SINNER

SINNER – “Brotherhood”

By Colonel Angus

I first came across SINNER back in the days when I used to read Kerrang! and Metal Hammer magazines religiously. Before Youtube and the internet, those 2 magazines helped shape my musical landscape with bands that didn’t make it onto US radio. Most of the time my friends and I would take a chance on bands based on the cover or a specific review we read in one of those publications. My first purchase was “Danger Zone” and although I don’t play it a lot now, every time I do spin it, it brings me back to that time when listening to metal was fun and it engulfed my whole world. Over the years, there have been a number of misses from the band with “Dangerous Charm” being the worst of the bunch. I kind of lost interest for a while as I was listening to other music but I must say that 2019’s “Santa Muerte” went a long way in me rekindling that relationship with SINNER.

Three years on, they have come back with another winner with “Brotherhood”. Mat Sinner and Tom Naumann (who has been with SINNER for over 30 years now) continue to bring the band forward with their brand of metal which does have similarities to PRIMAL FEAR. And why shouldn’t it as they are both members of that band which has been flying the heavy metal flag for quarter of a century.

“Brotherhood” is a no-frills metal record from start to finish without any mellow tunes until almost the end of the record with “40 Day 40 Nights” which has a very THIN LIZZY vibe about it. Even some of the vocal inflections are very much Phil Lynott style to the point that I looked up to see if this was a THIN LIZZY cover. Speaking of covers, they end the disk with a cover by THE KILLERS called “When You Were Young”. Honestly, I was never a fan of the original and quite frankly, SINNER don’t really change it much or make it their own. I would have left this off the record and if it is favorite of theirs, then I would leave it as a song they perform live. They did the same on “There Will Be Execution” with their METALLICA cover which did nothing for me as well.

Now you may be asking “what about the rest of the tunes?”...well, those tracks are what you would expect from the latter day SINNER. All of the songs are well crafted with great riffing and tons of melody. Opening the record is “Bulletproof” and that sets the tone for the record until almost the very end. Some of the songs have a faster tempo like the opening track and “”The Man They Couldn’t Hang” which have almost a power metal vibe but elsewhere, the band just focuses on more of a fist pumping metal sound. Tunes like “Reach Out”, “My Scars”, and the title track will have you headbanging and raising your fist to the sky. I happen to like those songs best on the record but I like that they put in some power metal elements to make “Brotherhood” less one-dimensional. Overall, aside from THE KILLERS cover, this is a great disk without any weak moments and I would definitely recommend it for old and new fans alike.

ATOMIC FIRE RECORDS

SINNER