sinner

(8/10) I'm not sure if there are busier musicians in German rock/metal than Mat Sinner. Primal Fear, Voodoo Circle, ... are outfits that include the Swabian bass player on the four string guitar and sometimes also as being producer too. Next to all these highly successful bands Mat Sinner always kept his band Sinner alive and kickin'.

My first Sinner longplayer was the 1986 release "Comin' Out Fighting", an album that features great songs like the title track and "Lost in a Minute". The icing on this metallic cake is the Billy Idol cover "Rebel Yell" that sounds as good as the original. Now, I don't want to revel too much in the past. We reached 2017 and Sinner releases their 17th longplayer "Tequila Suicide".

That Sinner's sound is inspired by Thin Lizzy is well known. These influences are also very present on the new record and songs like "Gypsy Rebels" and "Road to Hell underlines this very well.

These tunes are good ones but the real smashers of the album are halfway down the tracklist. My favourite on "Tequila Suicide" is called "Dragons". Sinner kicks it off with a grooving bass line and some Hammond sounds. The song is kept in moderate pace, has a mighty punch and a chorus that is catchy as hell. I have to admit that I had this number on almost endless loop.

"Battle Hills" is next on the list and brings the Highlands right into your living room. It's another tune that shows a certain Thin Lizzy connection before Mat Sinner and his gang unveils their bluesy side. "Sinner Blues" is what the title promises. It's a more silent track that, if I remember it right, hasn't been part of any earlier Sinner record. Listening to "Sinner Blues" is a joyful experience, since it's more than 'just' a standard ballad. This song includes feel and emotion.

To sum up. Sinner sticks to their roots and their trademarks. Even after all these years Mat Sinner maintains a fresh and dynamic sound for his solo outlet with "Tequila Suicide" being an example of dedication leading to high quality. Keep on rocking.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Go Down Fighting
2. Tequila Suicide
3. Road to Hell
4. Dragons
5. Battle Hill
6. Sinner Blues
7. Why
8. Gypsy Rebel
9. Loud & Clear
10. Dying on a Broken Heart

Label: AFM Records

Genre: Melodic Metal

Release Date EU: March 31^st, 2017

In autumn last year the first re-issues of Noise Records bands/releases took place. This first wave included material from bands like Sinner, Running Wild and the mighty Kreator, songs that came from the earlier days of these bands, a time when the Berlin-based label had contracted them.

March 2017 will be the month of a next bunch of albums that will come back to surface again. It's the first milestones of Canadian thrashers Voivod that will be re-released under the banner of 'Noise Lebt!'. Voivod added with their anarchic and progressive thrash metal a new substyle to thrash metal, a sound that the guys developed further and finetuned over the last 35 years.

Not only that there will be a 'best of...', entitled "Your Weapons: The Very Best of the Noise Years 1986-1988", it's also classics like “Rrröööaaarrr”, “Killing Technology” and “Dimension Hatröss” that will hit the shelves again - in 2CD/DVD sets or as vinyl. That means for everybody who missed start of the Quebec-based metal quartet: Be quick. This is your chance to get up to speed with some true highlights in thrash metal.

...and the only question remaining: Will there be a re-issue of the Coroner discs somewhere later in 2017?

(8/10) Even though the project is called Kiske/Somerville it is Mat Sinner who is the creative head behind this collaboration. Together with Magnus Karlsson Sinner signed to be responsible for the songwriting, with one exeption. "Breaking Nepthune" was written by former After Forever member Sander Gommans and Amanda Somerville herself.  This makes the melodic number also a bit different from the rest and sounds from the guitars like the latest releases from Within Temptation. 

The album starts with "City of heroes" - a tune that belongs to the harder ones on the album. It has a good groove and the interaction between Kiske and Somerville works perfect. It shows, that they have had already more projects together, like on the debut but also with Avantasia. They belong without any doubt to the best singers in German metal and this is what they clearly underline on "City of heroes" - the song and the album.

"Walk on water" starts mystic before the catchy chorus invites for a sing-a-long. With "Rising up" the album contains another harder track that comes with a great hookline.

A number that stands out is the ballad "Ocean of tears". The tune is full of sadness but also transfers some hope. The way how Kiske and Somerville interpret this track is just magic. You can feel the emotions which they put into the track. Another moment to explore how good those two voices fit together.

Next to those quiet moments there is some faster stuff on "City of heroes" too. "Open your eyes" and "Run with a dream" belong to this category. The last mentioned one comes also with a heavy riff that gives the song a good dynamic.

To conclude: "City of heroes" belongs to the better projects initiated by Frontiers Records. Not for nothing this longplayer is already the second one. It is a pleasure to listen to Kiske/Somerville and Mat Sinner is in the meantime also a surety when it comes to music. He stands for quality and I wonder how the jack in all trades can handle all the projects and bands he is involved in. However, fans of the involved musicians and supporters of melodic metal will love this album and can easily go for it.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. City of heroes
2. Walk on water
3. Rising up
4. Salvation
5. Lights out
6. Breaking Neptune
7. Ocean of tears
8. Open your eyes
9. Last goodbye
10. After the night is over
11. Run with a dream
12. Right now

Label: Frontiers Records

Genre: Melodic Metal

(8/10) A new book always start with chapter one. Therefore the name that Level 10 has chosen for the debut fits really well. But who are the guys that have written the first chapter?

The main men behind the band are singer Russell Allen and Mat Sinner (b). Both met a couple of times and always had the intention to do some music together. In the end it took some time and when Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino re-connected both again things started to get real. The idea was to combine the modern sound of Adrenaline Mob and the more judas Priest-based metal from Primal Fear.

So far so good. Since Allen as well as Sinner have been convinced about the idea a band needed to be formed. Mat Sinner managed to bring a few more great musicians into the group. Alex Beyrodt (g) is together with Roland Grapow responsible for the guitars, while Randy Black from Primal Fear is playing the drums. Alessandro Del Vecchio on keyboards completes the line-up. If you want so you could name it a super group. However, it's a bunch of passionated musicians on a mission.

The recording took quite some time since the involved guys had of course some other duties too. But now the debut of Level 10 is ready and waiting to be released. End of January (23rd) is the moment when the longplayer will be available and it was worth waiting.

"Chapter one" contains twelve sub-chapters - songs. I personally could identify more Primal Fear and Voodoo Circle and less Adrenaline Mob. The record has some really heavy tunes like the might "Blasphemy" with an giant riff. Also with "Demonized" you get some real heavy stuff served.

But there are also the more hardrocking moments with a touch of blues. The melodic rocker "One way street" is one of those. The ballad "All hope is gone" is another song from this category while the opener is somewhere between Whitesnake and Thin Lizzy.

Level 10 has produced a great album that is diverting and fun to listen to. And since they called the album "Chapter 1" I hope that the story continues with a few more chapters. It would be great to hear more from the band.

(8/10)

Tracklist:

1. Cry no more
2. Soul of a warrior
3. No turning back
4. One way street
5. Blasphemy
6. Last man on earth
7. Scream and shout
8. Voice of the wilderness
9. All hope is gone
10. Demonized
11. The soul is eternal
12. Forevermore

Label: Frontiers Records

Genre: Heavy Metal

Another metal allstar band will release their debut in 2015. Russell Allen (Symphony X, Allen/Lande) teamed-up with Mat Sinner (Sinner, Silent Force, ...) and started Level 10. But it's not only those two guys that make the band special. The guitarists are Roland Grapow and Alex Beyrodt are on board as well and the line-up is completed by Randy Black on drums and keyboarder Alessandro Del Vecchio.

The album will be released on January 27th via Frontoers and comes with twelve songs. Here comes the tracklist:

1. Cry no more
2. Soul of a warrior
3. When the nighttime comes
4. One way street
5. Blasphemy
6. Last man on earth
7. In for the kill
8. Voice of the wilderness
9. All hope is gone
10. Demonized
11. The soul is eternal
12. Forevermore

Check out a first teaser via the link below:

Markus’ Heavy Music Blog: Hi Alex, good to have you on the phone. How are you?

Alex Beyrodt: Thanks for asking. I’m good. I’m sitting here now quite relaxed with a coffee in my office.

MHMB: It’s good to hear that you find time to relax. I could imagine that you had a busy year so far.

Alex: That’s right and it will get even more intesive in the coming months. I will be on tour in 2014 like in none of the years before. And all the touring next to my own business, the wish to write new songs and the plans to work on the next Voodoo Circle album. So it will become a very busy 2014, but I don’t want to complain since my dedication to music is huge and I enjoy doing what I love the most.

MHMB: You guys, or better said ‚you’, have worked on a new Silent Force album which will be released mid December.

Alex: Yes, that’s right. And it’s nice that you mention that Silent Force is my band. I don’t think that this was very clear to a lot of people.  But if you have a look into the current line-up and listen to the songs it becomes pretty obvious who Silent Force was and is. And of course there is a reason why three former members aren’t on board anymore. There are reasons which led to that situation. I think that at least two of them haven’t really understood that Silent Force is only functioning when I’m writing songs. There were some problems in the past since they claimed songwriting rights. But why should I have done this. I told them that I was sitting the whole summer in the cellar, writing songs while they enjoy the swimming pool. Since they also had a kind of amateurish approach two of them are bach in cover bands, like before I gave them the chance to play in a professional band and to travel the world with a pro band. But maybe that's what they prefer for themselves. I'm tired of being the nice guy and holding back such comments. "No more Mr. Nice Guy" - that's how I live these days and it turns out to be great. DC Cooper is back in Royal Hunt, which I think personally was the best move for him. I actually told him to do so when he called me, telling that he got the offer. I don't have any hard feelings there at all. That was important to mention.

MHMB: If I have counted right „Rising from the ashes“ is your fifth album. Since you haven’t been present with Silent Force for 6 years I could imagine that the title is a bit more than just a name for an album.

Alex: Absolutely. It’s probabaly not the most innovative title, but it just fits to the situation of the band and also my private situation. In 2009  my life turned upside down, I had to go through many changes, I moved from the Canary Islands back to Germany and moved on. So had to start from scratch again. It needed a few years to recover from all these strokes of fate and due to that Silent Force haven’t got any attention from me. And like mentioed earlier, I wasn’t really happy with the line-up on those days too. That’s basically why it took that long to come out with a new album. But after all this it was now the right moment to blow back life into Silent Force.

MHMB: And it was a great decision to record a new album. I got the chance to listen to some of the new tracks and I think, that you can hear that energy push and the vitality in the different songs. I was surprised about the high quality level of the new album. I really like.

Alex: Thanks. That’s great to hear. I also got only positive feedback so far. I was a bit curious how people would react, esp. since D.C. isn’t doing the vocals anymore. But it seems that everybody is just happy with „Rising from the ashes“ and the new line-up is well respected and appreciated.

MHMB: With Michael Bormann you have an old friend in the band again. But also Mat Sinner is part of the line-up. It seems that especially with Mat you have a good cooperation/relation since you’re playing together in Sinner, Voodoo Circle, Primal Fear and Silent Force, plus now also on the ‚Rock meets classic’ tour.

Alex: Yes indeed. It works pretty well with Mat. He and myself are making music togther since 1988 with some smaller breaks along the way. He is my best friend. Of course we also have sometimes our clashes, but we always speak it out and fix it. We know what we can expect from each other and we can rely on each other with 100%.

MHMB: How did that friendship start in 1988? Was it when you started at Sinner?

Alex: I have seen Mat together with Sinner the first time on stage as support act for Magnum. That was quite a while ago. Than in 1988 I joined Sinner. It was a funny situation since I was fan of the band and all of a sudden I was standing with the guys on stage.

MHMB: We mentioned already Michael Bormann, also an old friend of you.

Alex: Yes, we played together already in a band called The Sygnet. We released one album, which got a bit of a cult status in the meantime. But after the first record Michael and myself had different ideas about the next album. So we decided going our seperate ways. Funny enough the planned second The Sygnet record became the debut of Silent Force. So we could say the Michael ist he very first Silent Force singer.

MHMB: That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware of this.

Alex: You’re not alone with this. A lot of people doesn’t know that. The situation was that we released „Children of the future“, went on tour with Doro and planned working on the next album. My aim was to create a conceptual record. I had a story and I had the music ready. But when I presented it to Michael he couldn’t get familiar with it. It was too fast for him and the musical direction was too progessive. So we said that we go our seperate ways before we get into stress with each other and threaten our friendhsip. The next step was that I hired D.C. Cooper and recorded the first Silent Force album which was meant to be the second The Sygnet disc. But I still have some old demo tapes with Michael singing the first Silent Force songs.

MHMB: Shortly coming back to „Rising of the ashes“. How would you describe the differences between the new album and „Walk the earth“?

Alex: I think that the new album has less progressive influences. „Rising from the ashes“ has a more straight forward approach with heavier guitars. I think that fits pretty well to Silent Force. The typical Silent Force trademarks like great melodies, great vocals, great chorus and keyboard melodies are all there. The album might have a few more hardrock elements than „Walk the earth“.

MHMB: You mentioned already that you will be very busy next year and that you will be on tour a lot. The dates for the Primal Fear tour are already announced, but have you planned also some live activities with Silent Force?

Alex: No, we haven’t planned anything yet. We will wait and see what happens after releasing the album. But I also can say that I’m on tour till May with Primal Fear and ‚Rock meets classic’. So there isn’t a lot of time left for Silent Force live shows in the first 6 months. I’m especially looking forward to the ‚Rock meets classic’ shows, since this a something really special for me. It will be my 4th tour – this time with Alice Cooper, Joe Lynn Turner and Uriah Heep.

MHMB: Sound like something really cool. Sharing the stage with Alice Cooper must be a great experience.

Alex: Yes, indeed. But my personal highlight was actually the two years together with Ian Gillan. If you have started to play guitar because of Deep Purple you can’t get more than playing with Ian Gillan.

MHMB: Do you have special stories you want to share with us from your shows with Ian Gillan?

Alex: Yes, I can remember a lot of stories. But while talking about Ian Gillan, I can recall the first show we played together. It was in Frankfurt in front of 4.000 people. The first song was of course „Highway star“. I’ve tried to dress a bit like Richtie Blackmore. ‚The man in black’ with white boots and my old Stratocaster. Ian was surpised when he saw me the first time. He didn’t know me at all and now he faced a kind of Blackmore on the stage. I did the whole Blackmore stuff, like hitting with the cable on the guitar,... but I always kept the distance to the centre of the stage which was his area. And than came the solo part and I thought to myself that I had to do something extra which will stay in Ian’s mind. So I put the guitar behind the head and played the solo that way. I turned around, I looked at him, he looked at me, he looked surprised and I just walked towards him and finished the solo in the middle of the stage directly next to him. Than, after the show he approached me backstage and said: „We have to talk“. And I thought oh oh. But he just said: „The solo from „Highway star“, just do it that way every show.“ So we really got friends during this time and I actually visited him backstage three weeks age when he played with Deep Purple in Mannheim.

MHMB: After all these thousands of shows you played, are you still nervous before entering the stage?

Alex: Yes, but I’m less nervous the more people are in the audience. My stage-fright is much bigger when I play a show in front of 50 people, than in front of 80.000 people. I’m playing quite some shows in smaller venues where the fans are standing directly in front of the stage. I love that – but I’m also a bit more nervous and excited. It just more intensive in a positive way.

MHMB: Alex, coming back to all the songs you wrote and write. Where do all those ideas come from? It seems that you an unlimited flow of creativity when it comes to music.

Alex: Sometimes I even ask myself where all this comes from. I have now already more than 30 songs ready for the next Voodoo Circle album and want to do another ten. Yeah, where do I take it from? I’m very diciplined and whenever I have an idea I record it immediately in order to not loose it. Also when I’m driving I always have my iPhone with me and record whatever gets into my mind. Actually the most ideas I get by driving alone in the car. Based on that I have a huge collection of song ideas and fragments which I can work out more in detail. That’s how I create and write my songs.

MHMB: Since you are very busy with music all day long, do you find also time to listen to music yourself?

Alex: I don’t listen to a lot of music in my private life. There are few moment like in the morning in the bathroom. During the day I almost find no time to listen to music. Of course I listen during my work from time to time a bit to iTunes but maybe I should place a smaller hifi-unit in my office.

MHMB: Since you mention iTunes, what is your favorite“ Vinyl, CD or mp3?

Alex: The old vinyls are of course the best. But I also have to admit that I got a bit lazy and haven’t listened to my vinyls since quite a while. mp3’s are on the other hand very convenient. I also buy in the meantime mp3 legally and put them into iTunes and the iPhone. It’s just so easy. But next to that mp3 has always a worse quality and a whole industry went almost bankrupt by mp3. It’s a kind of boon and bane in one, but mp3 also became my reality.

MHMB: Alex, I would like to say thanks for the time. It was great to have you on the phone and I hope to see you in Holland soon.

Alex: You’re welcome and thanks for having me.