Andy Sneap

Andy Sneap is a guitarist and songwriter, though mostly known these days as a producer. He founded Sabbat at the age of 16, wrote all the music and released three albums with them, producing the latter two himself.

Formed in Nottingham, England in 1985, from the very beginning it was recognized that Sabbat had a special kind of talent. Disillusioned with the state of British Heavy Metal, which for several years had become increasingly more commercial and predictable, the band endeavoured from the outset to provide metal fans with music of the quality and originality that they personally would like to hear.

Too technical to be dubbed mere Thrash, too thought provoking to be labeled Black Metal, Sabbat are their own masters. Their sound is built upon the blackened fury of early Venom and the chaotic orchestration of Mercyful Fate, the razor riffing of classic Metallica, Exodus and Slayer.

In May 1986 the quartet recorded their 'Fragments of a Faith Forgotten' demo. This demo was given excellent worldwide reviews and gained the attention of larger magazines which included a two-page colour feature in Kerrang! (issue 140).

A Radio One session, an invitation to record a flexi-disc for the fantasy gaming magazine White Dwarf, and extensive touring of the UK culminated in a recording contract with Noise International.

Sabbat unleashed their debut album 'History Of A Time to Come' in early 1988 which was met with universal critical acclaim. No less than eighteen months later this was followed by the monumentous 'Dreamweaver', an ambitious project inter-twining the imaginative lyrical interpretation of the Brian Bates novel 'The Way of the Wyrd' and hailed to become the yardstick for an exciting new era of intelligent metal.

However, tensions within the band began to mount, due to musical differences, which ended with Walkyier leaving to form Skyclad in 1990 and Sneap going on to concentrate on production.

He has since decided to focus on a career as a producer and has found great success in this field, working with bands as diverse as Masterplan and Killswitch Engage-- his list of credits is almost endless. Since 2008, he's also the guitar player and co-composer in Hell, whose David Halliday taught him to play the guitar.

Having led the way for many to follow in their footsteps, Sabbat reformed for four shows across the UK in 2006 in support of their protégés Cradle of Filth and played festivals throughout 2007.