Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Sinner
Title
The End of Sanctuary
Type
LP/EP
Company
Nuclear Blast
YOR
2000
Style
Power
4/5/2004 - Review by: Vinaya Saksena
Sinner: The End of Sanctuary - 2000 reviewed by: Vinaya Saksena

Track Listing
1. Signed, Sealed and Delivered
2. Blood Relations
3. End of Sanctuary
4. Pain in Your Neck
5. Edge of the Blade
6. The Prophecy
7. Detsiny
8. Bongress of Deceit
9. Heavy Duty
10. Night of the Wolf
11. Broken World
12. Hand of the Saint
Okay, anyone who knows me well knows damn well that I consider this to be my favorite metal album of the year 2000, so a little bias may creep in here and there.

Anyway, for those of you for are not yet familiar with the band (your day of enlightenment will come...) Sinner have been around for about twenty years (and at least ten albums, depending on how you count 'em), causing quite a stir in their native Germany, but receiving scant attention on these shores. Anyway, "The End of Sanctuary" is fairly heavy, often fast-paced, and laced with generous helpings of beautifully well-executed harmony guitars and atmospheric keyboard touches. The result is a combination of melody, power and professionalism seldom heard from a modern metal band.

Cuts such as "The Prophecy," "Congress of Deceit" and the chugging lead-off tune "Signed, Sealed and Delivered" are rendered sturdy and distinctive by absolutely top-notch playing all around, particularly in the skillful dueling guitars of Ale x Beyrodt and Henny Wolter. Elsewhere, we also get a couple of nice long, emotive epic tracks that showcase Frank Roessler's pristine, almost orchestral-sounding keyboards. The overall feeling of the album is slick, smooth, exuberant and tasteful, with a nod to many classic rock and metal acts, most notably Thin Lizzy, whose influence is made abundantly clear by the aforementioned harmony guitars, which are all over the place on "The End of Sanctuary" (much to my delight-I can't get enough of 'em).

Man, all I can say is I've just got to hand it to Mat Sinner and Company. They've managed to bring the long-forgotten art of complex, melodic hard rock into the 21st century and put their own stamp on it.

Good job, fellas.

Rating: 9


--Vinaya Saksena 04.07.04
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    N/A :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: SINNER
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Crash & Burn
2008
AFM
Eric Compton1/23/2009
4
One Bullet Left
2011
AFM
Eric Compton4/11/2012
4
The End of Sanctuary
2000
Nuclear Blast
Vinaya Saksena4/5/2004
-
There Will Be Execution
2003
Nuclear Blast
Eric Compton2/5/2003
-

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: SINNER
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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