SEVEN WITCHES – Deadly Sins

Seven Witches for a solid five year period, 1999-2004, managed to churn out very solid, quality Metal. Five album’s worth of quality in a row is impressive, even more so considering the yearly span. All this despite lineup changes remaining a constant, among them the crucial change of vocalists. Seven Witches guitarist and main songwriter Jack Frost can be said to have functioned similar to Mark Reale of Riot in the sense of adapting its direction to whomever was the singer. Frost all the while managed to get the best vocally out of his singers, making them realize their range fittingly. Bobby Lucas (Overlorde, Exhibition), Wade Black (Leash Law, Leatherwolf, Crimson Glory), and, the one and only James Rivera (Helstar, Destiny’s End, Vicious Rumors) all pulled among their finest performances ever in Seven Witches.

Well, all good things come to an end, and, for whatever reason, when it was time for vocalist change number four and Alan Tecchio (of Hades fame) was enlisted, disaster struck. It would most certainly not be justifiable to blame this all on Tecchio, but 2005’s Amped saw no chemistry whatsoever between Frost and his new front man. Gone were the charm and head-on yet smitten-laden catchy Metal of past tracks such as “Kamelot,” “Knocking On Angers Door,” and “Metal Asylum.” Amped severely lacked the versatile and creative juices that had previously flourished. The only thing to remember from this low point is basically the cover of Billy Idol’s “Flesh For Fantasy,” which at least was partially interesting.

Oh well, another two years have passed, actually, without a new Seven Witches CD seeing the light of day (instead, the live/compilation DVD Years Of The Witch, largely featuring the James Rivera fronted installment, was released, which reminded fans how good Seven Witches used to be), so one may think all Frost and company needed was time to recharge batteries, and things would be back to top quality again. Unfortunately, that is not really the case. While Deadly Sins marks an improvement over Amped, considering what a clunker the latter was, isn’t saying much. What HAS improved from last time around is the riff-making of Frost and partly stronger arrangements, but sadly it doesn’t reach as far as resurrecting the memorable sense and attitude of Seven Witches of old.

Even worse is no improvement has occurred on the vocal part; Tecchio sounds strangely one-dimensional throughout the whole process, with the occasional dreadful growls, which sits uncomfortably with Seven Witches classic-styled Metal. The Witches never needed this ingredient before and it’s easy to understand why when hearing these results. Tecchio may have a fine voice showcased by pulling some higher pitched screams, but as mentioned he mostly opts for the one-sided approach and comes across strained and uneasy. “Man Of The Millennium” is a welcome break from the mold, and almost brings back on par past golden cuts such as “Cant Find My Way” and “Passage To The Other Side”.

This album, despite its lackluster burdens, shows that Jack Frost still has the goods to conjure up the riffs, and may hopefully unleash another great body of Metal of the ilk he used to in the future. Deadly Sins, however, is not it.