Exclusive: update from Scarlett Monastyrski on the next chapter of sabïre

The Nwothm

Sabïre continue to stand at the front of Acid Metal’s most distinctive wave, driven by Scarlett’s uncompromising vision and instinct for reinvention. We last spoke around the release of Jätt, a record that earned a 10/10 from us and cemented its place as a modern cult favourite.

Since then, life has shifted, including a move to America and a new phase beginning to take shape for the band. With momentum building once again, we caught up with Scarlett to get a glimpse into what has been happening behind the scenes and where Sabïre’s path is leading next.

Interview

TheNwothm: Scarlett, it is always a pleasure to catch up with you. Since our last conversations we’ve talked about the band’s history and Jätt (which we rated 10/10). A lot has happened since then, including relocations and changes in your world. Can you share with our readers what has been going on behind the scenes and how the journey has felt for you?

Scarlett: Well, it’s been a ride for sure, and it’s still not over! Behind the scenes is currently a lot of regrouping, a lot of new ideas, and a lot of progressively executing them. Working on new music, and actually building up more than we have done previously.

TheNwothm: When we last spoke you mentioned that you have been working on the follow up to Jätt since 2019, often thinking about it, planning, and letting the vision evolve over time. How would you sum up the album’s progress so far and the atmosphere it carries, and what excites you most about where it is heading?

Scarlett: I certainly can! I’ve abandoned it hahahahaha. Not even kidding! This thing I used to think about all the time, distracting me from what was my current work, I have totally shelved and am working on something different. In October of 2024 I shook my head and realized I needed to make a record for how I was feeling right then and there, a big “reclamation album” with a fearless title. So I cut all my hair off (relax, just the layers on top!) and got right to work. It reached a fever pitch in February of 2025 and I was rushing to get it done, had the artwork complete and everything, and then I left for Texas to get to work with the guys down there.

After Hell’s Heroes and our little Texas tour, I barely touched it, having felt burnt out. Besides, we had Europe to prepare for… After Sweden Rock and Heavy Agger I just collapsed from exhaustion really. The remainder of the year I spent working on personal stuff, some band infrastructure, and pre-production on yet ANOTHER new album, I never do learn. NOW I am back like a madman in the studio finishing off that other record so it can be out this year and I can get cracking on whichever of the two follow-ups I want to do.  

TheNwothm: Jätt felt like a landmark release and really resonated with fans. Do you see the next record continuing in a similar vein, or are you exploring new creative directions that might surprise listeners?

Scarlett: Naw man, f*ck that. Look, this is Sabïre, our whole thing is sad songs, so that will always be there, but this new record is NOT, I repeat, NOT a bloody “half-concept” album. It’s a real garage record. Just real music, real sound, real sh*t. Ya DIG??

TheNwothm: Life after Jätt has clearly brought changes and growth. Do you feel those experiences have influenced the new material, whether in terms of sound, lyrics, or the overall mood of the record?

Scarlett: If you count growth to be that lump on my neck, then yeah, sure. Life since 2024 has absolutely influenced this new record, no question. There are actually some new, like 2024, 2025 songs on there, but there are tracks that were written back in 2012! As I said, this is a real garage record. That means you are getting a sound and mood that is honest and without pretense. Nothing wrong with a bit of pretense here and there especially if one is making an album with message and story like Jätt. But that is not present here.

TheNwothm: With the move to a new country, you’ve welcomed new members into the band. How are they shaping this chapter of the story, and what kind of energy or ideas have they brought into the creative process?

Scarlett:  Well we got Dudeman who is really bringing backup vocals like never before, not to mention the dude can DANCE, which works great for me onstage. Mikey plays bass with his fingers normally so the changes to the songs are getting a much more rock ‘n’ roll overhaul which I am not complaining about. Eric is an animal on drums and he and I have a lot of ideas to flesh out long dormant plans in this band, musically.

TheNwothm: Looking ahead to 2026, what is your outlook for the band? Do you have a timeline in mind for the release of the new album, and are there any shows or plans you are excited to share?

Scarlett:  Nothing I can really share cos it’s all so up-in-the-air, sorry!

TheNwothm: Finally, is there anything else you would like to add for the fans, perhaps a detail we haven’t touched on, or a message you’d like to leave them with as they wait for the next chapter?

Scarlett: Yes! Hang in there, Wild Ones and Acid Fiends! We got so much for you to enjoy and cherish for a lifetime to come, we couldn’t be more excited to share it with you. And NEVER EVER FORGET that you are all you’ll ever need.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErIWiJAf7nM

https://thenwothm.com/2024/04/23/review-sabire-jatt-australia/

https://thenwothm.com/2023/02/15/exclusive-interview-scarlett-monastyrski-of-sabire/

[Interview contents]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-tWaeUnyr8

Follow/ Support:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sabireacidmetal/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sabireofficial/

Bandcamp: https://sabireacid7.bandcamp.com/

Store: https://sabireofficial.com/

#acidMetal #AcidMetal #HeavyMetal #Jätt #NewWaveOfTraditionalHeavyMetal #NWOTHM #sabïre #SCARLETTMONASTYRSKI #thenwothm

Sabïre – JÄTT Review

By GardensTale

I know we complain about promo sheets every so often around here. It’s a base necessity to vent our discontent for the sake of our sanity. We do become inoculated against minor offenses; talking big is expected, and misrepresenting the music is often the result of an overworked intern at the label hearing two minutes of a single and pounding out a blurb before his first round of coffee-fetching.1 But especially egregious examples warrant a round of the stocks with a basket of rotting fruit and eggs. Presenting, ex-Canadian Australian Scarlett Monastyrski and his band Sabïre, finally releasing his ‘much anticipated’ debut JÄTT a whole 14 years after he first got the idea.

You see, the promo sheet makes a big show of Sabïre bucking conventional genres. Monastyrski ‘simply played what came naturally on guitar,’ and developed it into something he dubbed ‘acid metal.’ It even calls Sabïre a ‘band with a hellbent determination to be different, break the mold, and shake up the status quo.’ For something made with such a strong desire to be unique, though, it really sounds an awful fucking lot like Monastyrski is imitating W.A.S.P. or Riot. I feel like the Scooby Doo gang, ripping the mask off acid metal and exclaiming: ‘It’s Old Man Trad!’2

If you saw the W.A.S.P. name-drop and immediately started pointing and screaming “GLAM!” like you’re Donald Sutherland (R.I.P.) in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, you’re not entirely wrong, as it’s definitely part of the band’s DNA, with the simple, straightforward riffs and anthemic choruses. Now, glam gets a bad rep which isn’t entirely undeserved, but Sabïre does try to mend some of the genre’s usual shortcomings. The music is not over-polished, and the faster songs even dare to get a little thrashy (“Pure Fucking Hell,” “Rip Rip KILL!!!”3). The vocals eschew most of the cheese-laden poppiness and retain a bit of bite, and though the songwriting pretty much follows all the tropes from the 80’s down to the details, they’re executed well enough to make for an enjoyable if unremarkable bit of nostalgia.

Except JÄTT approaches morbid obesity with a 70-minute runtime. That’s at least double the runtime it should have been, even when all the songs had been bangers, and they are not. Sabïre is not awful when the pacing is high, but when it goes down, so does any semblance of quality. “Ice Cold Lust” is what you get when you leave a KISS record in a bag with an old banana for a week. “Chained Down” is an excruciating mid-paced exercise in patience, with a chorus as dull as a brick painted in that green color Disney uses for its trashcans. Follow-up “The Shadow in my Heart” opens as a deeply awful ballad that just about makes me want to sink the entire continent of Australia beneath the waves, though the second half is not half as bad. The incredibly bloated intro, intermission, and outro total 10 minutes by themselves and add nothing at all.

I might’ve been tempted to pick the best tracks off for a playlist and ignore the rest, if it weren’t for the production, which seems to aim for retro and overshoots its target, landing on “no budget in the early 60’s.” Everything is drowned in enough reverb it might as well have been recorded in a sewage pipe, and there’s an aggravating crackle and pop present throughout the album. Along with the insufferable bloat and tired songwriting, it kills any interest I may have had in JÄTT. There is talent among the performers in Sabïre, I won’t deny that. But it’s not often the distance is this large between the promo sheet, with its inflated self-importance, distorted sense of innovation, and utter lack of self-reflection, and the actual product, whose at-a-glance serviceability is quickly and thoroughly eroded on full and repeat exposure.

Rating: 1.5/5.0
DR: 9 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Listenable Records
Websites: sabireacid7.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/sabireacidmetal
Releases Worldwide: June 28th, 2024

#15 #2024 #AustralianMetal #GlamMetal #HeavyMetal #JÄTT #Jun24 #Kiss #ListenableRecords #Review #Reviews #Riot #Sabïre #WASP_

SABÏRE - "The Last Day" Official Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-tWaeUnyr8&t=13

#music #metal #heavymetal #SABÏRE #listenablerecords