By 1987, German metallers Sinner were already up to album number six, left behind was old school euro metal in favour of melodic rock/metal.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Sinner
ALBUM: Dangerous Charm
LABEL: Noise International
SERIAL: N0101-1 (LP), N0101-3 (CD)
YEAR: 1987
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Germany
LINEUP: Mat Sinner – vocals, bass * Andy Susemihl, Armin Mucke – guitars * Bernie Van Der Graaf – drums
Additional Musicians: Jacquie Virgil – keyboards, backing vocals * Matthias Ulmer – keyboards * Paul Harryman – backing vocals
TRACK LISTING: 01 Concrete Jungle * 02 Knife In My Heart * 03 Dangerous Charm * 04 Everybody Needs Somebody To Love * 05 Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight * 06 Fight The Fight * 07 Back In My Arms * 08 Gipsy * 09 Desperate Heart * 10 Last Chance
WEBLINKS: FB Page
Background
Hard to believe that by 1987, German metallers Sinner were already up to album number six, yet few outside of Germany and mainland Europe hadn’t really heard of the band in a mainstream capacity. It’s what makes trawling through some of these old LP’s quite a rewarding exercise, and there are a few in the Sinner back catalogue worth having a look at.
The early period of this band is typical early 80’s Euro metal, with Dave pointing out in his review of ‘Comin’ Out Fighting’ (click Sinner tag below) that the band had moved towards a melodic metal come melodic rock hybrid. Certainly on that 1986 album and on this one, the change is confirmed.
The two guitarists that fronted on ‘Comin’ Out Fighting’ (Angel Schleifer off to Bonfire and Matias Dieth off to U.D.O) had departed within a year, replaced by the duo of Andy Susemihl and Armin Mucke.
The Songs
The pumping synths that precede ‘Concrete Jungle’ confirms Sinner’s move to melodic realms. This track reminds me a lot of fellow German band Digger who released a similar album ‘Stronger Than Ever’ in the same year and on the same label!
In this track ‘Knife In My Heart’, we read about some sad sack who has lost his girl and is moping about in a daze of self pity. Get over it I say.. Lol! ‘Dangerous Charm’ is strong on the dual guitar attack coupled with the hard driving drum work. ‘Everybody Needs Somebody To Love’ is the album’s power ballad, and a good one it is too. It’s topped by a killer chorus, who would’ve thought that Sinner were capable of majestic melodies?
‘Tomorrow Doesn’t Matter Tonight’ is another entertaining track, here we see Sinner trying to appeal to American audiences much like what Craaft and Krokus were attempting. ‘Fight The Fight’ picks up the pace, Mat Sinner turns this into a Saxon like romp.
On ‘Back In My Arms’, the riffs and chant-a-long choirs are stolen straight out of the Bon Jovi handbook (think ‘Breakout’). Still this has a bit of a kick. I love the synths which appear throughout ‘Gipsy’ though the track is still very guitar-driven with a super solo.
With a song title like ‘Desperate Heart’ it’s very easy to pick this off as a ballad, though it is an instrumental with the guitar playing being in a classical style. It’s like a fusion of Yngwie Malmsteen and Tony Borg, though the tempo is very slow. The finale ‘Last Chance’ veers toward pop metal, but it doesn’t really engage. It’s an OK track, though the vocal choruses made me tune out somewhat.
In Summary
After this, the band went off the map for five years and reconvened in 1992 with ‘No More Alibis’, though now signed to Belgian label Mausoleum. During this hiatus, Mat Sinner also released a solo album in 1990 called ‘Back To The Bullet’ (Ariola).
This album however, should be easy to find on CD it’s been reissued a number of times. They would continue to release a barrel load of albums right up to the current day, and at the time of writing this included their most recent ‘Santa Muerte’ from 2019.
Video
Fight The Fight
Everybody Needs Somebody To Love
