This is an album of re-recorded classics from Sinner, the German traditional metal band fronted by Mat Sinner who many of you will know from his work with Primal Fear. Mat Sinner acknowledges that the early Sinner material is becoming increasingly hard to find now hence this album covers four of their earlier releases, those being ‘Touch of Sin’, ‘Dangerous Charm’, ‘Danger Zone’ and ‘Comin’ Out Fighting’. For this review, I gave this release an initial run through and then I went back to my original vinyl issues to truly compare the sound and see if there were any changes to the early recordings, it was also a good excuse to give the vinyl a clean!
Initially, the re-recordings are brighter, fresher if you will, with a much crisper production taking modern production values into account. It is good to report that the tracks still stand the test of time considering some were recorded back in 1984/1985 that surely commends Sinner’s original song writing vision. It is also pleasing to find that Sinner have not messed with the originals as some “remix” albums do, they are honourable to the original recording. There are 3 new recordings on this release, the first being ‘Don’t Believe a Word’. Although similar in song title and feel, this is not a Thin Lizzy cover, although the arrangement and groove/melody of the track does revert back to some of the original Thin Lizzy recordings. The other new tracks are ‘Heat of the City’ and ‘Blood on the Sand’ that continue on the path of latter Sinner material.
When you go back and listen to their re-recordings, no matter what you may think of “anthems”, ‘Germany Rocks’ is really a good one, I feel much more applicable for example as the “Wacken Anthem” compared to the current one doing the rounds. ‘Emerald’ also has a warm feeling to the track and no this is not a cover either (this was originally released on the ‘Comin’ Out Fighting’ album). Other classic’s come from the original ‘Touch of Sin’ album, something this releases artwork loosely reverts back too and these include ‘Born to Rock’ and upbeat ‘Bad Girl’. When listening to such tracks, you really hear Sinner’s subtle and consistent use of melody, they know how to write a hook and transcribe that into a positive feeling when you play the songs, much like a lot of the German bands at the time in the traditional and heavy metal field.
Sinner are a band whom I have always felt haven’t had the credit they are due over the years. This album of 11 re-recordings and 3 new tracks will give the casual listener a good account of the very early material and the chance to have a CD copy of some of the most popular tracks for the current Sinner fan.
(8/10 Paul Maddison)
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