Stephen
Looking at the album title will take your memories back to an old Brad Pitt movie, "Se7en", where the thrill revolves around seven sins depicted in the Book of Proverbs. Heavenfall decided to capture the essence of the topic and poured it down into a nine-track conceptual power metal album. What makes it even more interesting, the band attempted to twist the genre with a slight of progressive touch, some unusual elements from various genres to enrich the arrangement, and still maintain the melodic border to keep the album accessible to many casual metal fans.
Started slow with an enigmatic intro of "Origins of A Sin", this album blasted with "Seven Sins", a good heavy track with good chorus, but the next track, "Envy", that's really pumped up the adrenaline. The psychedelic synth floating on a blissful melodic composition is epic. I can hear a trace of death metal drumming pattern on the background but overall, this song is so full of harmonies and enjoyable. "Gluttony" showcase their neoclassical side, some nicely put solo guitar is the highlight along with the beautiful chorus. "Robin Hood" combines the gloomy verse with a contradictive catchy chorus, running on a dynamic tempo platform. Another fave track of mine is "Melt At Your Touch". I can say, this is probably their most radio-friendly track, a great commercial-based melodic metal perfection.
No bad tracks in sight but the similarity on each tunes and the safe predictable passage on most of the songs can trap the listeners in a circle of boredom, especially after couple of full spin. Singer Daniel has quite great vocal but somehow the mixing of the album put his voice a bit backward and dominated by the sound of keys and guitar. Lack of commanding character and energy in his voice needs to be taken care in the next album, and I felt Ralf's keyboard was overpowering the rhythm guitar hence makes the instrumental strength unbalanced. Overall, "7 Sins" is a pleasant debut by the German's act and if you like prog-tinged power metal band such as Secret Sphere, Adagio, or Labyrinth, might want to give this record a shot.