SAINTS OF SIN – Welcome To The Circus (2017)
Since forming in 2013 in Southampton, British rockers SAINTS OF SIN have been bringing their own brand of unadulterated hair metal to venues up and down the country. This is a band that has grown steadily more popular, both locally and further afield, and while we had to wait three years for this new album titled “Welcome To The Circus”, I can say it definitely well worth the wait.
This a terrific slice of classic glammy melodic hard rock, plenty of great songs and a huge production sound.
SAINTS OF SIN are admittedly influenced by VAN HALEN, BON JOVI, SAIGON KICK and, well… let’s just say they’ve digested a lot of GUNS N’ ROSES’ first albums, whose Eighties’ reinvention of hard rock provided the riff and tumble template from which “Welcome To The Circus” has been struck.
The album starts off with ‘The Ballad of the Big Top’ which isn’t actually a ballad but an intro with circus-themed music and a ringmaster voice.
That leads straight in to the title track ‘Welcome To The Circus’ which is the first real song on the album, and it’s one hell of a good way to get things going. It’s fantastic melodic hard rock music with great vocals and like much of the album it’s really good catchy party music.
‘Rocket’ and ‘After Dark’ are more quality, catchy hair metal anthems. The first has a Twister Sister / Helix feel complete with naa-naahs, while the latter adds a more elaborated midtempo middle section and a killer guitar solo in the Vito Bratta (WHITE LION) mold.
The hooky choruses of ‘Wasted Night’ and ‘One Last Time’ (awesome tune akin WHITE WIDDOW) are truly emblematic of an era, both showing the band have an ear for the finer points of Melodic Rock as well as a firm grasp of the essentials.
There’s a definite LYNCH MOB / DOKKEN feel to ‘Running’ and ‘One More Minute’ (one of the album’s highlights).
Both songs sparkle with the flicker of a harder, more metallic edge, showcasing another interesting side of SAINTS OF SIN. Sure these guys also had a proper US metal lesson, and you can tell. But they add their own melodic catchy waves.
I already enjoyed SAINTS OF SIN first indie album, but “Welcome To The Circus” is a blast.
Killer songs / choruses, top clear and powerful lead vocals, huge harmony vocals, a monster guitar work (seriously) and a top class production makes this one, for me, one of the best releases of the year.
If appeared in 1988, this album would have been 5x platinum… believe me.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
01. The Ballad of the Big Top
02. Welcome to the Circus
03. Rocket
04. After Dark
05. Wasted Nights
06. One Last Time
07. Running
08. Turn It Up
09. One More Minute
10. Heroin
11. The Devil You Need
12. Going Down
13. 21 Shots
Rui Brito – Lead Vocals
Marcus Sparxx Jenkins – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Sophie Burrell – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Ashley Jenkins – Bass, Backing Vocals
Josh Rose – Drums, Backing Vocals
BUY IT !
www.amazon.co.uk/Welcome-Circus-Saints-Sin/dp/B075DSLWFM
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