Man, talk about scratching the Pardo itch for some sizzling Whitesnake/Deep Purple/Rainbow/UFO/Black Sabbath/Uriah Heep/Thin Lizzy styled heavy rock! Out of nowhere comes this self-titled debut from the new supergroup calling themselves Sainted Sinners. No doubt the name an homage to the great Whitesnake album Saints and Sinners, this album contains eleven muscular, energetic, and melodic rockers that mix the metallic yet bluesy nature of Coverdale's horde combined with plenty of elements from the classic bands mentioned above. Sainted Sinners are comprised of former Accept vocalist David Reece, guitar hotshot Franke Pane, Axel Rudi Pell keyboard player Ferdy Doernberg, and ex-Purpendicular members Frederik Burkert on bass and drummer Berci Hirleman.
If you love vintage styled bluesy hard rock & metal with plenty of testosterone, no nonsense swagger, rock god vocals, swirling Hammond organ, and lethal guitar riffs & solos, you've come to the right place. Reece is in fine form here, belting it out with youthful exuberance over some sensational Hammond/guitar riffs on the Whitesnake/Purple inspired "Knight of the Long Knives", "Beauty in the Beast", and the whisky soaked rumbler "Maybe She's Got Balls", the latter containing some great female backing vocals as well as scorching Hammond organ and guitar solos. The band throw some Lynyrd Skynyrd styled Southern Rock into the mix on the slide guitar driven "We're All Sainted Sinners", and reach into Slide It In era 'Snake for the raucous rocker "Blue Lightning Man", again with Pane and Doernberg really strutting their stuff in a big way. Of course, it almost wouldn't be an album of this nature without an ode to the mighty Led Zeppelin, here in the form of "The Love That I Have Found", an epic, majestic heavy rocker that sees Reece soaring to the heavens over plenty of heavy riffs in the grand tradition of "Kashmir". Elsewhere, look for the catchy blues rocker "Did You", the swampy Southern rocker "In Need", and the upbeat 'Whitesnake meets Dokken' corkers "Shine Diamond Girl" and "Evangeline". To even make this all the more unbelievable, the band dive into Dio era Rainbow styled bombast for the killer closer "Truth is a Lie", Pane and Doernberg getting into lethal exchanges over some rumbling drums as Reece puts on a vocal clinic. Whew!!!
As you can tell, Sainted Sinners really scored big with me, a scorching set of Hammond organ & ripping guitar soaked goodness made even better with the inclusion of some powerful vocals from the former Accept frontman and tunes that just paid homage to some of the great bands of the golden era. This is what heavy rock is all about folks. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going back for another few listens...
See more about this release on our recent YouTube show!
Track Listing
1. Knight Of The Long Knives
2. Beauty In The Beast
3. Maybe She's Got Balls
4. We're All Sainted Sinners
5. Blue Lightning Man
6. The Love That I Have Found
7. Did You
8. In Need
9. Evangeline
10. Shine Diamond Girl
11. Truth Is A Lie