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░ ██ ██ Artist: Sinner ██ ██
▓ █░░ ■█ Album: Danger Zone █■ ░░█
■ █▓▀ █ Year: 1994 █ ▀▓█ ░
█ ▓ Rel. Date: 2017-01-03 ▓ █
▒ ▒ Genre: Heavy Metal ▒ ▒
█▄ ░ Label: Noise Records ░ ▄█
░ █▄ ░ Source: CD ░ ▄█
░ █▓ Type: Remastered ▓█ ░
▓ █ Quality: VBR, 44.1kHz, Joint Stereo █ ░ ▓
▓ █ █ ░ ▓
▄ ■ ■ ▓ ■
░█ █░ ▀
█ This really is a pleasant surprise. Sometimes with █
█ an album, the combination of songs, energy and █
█ production make it stand out in a CD collection. █
█ Well, that is exactly what has happened with █
█ 'Danger Zone'. The style of the album is straight █
█ ahead early/mid 80s metal with a heavy dose of █
█ Judas Priest combined with the NWOBHM grit of █
█ early Saxon. The energy of Danger Zone is so █
█ infectious; you can tell the guys in the band were █
█ very young at the time it was recorded. █
█ The first song, and title track, "Danger Zone" █
█ reveals Mat Sinners love of Thin Lizzy with some █
█ excellent harmonized guitar passages and a catchy █
█ chorus. Mat's voice is raw and it fits very well █
█ with the style of music that Sinner play. "Scene █
█ of the Crime" is a fast paced monster with another █
█ chorus that you will be singing for days and "Lupo █
█ Manaro" slows things down with some mid-tempo no █
█ nonsense head banging material. Another neck █
█ snapper "Wild Things" rears its head near the end █
█ of the album. The songwriting does leave a bit to █
█ be desired in places and sometimes the band does █
█ tread the same ground in different songs, but the █
█ album does flow well from start to finish. █
█ The production of the album is very good, to my █
█ ears. The drum sound is almost identical to Dave █
█ Hollands on Judas Priest's 'Defenders of the █
█ Faith' and has a slightly mechanical feel to them. █
█ The guitars though, are far ballsier here and sit █
█ nicely in the mix with plenty of mid crunch. In █
█ fact, this album has one of my preferred hard █
█ rock/heavy metal guitar sounds from the 80s era. A █
█ fine example of this is in the intro of Lupo █
█ Manaro. █
█ This is the perfect album when you have had a few █
█ beers, just want to turn your stereo up loudly and █
█ enjoy no frills hard rock/ heavy metal. I would █
█ take this album over just about any other for █
█ that. It should not really be judged by each song █
█ on its own merits, rather as a whole. It has the █
█ feel of a live performance and does what 80s metal █
█ should. It makes you feel alive! It is a shame █
█ that as the 80s progressed, Sinner adopted a more █
█ commercial American influenced sound that didn't █
█ really suit the band. Fortunately in the mid 90s, █
█ Sinner decided to get heavy and started releasing █
█ mammoth metal albums with disgracefully good █
█ production. █
█ █
█ --- █
█ █
█ I'll keep this review relatively short and simple, █
█ because what we have here can be pretty much █
█ described as a sampler of random 80's metal... █
█ there are few surprises here. Simple, █
█ straightforward, catchy and accessible no-nonsense █
█ heavy fucking metal, with an in-your-face █
█ headbanging groove similar to that of Accept and █
█ much of NWOBHM. Then a little of that bump and █
█ sass from M÷tley Crⁿe's second album, minus the █
█ glam, and then some riffs and rhythms that remind █
█ of Dokken at their very heaviest. The production █
█ is somewhat reminiscent of 'Defenders of the █
█ Faith', though more low-budget as one can expect, █
█ but still quite solid and energetic all-around. █
█ Clearly the band's heart is in the right place █
█ here, but the songwriting is just a little too █
█ samey and derivative for me to place it alongside █
█ timeless classics such as 'Balls to the Wall', or █
█ the aforementioned 'Defenders of the Faith' and █
█ 'Shout at the Devil' - yes, even some fourteen █
█ years before Primal Fear (as much as I love them), █
█ Mat Sinner's songwriting at times suffered from █
█ being somewhat generic. No real identity is forged █
█ in their sound and thus most of the album blurs █
█ together and does not manage to stand out in any █
█ really major way. So, how Boris puts this one █
█ above that unstoppable juggernaut of a Priest █
█ classic from the same year is entirely beyond me, █
█ but nonetheless it's quite a fun ride for what it █
█ is. If you want 80's metal...you totally fucking █
█ got it. █
█ The highlight on here is far and away the title █
█ track - for lack of a more clever way to sum it █
█ up, this song just fucking RULES! Imagine the █
█ general melody and atmosphere of Iron Maiden's █
█ "Twilight Zone", but with a "Two Minutes to █
█ Midnight" guitar rhythm (that's actually an issue █
█ I have with the whole album - as much as this █
█ rhythm is classic and widely used in all of metal, █
█ it is used far too fucking often on here!), with █
█ Accept actually playing the song. Oh yes, and with █
█ cheesy keyboards typical for 1984 thrown in. I for █
█ one absolutely adore them, but then you have to █
█ know I really dig bands like Autograph, if you █
█ know/remember them (they had precisely one hit in █
█ "Turn Up the Radio" from their debut album, also █
█ released in 1984 - other L.A. bands were cheesier, █
█ but none had more keyboards than these guys!). In █
█ any case, on here they are used tastefully to give █
█ the song an added element of emotion and "depth", █
█ and in the chorus, the whole "80's effect" of this █
█ is just brutal! █
█ "It's a long way through the dark, through the █
█ Danger Zone!" █
█ Fuck yeah!!! Furthermore, the lead work here is █
█ nothing short of incredible, especially that █
█ little lead/riff just after the first chorus, █
█ before the solo. Other highlights include the █
█ mid-paced "No Place in Heaven" with its shout-out, █
█ fist raising chorus (and "Seek and Destroy" █
█ opening riff popping up out of nowhere after the █
█ second chorus, what the fuck?! Ahh, but no █
█ complaint, it's a great riff after all), the █
█ namesake "Fast, Hard & Loud" (featuring a really █
█ piss-poor imitation of Rob Halford's trademark █
█ majestic high-pitch wailing in the chorus, that █
█ still somehow manages to sound really cool) and █
█ the energetic "Rattlesnake", hinting at M÷tley █
█ Crⁿe with its "sassy" vocals and lyrics. █
█ I've only had this album for a couple of weeks █
█ now, and usually I give albums longer time than █
█ that before reviewing them, but there's really no █
█ need for that here. This is a type of album that █
█ is not only easily gotten into, but also one █
█ utilizing a style that anyone even remotely into █
█ metal should recognize immediately, meaning █
█ there's nothing here that requires time to "get █
█ used to" or anything. Again, it is largely without █
█ surprises, but that doesn't have to be a bad █
█ thing. It's true that I always say that albums █
█ that take more time to grow on you usually hold █
█ more staying power - accordingly, I probably will █
█ grow out of this one faster than with, say, █
█ Hibria's fantastic debut album (aside from the █
█ title track, but that is not to say I won't be █
█ pulling the rest of it out again after laying it █
█ off for maybe a year). Still, however, I'd rather █
█ have this than any of the countless far more █
█ sophisticated albums that will NEVER grow on me, █
█ like all of Opeth's works (whoa, I'm actually █
█ bashing Opeth? In a review for classic heavy █
█ metal?? Shit, I better slow down the originality █
█ train here before hurting someone!). Aside from █
█ the most obvious of selections (Iron Maiden, Judas █
█ Priest), I could barely think of a safer purchase █
█ for the average heavy metal fan. █
█ In conclusion - highly recommended. Noise records █
█ recently re-issued it (not with fancy new █
█ re-packaging or anything, but still), so you █
█ should be able to find it around. █
▓ ▓
▒ ▒
░ 1. Danger Zone 3:37 ░
░ 2. No Place in Heaven 3:37 ░
░ 3. Scene of a Crime 3:40 ░
░ 4. Lupo Manaro 3:51 ░
░ 5. Fast, Hard & Loud 2:53 ░
░ 6. The Shiver 4:02 ░
░ 7. Razor Blade 3:15 ░
░ 8. Shadow in the Night 3:00 ░
░ 9. Wild Winds 2:59 ░
░ 10. Rattlesnake 2:58 ░
░ 11. Danger II 0:37 ░
░ 34:29 ░
░ ▒ ▒
▓ █ ░ ▓ ░
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