SISTER SIN – Now And Forever

The old school Gothenburg Metal band Sister Sin is back with their 3rd full length album, and arguably their most powerful release to date. Sister Sin gained international attention with their highly acclaimed 2010 release True Sound Of The Underground. Led by lead singer Liv Jagrell, the band’s signature sound of loud and raucous vocals, culminated with commanding guitar power chords, takes the listener on a heightened journey of intensified gratification.

Sister Sin was formed back in 2002 by drummer Dave Sundberg. Although the original band’s vision was to have a strong male front man, by divine intervention Liv Jagrell answered a local newspaper ad and auditioned for the role. Sundburg explained that Liv “could sing better and had more balls than any of the other guys who tried out for the gig.”

Upon release of the debut album Switchblade Serenades, Sister Sin toured extensively in Europe and the U.S. Their 2010 follow up saw more extensive touring, opening for such bands as Motörhead, Doro, and Otep, all of this helped to provide great name recognition. However, it is the music of Sister Sin that continues to catapult their success. They have a straight forward approach to producing balls to the wall, steadfast Metal with an influence of early 80’s Hard Rock.

Liv Jagrell’s vocal influence is clearly derived from Doro Pesch. She uses a very uncomplicated approach of singing in a screaming fashion, with a high-pitched tone. A good example of a male equivalent of this style would be Dee Snider. It clearly evokes a great amount of passion and energy into the compositions. Each and every track is performed at a very high level from an intensity perspective; however from a technical standpoint there is much to be desired. Performance wise, Liv Jagrell is probably better served in the visual aspect. She does a great job of showing off her female assets and tight body to gain commendation instead of purifying her work at a vocalist.

Regarding the musicianship behind Liv, there is a high quality performance coming from them. Most notably guitarist Jimmy Hiltula; whose favored guitar riffs are the key element to providing the concentrated passion heard in the various tracks. It is safe to say the musical quality saves Sister Sin from becoming just another average struggling band. Hiltula may not be a master guitar virtuoso, but he gets the job done quite well playing with fervor and enthusiasm.

Collectively, Now And Forever isn’t a bad album. All the songs are written and performed very well. The major concern is the lack of technical prudence. There are glimpses where Liv proves she is a premier vocalist, especially during the track “Running Low”, but as a whole, the repeated screaming in the same key on every song gets cumbersome and tiring after awhile. Sister Sin is a great band with great music, but they are just missing that elusive piece of magic to put them over the top.