My journey with ARP started with a metal hammer 7 inch in ’89, the ex-Steeler (Deu) guitarist has made himself part of the establishment via a consistent level of releases over the years as a band of the same name, ‘Game of Sins’ obviously being his latest.
This band, as on most releases, have avoided the pure power metal tag and go straight in for heavy metal style of the likes of Dio era Sabbath and The Scorpions. There are places on the release that certainly from a guitar tone point of view remind me of Tony Iommi’s style on albums like ‘Heaven and Hell’ for example, such as the title track and ‘Falling Star’. Of course, ballads have always featured highly with this band (although a lot of these are covers), at the moment there are four “ballads” albums in existence and there are two or three on this release. ‘Lost in Love’ is a strong one though, the vocal talents of Johnny Gioeli who has been with the band since 98’s ‘Oceans of Time’ provides a strong sense of melody over the top of the multi layered instrumental parts. For me though the closing ballad ‘Forever Free’ sits in higher regard, as its more than a mushy rendition, its strong, yes its emotive, but it’s a touch more manly, and the big track is ‘Till The World Says Goodbye’.
‘Sons in the Night’ is harder, faster and actually pays lyrical tribute to the NWOBHM whilst other rocking tunes include ‘Fire’. The one tune that does kind of detract the level of excitement is the Dylan cover of ‘All Along the Watchtower’ (obviously made more famous by Hendrix from which the basis of the ARP version is), but it is a unique interpretation, although not specifically to my total taste when you obviously compare it to the version you know best.
This is a nice strong mature effort, it’s basically exactly what I expect from this band. The production whilst promoted as being stronger (which it is), is for me comparable to earlier releases. However, the thicker multilayer effect (like the recent Virgin Steele release) and thankful subtle use of keyboards does add a real touch of class. There are two EU tours coming some, hopefully we’ll get a visit too. This is a solid album, with a full complement of highlights.
(8/10 Paul Maddison)
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