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SINNER
Brotherhood
2022 Atomic Fire Records

Three years on from the release of Sante Muerte, Mat Sinner and his band of brothers return with the appropriately titled Brotherhood. Once again, joining Mat (vocals, bass) are guitarists Tom Naumann and Alex Scholpp, and drummer Markus Kullmann.

Brotherhood finds the band switching labels to Atomic Fire. It consists of 12 songs (11 originals and a cover). Stylistically, it’s very similar to Santa Muerte and a little of Tequila Suicide, (the album cover is in the same ‘Day of The Dead’ vein as well), but I find this album to be a little more focused than Santa Muerte (which was not a bad album at all). The sound of the band is still tight, melodic power metal with sporadic moments of groove, pop sensibilities and epic orchestration. Mat said his goal with this album was, “harder, bigger, louder.” I’d also agree that he succeeded in creating a more “international sound” on Brotherhood. I do like Brotherhood a little more than Santa Muerte. There are several guest appearances here, including Ralf Scheepers (PRIMAL FEAR), Ronnie Romero (RAINBOW), Tom Englund (EVERGREY) and Dave Ingram (BENEDICTION). Keys and orchestrations were provided by KAMELOT’s Oliver Palotai.

The album is cocked and loaded with first single out of the barrel, “Bulletproof”, a barnstorming rocker in the classic SINNER tradition. This is one of the best album opening tracks the band has ever produced. Next is “We Came To Rock”, which is chock full of killer riffs and huge heavy moments; this track is a standout for sure. “Reach Out” is ballsy rocker with a cool melodic chorus. That brings us to the title track, “Brotherhood”, my favorite song on the album (lyric video HERE). This song is catchy as hell and an instant SINNER classic. Arguably the heaviest songs on the album are “Refuse To Surrender” (an impressive fist raising anthem worthy of cranking as loud as possible) and “The Man They Couldn’t Hang”, which is a little faster tempo and features some double bass drumming from Markus and symphonic moments added by Oliver. Epic and longest track “The Last Generation” acts as the centerpiece of the album, and features some backing vocals from some of the guests listed above. I can imagine this song easily being a PRIMAL FEAR cut also. “Gravity” features some of my favorite lyrics on the album. (I know how Mat feels here). The female backing vocals in the chorus works well also. “The Rocker Rides Away” provides enough up-tempo punch and sing-along lyrics to get your blood flowing. “My Scars” is aggressive and powerful headbanging music, I can’t get enough of this track. Ballad “40 Days 40 Nights” is a great drinking song for sure. The last track (included on physical copies only) is a cover of THE KILLERS’ “When You Were Young”. This showcases the band’s ability to take a pop song and make it work as a rocker.

Overall I find Brotherhood to be a solid and powerful album with a plethora of catchy songs and killer riffs. The fantastic mix from Jacob Hansen (VOLBEAT) adds to the appeal. Not too many bands reach their 40th anniversary and 20th studio release, but Brotherhood marks just that special an occasion-- so a double metal salute to Mat Sinner and his band of brothers for keeping his band alive for so long. I’m still listening!

4.5 Out Of 5.0