| CD REVIEW Mad Sin |
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Band : Mad Sin According to the info sheet that goes with the download promo copy of their latest outing, Berlin based German Psychobilly Rockers Mad Sin are back with their 13th album to date! Well…I suppose that includes a bunch of live and “best of” (known to contain bonus new songs) albums, because as far as studio albums go, I think this is their 9th! Not a lot to show for an almost 23-year old career, you way? But then the outings of this band are greated eagerly by the fans of the band worldwide! Not counting the band’s previous album in celebration of their 20th birthday (20 Years Of Mad Sin, album’s review by yours truly posted 15/11/2007) which hàd after a a decent amount of brandnew tracks, this is really the first full-length studio album in 5 years (record goes back to 2005’s Dead Moon’s Rising). Admittingly, the album coùld’ve come earlier, but then fate decided otherwize…in fact, the album could not have come at all! Following a line-up change in 2008 which brang Californian Matt Dudü into the fold as lead guitarist (as replacement of Mad Pete 1), the band was into the first gigs of their 2009 US headliner tour, when frontman Köfte De Ville was suddenly taken to the hospital. With the tour full-on, the other guys soldiered on before Köfte was able to rejoin ‘em. When the boys returned home he went on consult with his normal doctor, whom after a decent check-up warned him to change his Rock ‘n’ Roll was of self-abuse, or suffer the consequences of die in a year! After recovering from the shocj, he went into the more healthy way of life with the same enthousiasm as when he was abusing himself, and lost a third of his weight in only a couple of months! In a waay the additional blow of being left by his long-time girlfriend even helped him to surmount the problems he was facing! Drummer Andy Laas and 6th member Hellvis (he’s the band’s backing singer, fire spitter & all-round additional party boy) faced personal problems of their own. Then, when everybody was feeling well again, the band rented a studio in May to start recordings the new album. However, there was something wrong with the mixing console and recordings were mixed up, making ‘em completely un-usable! With a steady live menu coming up, the band then started re-recording everything in another studio on off days, starting August…hoping to get the thing done for release in January 2010, with a single-plus-video to preceed it in December ’09…but eventually the guys were still mixing the album in January. Of course, that wasn’t good timing for the label (or their distributor), and that’s why the release was postponed to April. In between, Köfte played a guest vocal role on German Goth ’n’ Roll legend Nick Page’s Rocketqueen’s album track “Black Jack Society”. But hey, the album finally made it, with “Cursed” as the first single (including video) premiering two weeks before the album’s release. Including the untitled intro, the album contains a total of 19 songs for a 51 ½ minutes’ play, and each and every song is a winner. Sure, I personally prefer those songs in which the band does something extra, like incorporating samples, but overall the album is very enjoyable indeed, as Düdü’s lead guitar play give many of the songs a Country-ish twang which is simply to die for (especially delectable in the album’s “ballad” “9 Lives” and the calmer song which I cannot identify thanks to the label not sending us the track-list and fucking up the order of the songs). The band itself describes its music as “Stray Cats on speed meeting the Misfits/ Samhain and Motörhead, partying with a psychotic ‘50s Elvis”, and damn me if that ain’t exactly the atmosphere the guys know to convey! Check it out at myspace.com/madsin, where you’ll find 4 songs off the new album posted (and nothing else, by the way…except perhaps for the live video from the band’s appearance at 2009’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Hellfest in the blogs). Not posted, the album also includes two tracks sang in the band’s native language, and an “instrumental” in the form of the rather delectable “March Of The Deviants” (incorporates a couple of samples and the repeat of the word “Deviants” for a “chorus”). Nice, nice, and perfect proof of the fact that these guys deserve every little bit of their reputation! Gee, if it wasn’t for the fact that the guys’ music has such a high pace, even my 70 year-old dad might like this album! Gaw dog, and I guess I’ll be playing some of the songs (among which “9 Lives”) for him anyway! 87/100 Tony. |