moment in time, Sacred Rite composed it.
Like so many others at the time, the four members of Sacred Rite were high school buddies who kicked together a band to jam out their favorite AC/DC and Sabbath tunes at local parties. But unlike so many others, they leaped startlingly quickly into composing their own material, while at the same time driving each other to achieve the highest level of musicianship they could possibly muster.
Very quickly they were in the studio cutting a demo tape, which equally quickly led to a deal with local label Rendezvous and produce Pierre Grille, and their debut self-titled album, released in 1984. Second album “Ritual” followed in 1985, and the third, “Is Nothing Sacred”, in 1986 (on Medusa records).
Then things turn sour. Sacred Rite, feeling that continued residence in Hawaii was limiting their potential for success, relocated to … Tulsa. A small development deal with Polygram during which they had recorded limp commercial tunes as a demo had led to nowheresville, and it wasn’t long before financial desperation and lack of interest fragmented the band, forever. (I often wonder what would have happened had they remained in Hawaii, where for a time they had the honor of being that State’s most famous rock music group).
The cool Sentinel Steel label out of New Jersey re-packaged, remastered, and re-presented the band’s entire catalogue (including demos, minus embarrassing disco tune made for band member’s brother) in a two-volume set entitle “Rites of Passage”. Thanks to the quality of the remastering (performed from the original master reels) the presentation is nearly as good as any recording heard today, and significantly less “doctored”, thanks to the originals’ lack of Protools and other computer trickery.
It is through these that I know and love Sacred Rite. And when I say love, I mean adore.
Musically, you have a foundation of the most classic of heavy metal type sounds: semi-epic, semi-progressive galloping tracks very much in the 80s tradition of Iron Maiden at their most classic. Yet on top of this solid foundation, Sacred Rite seduces you with an extraordinary palette of eclectic sounds, the most powerful of which is, of all things, very groovy funk. This is most obvious in the guitar solo department, where twin lead guitarists Mark Kaleiwahea and Jimmy Dee Caterine fearlessly meld the style of 80s hyperactive madmen like Van Halen with the lilting, swimmy funk grooves of the Seventies grandmasters.
This delightful melding of sound styles is not limited to the solos, though. Kevin Lum’s unique drumming and Peter Crane’s prominent bass playing (which is an extremely strong presence on the songs, much like Steve Harris’ work for Iron Maiden) also create very groovy, swaggery rhythms that break Sacred Rite’s compositions out of the confines of traditional heavy metal and into something new, broader, funner.
The best way to show what I mean by all this funky groove business is for you to hear it. Check out this two-minute excerpt from 1984’s “The Executioner”:
(click to listen to an MP3 excerpt from “Executioner”)
There’s lotsa funk going on there, beneath the sort of classic metal sounds, particularly with Peter Crane’s bass antics.
Another great aspect of Sacred Rite is the surprise breaks and interludes peppered through their music, thusly:
(click to listen to an MP3 excerpt from “I’ve Seen the Wizard”)
Not bad for a gaggle of high school kids. And, come to think of it, maybe the single most-compelling reason to listen to Sacred Rite is how fun they are. Their youthful exuberance, their sense of adventure and excitement, and the sheer enjoyment you can hear in their playing — you just can’t help but crack a smile and be swept away from all the shit of the modern world, and your modern role as a so-called adult in this modern world. Like the fantasy realms they sing of, you are swept away by their optimism and enjoyment, caught up in the infectiousness of the sheer joy they feel at jamming big time on their instruments.
If you have even the slightest interest in trying classic heavy metal, you could do a lot worse than picking up one of these two volumes. Fun is good. Optimism is good. Sacred Rite serve them both up in spades.
(Image via Sentinel Steel Records)
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