Albums•November 29, 2011•8,891 views

Brand New Sin Recipe For Disaster

01. Arrived 02. The Loner 03. Brown Street Betty 04. Black And Blue MP3 05. Running Alone 06. Freight Train 07. Vicious Cycles 08. Another Reason 09. Days Are Numbered 10. Once In A Lifetime 11. Dead Man Walking 12. Gulch 13. Wyoming

2005 Century Media Records

Our score 5

by Michael Gluck

5/17/2005

"Don't forget your past. You've arrived at last." The chorus line of album opener Arrived suggests redemption, but this will be far from a redeeming review for born again Syracuse southern rockers Brand New Sin. With the weighty oxymoron in full view, leading the imagination to picture spur-booted, horse-riding cowboys descending upon the Carrier Dome to slay some Orangemen involved in a lacrosse game, I could claim ignorance in my attempt to figure out who Brand New Sin really is... if only I hadn't already succeeded in that very attempt. While preaching to the listener about not forgetting one's past, members Kenny Dunham, Chuck Kahl, and ex-Earth Crisis and Path Of Resistance (pasts omitted from the biography) guitarist Kris Wiechmann seem to have all-too-easily forgotten their collective past: The mighty and prematurely-deceased Godbelow, who are harshly absent of mention in Brand New Sin's biography. Easily the best band out of Syracuse since Earth Crisis, had Godbelow continued on and not broken up in 2001 (in order to begin their quest of reaching for the stars, aka selling out by changing their vocalist and image), they would now command such a monolithic presence in both the metal and hardcore scenes that I doubt a prosperous future would have been far behind. The strong rumor at the time ironically held that it was Century Media who offered Godbelow an attractive contract under the term they fire impassioned frontman Dan Johnson (now with up-and-comers Last Season and The Unholy) and replace him with someone more Danzig-esque. This didn't go quite as planned however as Joe Altier sounds more like Sully Erna than the former Misfit, and they were first signed by Now Or Never Records, a label which despite all their efforts, just could not buy Brand New Sin the success they yearned for. Well now the rumor has come full circle as Century Media has indeed rescued the band from unsigned limbo (not suprising, considering Century Media acquired Now Or Never in early-2004), but to what commercial benefit for the label, I cannot fathom. Delivering far more accessible open-chording rock'n'roll this time around, and with less of the metal-tinged riffs and solos present on their self-titled debut, Brand New Sin try to fall back on a predominantly digestible sound, but instead fall deeper into mediocrity than they were already treading dangerously close to on their debut. It's easy to infer that they are dying to enter the coveted and loyal coast-to-coast fan enclaves which support timeless rock, like Motorhead, Corrosion Of Conformity, and Black Label Society, but with strong riffs the basis of those bands' popularity, Brand New Sin likely won't be accessing those enclaves any time soon. The boring guitars of "Brown Street Betty", "Days Are Numbered", and "Dead Man Walking" fail to carry the songs as they should, and again I suspect the will to gain mass appeal was the primary factor behind the over-simplicity of these songs, among numerous others on this album. With a whopping four acoustic tracks, "Running Alone", "Once In A Lifetime", "Gulch", and "Wyoming "(which steals part of a Godbelow riff), the album is also weighted down by an inability to flow and rock throughout, as these jam numbers, while emotional, are not promising ingredients with which to assemble a Recipe For Disaster. Bottom Line: With their former guitarist Brian "Slider" Azzoto having quit between albums, he clearly took with him most of the quality riffs that are sadly absent on Recipe For Disaster. From their intricate guitar work in Godbelow, the other members certainly have the ability to compose and perform better than this; so why didn't they I'm a bigger classic rock fan than most, with bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, Law and Order, and Thin Lizzy predominating my drinking playlist, so in turn the rehash Brand New Sin are trying to sell here does not fool me. But considering how unlearned most of today's youth are on the roots of American rock, it certainly has the potential to fool many.

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anonymous 5/17/2005 10:37:35 PM

Brand New Sin Recipe For Disaster

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