SINNER – Mask Of Sanity

The band Sinner is not an unknown Metal act. Since the mid-80s, Sinner has earned a huge reputation in the Metal world and has had quite a good career. Through the 80s, Sinner was one of Germany’s leading Rock bands along with Accept and Helloween, and two albums: The Nature Of Evil and The End Of Sanctuary, even made it on the German charts.

In today’s line-up, there are some fairly big names. Apart from Matt Sinner himself, you find guitarist Tom Naumann and keyboardist Frank Rössler. The new line-up also features the come back of former Primal Fear drummer Klaus Sperling, and last but not least, Traceelords guitarist Christof Leim completes the roster. You also find great guest musicians like Andy B. Frank (Brainstorm), Ralf Scheepers (Primal Fear), and Martin Grimm (Mystic Prophecy).

Mask Of Sanity features a whole lot of good Heavy Rock tunes, dominated by Tom Naumann’s excellent guitar playing and Matt Sinner’s soaring vocals. However, many of these songs sound a little too similar, and halfway through the album you can actually get a little tired. Much of this is caused by Matt’s limited voice. All in all, the music aspect of this album kicks some solid ass, and the guitar players take this album to a level it surely couldn’t approach otherwise, and their playing sounds a little Helloween-inspired sometimes.

The opening track, “The Other Side,” is pure biker Rock ‘N’ Roll. It starts so powerful with this massive guitar riff and a steady drive from the drums and bass. Matt Sinner’s voice is full of rawness, but doesn’t actually sound that fantastic. He doesn’t scream his balls off like many other Hard Rock vocalists, and that’s a good thing, but sometimes you can get bored, as there’s nothing outstanding about his voice. The pounding bass guitar has a major impact on the song, and the whole album as well. Its steady jumping on one note provides the heavy foundation for this track.

Third track on this record is the outstanding song “Badlands.” It starts out with a mysterious intro followed up by a kickass guitar riff that definitely makes you freeze in delight. Matt’s voice takes the pleasure factor down a little, unfortunately. There’s nothing really interesting about the vocals on this one. Anyway, the music kicks ass, and the guitar solo is just wonderful. If you look beyond the vocals, this is what Heavy Rock is all about!

The production on this album is quite good. The guitar sound is really heavy and fits the music like a hand in a glove. A little more punch in the drums wouldn’t hurt anyone, and the bass guitar could also have gotten a little more rawness and attitude, but all in all, it’s really just fine.

Sinner will hit the road with TNT in March and, of course, this album is a good excuse to see them live. Mask Of Sanity is not an album that will bust their career wide open and give them more fans, but they’ll certainly maintain their reputation as a great Heavy Rock band. The album is recommended to every fan of heavy music. It’s worth a try!

Tracklist

1. The Other Side
2. Diary of Evil
3. Badlands
4. Black
5. Thunder Roar
6. The Sign
7. Revenge
8. Under the Gun
9. Can’t Stand the Heat
10. No Return
11. Last Man Standing
12. Baby Please Don’t Go (BT)

Lineup

Mat Sinner – Vocals and bass
Tom Naumann – Guitars
Christof Leim – Guitars
Klaus Sperling – Drums
Frank Rössler – Keyboards