LIV SIN - Follow Me Review
Old school Metal has come back to life in a much-needed way, in one incredibly talented new Swedish Metal Band that is known as LIV SIN. Once again as I was scouring lists of fairly recent album releases, LIV SIN – Follow Me just seemed to stand out and say “pick me” and so I pressed play. What was I hearing? Is metal still alive? Was I dreaming? I pinched myself and to my amazement, I was not dreaming but was taken on a journey back in time, roughly 30 years to a time and place when Metal was in full swing and widely accepted. All I could think to say was “Hot Damn”.
While blasting through the tracks on Follow Me I could not help but notice so many influences in the LIV SIN sound, whether these bands influenced LIV SIN or not, influences from bands that I thoroughly enjoyed in my younger years, bands such as Metallica, Megadeth, Lizzy Borden, Exodus, Pretty Maids, Overkill and most predominantly, King Diamond and Accept. I thought to myself this guy has got one heck of a vocal range so I had to do some research to find out more about the band. What I uncovered was shocking to me in that the lead singer is not a guy but a girl and that she, Liv Jagrell, had just come off of a 13-year career of tearing up and touring all over Europe with her former band SISTER SIN. I will admit, truthfully, that I have never been a fan of females fronting metal bands just because of the masculinity that pours through in the music and most females have not been able to bring it like the guys can where metal music is concerned, however, the phrase “Never Say Never” could not be more appropriate than in the case of Jagrell, she rocks hard. Kudos.
As I allowed my ears to absorb the sound(s) escaping my speakers, I became a fan instantly and really took notice at how all of the bands sounds that I mentioned above came through loud and clear, especially those of Accept yet with a much more modern sound; talk about a win, win combination. Many times throughout Follow Me I thought it was actually Udo Dirkschneider singer of Accept and U.D.O. piping out the vocals and as I did a bit more research on the band I found out that the album is actually co-produced by long-standing Accept and U.D.O. band member Stefan Kauffman (drums/guitar) and U.D.O. bassist Fitty Wienhold, hence the big influential sound both musically and vocally of both Accept and U.D.O.
Follow Me is chalk full of in your face, groove oriented metal riffs, some faster than others yet never really traversing the chasm into the speed metal realm which I like, as I was never really a fan of speed metal. There are a couple of songs that are a bit slower but still maintain that metal integrity and heaviness. LIV SIN also put their spin on FIGHT’s song “Immortal Sin” as Jagrell shares vocal duties on this track with Jyrki 69 of the band THE 69 EYES and from a music standpoint the band does a tremendous job but vocally the track is week, specifically the guest vocal of Jyrki 69, it just does not fit this song in any way, shape, form or fashion; I cannot explain it, you just have to hear it for yourself to understand. If you are unfamiliar with the original version then you need to check it out for yourself as it comes off of the FIGHT – War of Words album that was released back in 1993; a most excellent metal album by the way. Also “Killing Ourselves To Live” features Schmier Fink from the band Destruction sharing lead vocals duties with Jagrell and they complement each other nicely.
Track List:
1. The Fall
2. Hypocrite
3. Let Me Out
4. Black Souls
5. Godless Utopia
6. Endless Roads
7. Killing Ourselves To Live
8. I'm Your Sin
9. Emperor Of Chaos
10. Immortal Sin (FIGHT cover)
11. The Beast Inside
In closing I thought long and hard about how I should rate Follow Me and based on this being an eleven track album and only one disappointment coming in the form of my dislike of the guest vocal on the cover of “Immortal Sin”, that still leaves ten strong tracks, so without boring you all any longer I once again am proud to give a rating of 10 out of 10.
Here is to hoping that old school Metal is once again on the rise. A big “Hell Yeah” goes out to LIV SIN for giving the world a much-needed dose of Metal music. In a time when so much aggression and anger is needing to be released, Follow Me on ten is the perfect way to let it all be washed away. Horns up people. \m/ METAL \m/
About John Tedeski
JournalistI’ve been a musician since the age of 7 when my parents bought me my first drum set. By the age of 16, I was playing the local bar scene. I’ve played around the east coast, and in 1994, through those travels is how I met Founding member of Center Stage Magazine, Tommy Lemon as we were both auditioning for the same band in the Boston Massachusetts area and we’ve been friends ever since. Through the years I’ve met a lot of great musicians such as Vinny Paul (Pantera), Bill Leverty (Firehouse), Ace Frehley (KISS), Marc Ferrari (Keel), Bobby Dall (Poison), and even got to share the stage with Jaime St. James (Black ‘N Blue) and Billy Morris (Warrant), just to name a few. Unfortunately, life had a different path in store for me other than being a full-time musician, yet I’ve been blessed to still be able to play on the weekends with some great local talent. Here I am now with another huge blessing, still within the music world, but this time as a journalist for Center Stage Magazine where I get to talk with and interview musicians who do what I have always longed to do. It’s all good and much less hassle than having to lug my drums all around the country. Rock Out, Roll On & Follow Your Heart ...
