Album Review: In Victory by SINSID (Pitch Black Records)

Norway’s Old-School Heavy Metal outfit SINSID is back with third album In Victory, set for release on the 20th of May via Pitch Black Records.

In Victory is the follow-up to 2020’s Enter the Gates and the band’s 2018 debut, Mission From Hell. Originally formed in 2012, SINSID’s influences include anything from the blues and rock to metal and Viking or thrash but the very core of the band is, unmistakably, traditional heavy metal. SINSID are a five piece with Terje Singh Sidhu on vocals, Sten Roger Knutsen on lead guitar, Even Haavold is on rhythm guitar, Grzegorz Urbanski is on the bass and Trygve A. Tvedt is on drums.

In Victory sees SINSID at their most inspired with an album that will get defenders of Old-School Heavy Metal excited! The band sounds as good as ever, with added double bass and an improved contemporary production while managing to maintain that “old school” feeling.

In Victory will be available on CD and Digital with a limited LP (100 numbered copies) planned for release later in the year.

In Victory gets off with an intro song called The Northern March. A cool as fuck instrumental that grows from gentle melody into power chords with marching drums in the background. It sets the scene well with it’s glorious power metal esque lead guitar flourish. Iron Heart comes next and brings in clean, but with attitude, vocals over a neat riff and catchy drum beat. Lead guitar melodies drop in and out making for a cool and old school metal sound. The chorus is simple but effective, easy to remember and fun enough to sing along to. As you would hope for in this traditional styled music, there is a neat solo to top things off too. It’s a decent start.

Metalheads comes next and is a fun and rowdy anthem starting with a shout of “we are the metalheads”. Perhaps a bit of an anthem for us all, it’s catchy and up tempo with lyrics talking about the unity of the metal family, our strength and refusal to bow down. A sure-fire winner right? The chorus is fun again with a little added gang vocals but I really enjoy the loose and punk like pace and frenetic nature of the verses. A tempo change brings in a wicked rhythm that is sure to get a headbanging session up and running before a fiery solo will have you bringing out the air guitar.

Secret of the Beast has a darker, richer tone to it’s opening melody. The vocals are more menacing, a little Bruce Dickinson inspired, with threatening leads working in tandem with them. It soon picks up the pace with shouted vocals and a catchy drum beat before dropping back to the darker melody. That switch back and forth works well and keeps the song exciting and keeps you guessing. In Victory, the title track, is a banger. The bass and drum rhythm is just made for moving to with a catchy flow of vocals and lashings of quick riffs. The solo is a cracker, SINSID have so far been more than generous with the quality of the solos on In Victory. It’s just good, old school metal. It’s impossible to not enjoy it, especially when we get to a nice fist pumping ending.

No Fear has a bit of an old school anthem feel to it with that darker and richer melody coming back along with a phenomenal vocal performance. The guitars are great bit kudos to the rhythm section that just adds that necessary depth and power. Of course, you can’t have an anthem without a solos and you get another brilliant one here. The ending is a little odd, adding in layered vocals singing two different songs, or so it feels, it’s chaotic, which I like, but messy, which I don’t. Still a minor oddity on a wonderful song. Wrath of Destruction comes next and continues with the darker melody. Gentle but sombre strings play out before a soaring lead adds another layer.

The gentler start builds up nicely into a punchy heavyweight of a track with excellent drum skills and a thick, bassy riff. Bass solos, powerful and heavy verses, marching drum sections, catchy gang vocal choruses. This song ticks all the right boxes and is one of my favourites and a strong album so far. Headless Grinder is the penultimate track and is a wonderful short, rocking number full of energy and excitement. It has a hard rock vibe and moves at a nice pace with a catchy chorus and a wonderful riff.

The closer of In Victory is called Cult of Doom (Into the Fire) and sees SINSID flex all their NWOTHM muscles with a dark intro of shouted vocals, thrashy drums and and a neat riff. It’s a string closer with yet another fiery solo. I could listen to these solos for days and never get bored.

In Victory is a strong album, a real throw back to better/different days depending on where you stand on nostalgia. I love the traditional sound and what’s not to like – just a maelstrom of punchy riffs, fiery drums and blazing leads. The songs are dripping in lead guitars with massive solos and intelligent melodies while the vocal performance perfectly suits the song and style. Production wise, it does sound quite old school as well, with just enough of a modern edge to make it sound up to date yet never enough to make it sound like a new band trying to mimic the past. This is strong metal, fun and exciting – the kind that will get heads banging and devil horns thrown high in the air. Great job.

For more details and pre-order information visit Pitch Black Records by following the link.

SINSID Links

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