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This band's previous album, "Burning Bridges", while good overall, didn't leave me a lasting impression. "Wages of Sin" however steps even farther away than a standard Swedish melodic death metal sound and therefore offers a more interesting listening experience. I found the music on "Wages..." much more varied than on the previous effort, the band marrying aggressiveness and catchy melodies with success - read without sounding like a thousand other bands or getting boring after two songs. There's a load of very catchy guitar solos here that just pushed me to play this album over and over. Forget the other Swedish melodic death acts and get this instead.

This album also introduces new vocalist Angela Gossow. I had my doubts at first, a female doing growling vocals? Well, as soon as she started her vocals on the first song I knew she was up to the job and the band did get her in just as some kind of gimmick. Not only is she good, but she could put many male vocalists to shame.

This was not an album I was looking forward to since the previous album didn't impress me much. This however, sounds much better to my ears. Riffs that sound more inspired by traditional heavy metal, killer solos, good vocals (well, as far as growls go anyway), powerful drumming, good production... A must have.

Additional Information

- Japanese edition reviewed