Review: SINSID – Enter the Gates

My journey to metal started as a teenager, meanwhile around 20 years ago (oh damn, I am getting old), via the usual route of popular mainstream rock bands. Soon after my interest into distorted guitars and heavy drums was sparked, the deep dive into various rabbit holes started… there must be something heavier! Faster! Technically more complex! More EVIL and CVLT! So obviously I learned about all the various subgenres that metal has to offer, and sought out ever more extreme music. At the latest once I reached grindcore, I knew that I had ventured too far, and settled back into my comfort zone of thrash and black metal, with the occasional vacation trip to other subgenres to spice things up.

I bring this up, as today’s topic, SINSID’s Enter the Gates, would have fit into the very first steps of this long journey of mine, and fills me with something like nostalgia. The 40 minutes on SINSID’s second full length record are pure old school heavy metal – of a very uncomplicated, one might even say simple kind. Enter the Gates consists of 8 songs plus one instrumental intro, and is filled with simple yet effective guitar riffs, a simple yet grooving rhythm section, and simple but catchy vocals. Nothing is bad here, but nothing is outstanding either. So do not come here expecting technical prowess on any of the instruments, or complicated songwriting.

But do expect chest-pounding, fist-raising, “side-by-side-to-glory” attitude. At least partly. The strong side of SINSID is clearly the love for catchy anthems, and they manage to do that fairly well for the most part. The first two tracks Enter the Gates and Fighting With Fire pull that off exceedingly well, having me bob my head with a stupid grin on my face. Hail to the Gods then shifts gears a bit, almost sounding a bit like a bluesy version of an Amon Amarth song, but without any of the death metal ingredients, yet with another catchy shout-along chorus. After that the album looses steam for me, with Point of No Return starting off as the token ballad, with cheesy acoustic guitars that could have been taken from the softer moments of an Iced Earth record. Unfortunately the song does not develop into anything interesting, instead meanders around a bit, before finally just being over. Track number 6, titled 666, also does not spark any fires of excitement. Thankfully the record gets better towards the end again, with Dawn of Night and Roll the Dice leading up to a really fun, designed-to-be-performed-live song Freedom of the Sea, including a “oh-ah-oh-wah-oh” chant, that works really well as an album-closer, leaving you with pleasant memories.

Enter the Gates is not going to win any awards for originality, and SINSID are probably not the first, last or best band ever to play this type of classic heavy metal. But the catchy choruses of the songs had a high hitrate of sticking with me, and I can guarantee that I would be chanting each one of them in front of the stage on a festival, waving my beer with one hand and drunkenly hugging my friends with the other hand. SINSID is the type of band I would definitely have fun seeing live, and I hope I will get the chance to at some point. Until then, Enter the Gates will be one of my guilty pleasures that gets put on to raise some hammers, standards and spirits, to unite some brothers in steel – and then ride side by side to glory!

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