ALBUM REVIEW: American Sin – American Sin

Imagine you’re a band working on your first full-length album. You’ve built up a sizeable fanbase, you’ve got the backing of a reputable record label and you are buzzing with every fibre to tell the entire world what you’re doing. Then, you decide to release it without the remotest inkling that it’s about to drop. Well surprise, Planet Earth – AMERICAN SIN are that very band. There’s been no promotion, no teaser videos and no advance singles from the outfit formerly known as COME THE DAWN, but from today their self-titled debut is available to all via Sumerian Records.

To bring out an album without the faintest hint of any publicity is something that so often goes awry; just look at AVENGED SEVENFOLD with The Stage. But AMERICAN SIN have pulled it off with utter conviction. And the greatest thing about the whole scenario? This is probably the best heavy rock album you will hear all year. Really. The crunching riffs blend beautifully with the thunderous underpinning of drums, whilst John Bobinger’s soulful, soaring vocals tie everything together with – pun intended – cords of gold. Clocking in at 35-and-a-half minutes, American Sin doesn’t outstay its initial welcome, but will be played again and again for a lifetime, such is its appeal.

It will come as a surprise, therefore, that opener Empty starts rather serenely, Bobinger’s pipes riding the top of clean guitar notes, but the thumping riff and big chorus that follow are a sign of things to come. So Far Down, on the other hand, is an arena-sized anthem in every conceivable way, a rock song with balls the size of Jupiter. The hint of sleaze on Out On the Run and the BLACK STONE CHERRY vibes to Roulette help things along very nicely, whilst a second-half trio of Drag Out War, the title track and House of Cards show AMERICAN SIN’s ability to bring things down a couple of notches but still retain the power and emotion; there’s also the use of licks normally associated with the likes of KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, but channelled into the heavier side of SHINEDOWN’s back catalogue. The gloss is taken off slightly by MISSIONARY MAN, a solid if uninspiring cover of the EURYTHMICS tune, but it’s decent enough to avoid anything more than a momentary shudder, let alone a wobble.

This will be one of, if not the biggest earworm of 2019; from start to finish American Sin is a devastating tour-de-force of catchy melodies, bruising axework and sparkling talent that will give AMERICAN SIN an immediate foothold in a genre that can often find bands with the words ‘great pretender’ metaphorically stamped across them. It’s fun, it’s uplifting and it’s vital listening in every sense.

Rating: 9/10

American Sin is out now via Sumerian Records. 

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