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SEVEN METAL SINS – “Legacy of Chaos”
SEVEN METAL SINS – “Legacy of Chaos”
By Bob Burner
I love power metal and checking out new bands. So when this fell on my lap I was very interested in checking it out despite the laughable name of the band. It is great to see power metal getting the spotlight again and more and more new bands appearing. The press release goes for the wide net saying they are compared to HELLOWEEN, PRIMAL FEAR, ACCEPT and JUDAS PRIEST. Hmmm, a wide net indeed, but let us see how this album fares with me. One good point is that the band has a few members from the old band MANIGANCE in it so that is one good thing so far!
Like many power metal albums we start off with an intro that really isn’t needed. I wish if bands were going to go this route they would do something than just having some effects and guitars playing leading into the next song. I guess this stuff works if you are doing a concept album that fits into the story or sets the mood. If it is just random noise and some soloing it seems kind of pointless.
The first song “Scars of Injustice” is pretty much standard power metal fare. It is what one would expect power metal to sound like. While I love this genre it is easy to get lazy or just not do anything exciting. While not bad there is just nothing here grabbing the listener to make them stick with it early on. The largest hurdle for me is the vocals. While nice to see a power metal band not having a howler / high pitched singer, Claw-G…yes, that is the singer's name… has an interesting style to his vocals. I think he would have done better singing for a traditional metal act from the 80’s than a current power metal band. I guess this is where the ACCEPT and PRIMAL FEAR influences hit. He has more of a raw and rough sound to his voice that at times does not flow well with the music.
The album kind of gets lost in the fact a lot of the songs kind of blend together and sound the same. While there are some slower and powerful ones, and others dive into symphonic and classic power metal riffing, over all the songs are not bad but just kind of there. It is a shame since you can tell there is some talent in the band. After checking it out a few times not much really stood out making me want to go back and listen again. Maybe we hit that point where we are getting oversaturated in the genre? (Common problem in all metal genres these days–Dr. M)
There is a lot of great musicianship going on but I think it shows that there is some weakness in the songwriting with getting some catchy hooks and choruses going. Would I recommend this album to anyone? Depends. For diehard fans of the genre or even ones who like some power metal but not the standard vocals ,this would be the band for them since the vocals almost fall into the 80’s style of metal singing and are more raw. While not breaking new ground, I just wish there was something more here to really shine a light on. It has all the tools in it to be an interesting album but just lacking in the catchiness and feeling of power. In a sea of new albums and releases you really need to stand out and sadly this one kind of just floats in that sea.
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