Deadly Sin - Sunborn

It’s a bit sad that for every band that succeeds well beyond their own expectations, there are many groups who seem to have everything going for them, yet for some reason or another, never get very far off the ground.

This German (Or Finnish – inexplicably, I’ve heard both nationalities toted around by reputable sources) band is one of those forgotten gems. Their sole album shows remarkable maturity for a debut record: the compositions are both memorable and impressively ambitious – check out the second half of Into Dementia. Deadly Sin’s brand of thrashy power/prog should appeal to fans of Iced Earth and Jag Panzer – hell, the vocalist even sounds a tiny bit like Harry Conklin at points.

These boys certainly know their way around their instruments, as well – the driving melody in the solo section of Slave is going to need a forklift to get out of your head once it’s in there. Most of the album is rooted in a Germanic/US-style power metal framework, although the title track brings the thrash influences in full-tilt, and they wear it well. The singer has that Dio-like quality where he enunciates everything clearly enough to hear without ever needing to reach for a lyric sheet, and he belts his lines with conviction – everything seems to be in place, with far more maturity than you might expect from a debut.

The only real gripe I have with this record is that it’s not produced as warmly, or tightly, as they may have gotten a chance to do if their career had continued. With how impressive this debut effort is, just imagine how their instrumental and songwriting skills would have matured several records later. I don’t know what happened that led to their silent dissolving, but I do know you should seek this out if you’re a fan of the style(s).