There Will Be Execution

It's a sad fact that most people will recognize Mat Sinner only from his great work with Primal Fear. Granted, that is an excellent band, but his mainstay has existed for nearly three decades now, with 15 full-lengths to date! Many of the early works had that 80s hard rock, but near the end of the 20th century it started to take on a more current, power metal approach (and only recently the band has gone back to a medium between the two). There Will Be Execution was the band's 13th album and perhaps the best overall example of the 'power metal' period.

"Higher Level of Violence" begins with an immediate appeal to fans of the entire Priest/Accept school of German power metal championed by bands like Iron Savior, Primal Fear, and the like. The riffs are powerful and busy, with flourishes of hard rocking guitar squeal flair. The title track is second on the roster, powered by its anthem of a lead riff and a killer solo bridge. "Locked & Loaded" is shit kicking heavy metal, once again inspired by the band's earlier phase yet still locked in the power mindset. "God Raises the Dead" might as well just have Ralph Scheepers singing over it, it's a perfect little Primal Fear sounding number. "The River" is a bluesier, semi-ballad but pretty cool. Other winners include the mean rocking of "Black Monday" and "Liberty of Death".

In all, it's a solid record, with the only annoying moments being a brief plead to Jesus in "Liberty of Death" (Sinner is not a Christian metal band, this was more just part of the lyrics, but cheesy nonetheless). There is a loose concept here about religious sin and violence that permeates many of the lyrics, but their lyrics have never been very good anyways. But at least they are pretty serious business on this album. Regardless of these minor gripes the album is a success for Sinner and one of their very best.

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

I've been listening to Sinner for a number of years and while they generally write decent songs, they have remained a tier two metal band, until now.

There Will Be Execution is the best thing they have ever released. My copy did not contain the extra 3 track disk, but if I had to choose the only weak track, and the one which keeps this from being absolutely perfect, it is Sinners cover of Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam". I could do without hearing a cover of this song, since there is no way Sinner or any other band could perform it better then those who wrote it. I would have preferred to hear an additional sinner tune as opposed to Sinner performing a Metallica hit.

That being said the CD starts off in raucus fashion with the up tempo "Higher Level of Violence", followed up by one of my favorites, the title track, "There Will Be Execution". All the songs are terrific, featuring great guitar work and drumming in particular by Fritz Randow who is showing up everywhere these days in metal circles. "River" is a slower song, also one of my favorites. There are some Christian overtones to the lyrics on some songs, but the sheer aggression that permiates everything on this disk is so good, I will overlook the religious aspects of the words. The production is also fantastic, with a huge drum sound which does not overwhealm the guitars.

If you buy just one Sinner CD, "There Will Be Execution" is their best work. This ended up in my top 10 list of best metal CD's of 2003.