FB 1964: Seven Deadly Sins

Regulars on the German traditional heavy metal scene since 2012, FB 1964 is a band project revolving round guitarist Frank Badenhop, which always features numerous, varying guest lead singers while giving all of the profits made from their albums to Regenwald.org, a charity which supports the protection of rainforests. On this occasion the ‘house-band’ doesn’t feature a host of familiar names, instead finding Mirko Gátje on bass, Hanno Kerstan on drums and Becky Gaber providing backing vocals. As the album title suggests, Seven Deadly Sins not only features seven singers, but does so across seven tracks all based round the seven sins that one must (nearly!) always avoid.

As is the norm for this project, each song is sprinkled with guest soloists and with each of the tracks on this album being reasonably lengthy, that means a lot of guests and a lot of solos. “Pride� for example finds Iago Pedrosa, Yiannis Papadopoulos, Michele Dr. Viossy, Alex Rost and Charlie Parra all lining up to dazzle you with fret work. Here the vocals come from Gabby Vessoni (Fleesh) and rather excellent she is too as the traditional riffs and rhythms hammer forth. It’s Primal Fear’s Ralf Scheepers who takes on the role of “Greed� but again with the track running to over 8 minutes, expect much in the way of instrumental workouts surrounding the trademark commanding vocal.

In truth, as proceedings move through their seven movements, so the length of the songs begins to drag things down a little, although Becky Gaber does a marvellous job of stepping from backing singer to lead vocalist on “Lust�. The tempo is picked up for the Raphael Mendes fronted “Wrath� and with the singer possessing an uncanny Bruce Dickinson like voice-box, so proceedings head strongly into Iron Maiden territory. Offering more of a grinding, pounding presence, “Gluttony� brings a sense of foreboding as Overkill’s Bobby ‘Blitz’ Ellsworth turns in a fine performance behind the mic and Andrew Roz and Brian Maillard take turns in the guitar solo slot for what is one of the strongest songs on SDS. Violin player Ally Storch makes her second appearance on the album on “Envy�, her plaintive playing proving an excellent counterpoint to the enigmatic vocals from Liv Jagrell (LIV SIN), who arguably offers the most convincing vocal performance to be heard as she really embodies the sentiments in the lyrics. Johnny Gioeli (Hardline, Axel Rudi Pell) helps close the album out as “Sloth� walks a much more energetic path than the song title might suggest. Special mention here also for Dethy Borchardt, Juliana Wilson and Giulja Marta Vallar, who between them provide some serious fret-fire.

This is the third consecutive FB 1964 album I’ve heard and it has to be said that I’ve enjoyed them all in terms of their hard hitting, no frills metal approach and also because you can guarantee to discover a whole host of musical talent you never previously knew existed. In truth, this is maybe not the strongest of their albums that I’ve reviewed, with the aforementioned desire to over-extend what are in essence a selection of straight up metal anthems lessening their impact. However, once the concept was settled on, that die was cast. That said, Seven Deadly Sins is still a huge amount of fun, it still contains some excellent performances and every album purchase helps donate to a good cause.

Track Listing
1. Pride

2. Greed
3. Lust
4. Wrath
5. Gluttony
6. Envy
7. Sloth

Added: November 26th 2024
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: FB 1964 @ bandcamp
Hits: 128
Language: english

[ Printer Friendly Page ]
[ Send to a Friend ]