Sins of the World

Before reading onward, if you're not familiar with Attacker, go find copies of 1985's Battle At Helms Deep and 1986's The Second Coming immediately. Both albums are essential Heavy Metal and belong in every record collection. Then buy Sins of the World.

It's been three long years since Giants of Canaan, Bobby Lucas' first showing with Attacker, one of New Jersey's legendary US Power Metal bands. The combination of the ex-Seven Witches, Ex-Overlorde and Morbid Sin vocalist with Attacker has proved to be a match made in Heavy Metal heaven. Not only does Leatherlungs Lucas' range and ability surpass the majority of other local singers, but he has brought a new dose of energy to Attacker. This energy has been recognized throughout the local area as younger metal heads are increasingly embracing more traditional metal, especially older veteran bands, such as Attacker. On their new album, Sins of the World, Lucas is once again flanked by original drummer Mike Sabatini, original guitarist Pat Marinelli - who retired shortly after the recording of this album - and veteran Mike Benetatos who was part of the original reformation in the dawn of the millennium. Brian Smith fills the bass position.

I'm of the opinion that Sins of the World is an improvement over the strong effort on Giants of Canaan in terms of overall impact. Stylistically, Sins of the World is a perfect blending of Second Coming's more thrash influenced style and the NWOBHM-inspired melodicism of Battle at Helms Deep. A perfect example of this would be "Choice of Weapon", "Archangel", or the album's title track. Giants of Canaan employed the same tactics of mixing the band's formative styles but was not as totally successful. There is a higher memorability factor, stronger dynamic presence, improved pacing, and a sense of urgency. This could be in part to a better mix and clearer production. I felt there was a dullness present on Giants... Attacker are wielding a sharper blade now. "Carcosa" and "Garuda" show off this clarity early on the record with punchy and aggressive riffs helped in no small part by an absolutely crushing bass presence and performance by Smith. Liner notes reveal that Benetatos wrote the majority of the material here and I can't help but admit that I'm extremely impressed at the revitalization back to full health of the early styles which made Attacker an important US Power Metal band in the early 80's.

Though the first half of the album is great with "Carcosa" leading me to buy an old copy of Ambrose Pierce's Can Such Things Be and "Garuda" making me want to go back and re-watch Mystery Science Theater episodes, The second half yields as strong a set of B-sides as I think exists on an album. I felt that "Glen of the Ghost" was the most prominent track on the last album for it's campfire story. Even better is the similar storytelling finishing off Sins of the World with the Conan inspired duo of "By The Will Of Crom" and "Where The Serpent Lies". I do wonder why they were separated into two tracks but the transition is not hampered in anyway by the split. "Archangel," is my favorite pie on the table here due to the entirely different approach of extremely catchy and memorable contrasting verse-chorus form with an extended instrumental section to split the song. Lucas' powerful vocals scream across big chords and barely noticeable progressive metal influenced rhythmicism. Also the song is about aliens which gets extra points in my book because not enough bands approach the material-ripe subject of aliens, extraterrestrials, UFOs and human breeding programs thousands of years in the past by the Grays.

"We Rise" is the only dud - if you could call it such - but I get it's inclusion from the point of view of the German audience who loves these types of anthems. It wouldn't have been as bad if it wasn't for the constant repetition of the chorus awkwardly at the end of the track. Whatever.

Sins of the World is not only Attacker's best album of their catalog but to be completely blunt, this is as close to perfect Heavy Metal as I've heard in years. The riffs and rhythms and passion well up in your bones, flesh, and teeth. The melodies and progressions unravel in ways as to inspire emotive face-wincing and nose scrunching throughout every song as the need to whip your head and bang your fists increases. Far-flung vocal pronouncements speak both to the heart and mind through Lucas' lyrics which, at times poignant and elsewhere purely innocent, propel songs into territories of quality reserved for only the strongest of warriors. There is that New Jersey edge - a sense of opinionated arrogance, attitude, and virility - that inexplicably hardens the material. It's as if Attacker literally walked into the local bar, fearlessly pushed their way through all the regulars, and just planted themselves in their seats without asking.

Originally written for Contaminated Tones.

Attacker's newest release does not overtly miss the mark. The elements that are technically essential to a metal album are all in place, and the result is pleasing enough. Anyone listening can hear classic Attacker as well as a few other well-known bands. There's not enough to vault it into serious album of the year consideration, but it's enough to make one's time well-spent.

Perhaps the first and most obvious thing going for Sins of the World are some good riffs. A few bands and styles aside, metal lives and dies by the quality of the guitar's rhythmic strength. There are more than a handful of solid or better riffs that keep the energy and interest in most songs up. This can be seen from the start as, after the brief intro track, Sins of Man goes into some melodic lines before upping the pace and pumping out two good riffs. Quick, melodic riffs that occasionally get thrashy are pretty much the order of the day though that can and does reverse. These aren't terribly technical though they're a bit more involved than the classic Attacker riffs. To the other side of the guitarwork, the soloing isn't bad, but it's not quite up to par with the riffing. It doesn't seem to be a particular lack of skill or tricks so much as not putting enough emphasis on it. One could plausibly argue that the focus should be on the riffing, and the soloing is just filler, but I'd say that quality solos can be done by this band, and they should churn them out when they try.

The next particular bright spot would have to be the production. As someone who's complained about modern production being too clean, I was pleasantly surprised to hear this. The production is clearly modern and not rough, but it works perfectly with the music. Perhaps it's the melodic side of the record, a trait that generally isn't improved with rougher production, but whatever it is, it works beautifully with the music. Pretty much everything is crystal clear with the bass given some breathing room. He doesn't do much to show off with it, but it's always a breath of fresh air to just hear the bass and not have to hunt for it. The drums are loud and clear but never overpowering with the guitars and vocals up front which is probably the right move given the strength of the guitars.

Stylistically, this is pretty clear on first listen. For all the changes in over 30 years, the drummer's the only one from the classics left, Attacker's still playing USPM, albeit with a touch more thrash influence than their early albums. This melodic but aggressive style has given metal many top-notch acts and Attacker are frequently counted as one of the higher quality classic acts. For comparisons, there's quite a few that spring to mind. Sins of Man alone makes one think of a few acts. The early melodic lines before the vocalist fully goes in is reminiscent of classic Maiden while the riff afterwards reminds me of something from Artillery's By Inheritance. Some of the apocalyptic lyrics and speed, not to mention the cover, definitely bring Agent Steel to mind. Lastly, it's hard not to think of Helstar. They aren't too overtly similar, but they're both early USPM bands with some thrash tendencies in their modern sound, and they both released albums this year. Given Helstar's success, I was curious if Attacker could duplicate that level.

Suffices to say from the opening paragraph, I don't think they did. They took a good shot with some quality riffing and a fitting production job, and those weren't their only strong points for that matter. The vocalist is pretty good and some of those choruses, Carcosa in particular, are incredibly catchy. On the flip-side, the rhythm section isn't too special beyond being audible. Consistency is also a question as some songs are certainly stronger than others. Going from one of the stronger, probably my favorite, tracks in Carcosa to a more average one in Garuda is quite disappointing. The interlude track towards the end also seems superfluous though it's brief enough that I'm loathe to dock the album for it. There's nothing on display on here that's bad, but there's plenty that isn't much above-average, and the quality found can only overwhelm so much of that. All in all, Attacker's Sins of the World is a good album, but it doesn't rise above.