Wages of Sin

 

Wages of Sin was released in 2002

Track Listing:

Disk 1:

1.   Enemy Within

2.   Burning Angel

3.   Heart of Darkness

4.   Ravenous

5.   Savage Messiah

6.   Dead Bury Their Dead

7.   Web of Lies

8.   The First Deadly Sin

9.   Behind the Smile

10. Snow Bound

11. Shadows and Dust

12. Lament of a Mortal Soul

Disk 2 (Rare Tracks):

1. Starbreaker (Judas Priest cover)

2. Aces High (Iron Maiden cover)

3. Scream of Anger (Europe cover)

4. Diva Satanica

5. Fields of Desolation '99

6. Damnation's Way

7. Hydra

Genre: Melodic Death Metal 

Out with Liiva and in with Gossow.  From what I gather he was let go because his vocals were one dimensional and his live show was meh.  I agree with the former, his vocals sucked at times but he was getting better with each release.  Burning Bridges he was actually real good.  But, it was the right choice because Gossow blows him out of the water.

I bought this CD from Exclusive Company because of how much I loved Anthems of Rebellion and Doomsday Machine.  And honestly, this might be better than those.  Less polished (which is good) this album might be Arch Enemy's crowing achievement.

Enemy Within - what a great build up, fun way to start the album.  Production is a little thin, could use a bit more bass, but its not terrible.  Angela immediately stands out, such and improvement.  Her addition fixes the problems that the verses had before because her voice is so much more interesting. 

Burning Angel - Starts off with one of Arch Enemy's signature riffs.  Almost vocal in expression.  The verse showcases Gossows vocal abilities, swapping between low and high pitch screams.  Excellent solos as well.  No surprise there

Heart of Darkness - Fun little intricate riff to open the song.  Definitely a slower song but in an excellent way.  They'll do more of this pace for Doomsday Machine but for now this it a good change of pace after the two fast songs to open up

Ravenous - Probably the biggest hit on the album.  Blistering riffs, excellent vocals.  Just an all around banger 

Savage Messiah - Similar in style to Heart of Darkness.  Slower pace, an almost sung chorus.  Not my favorite song on the album, but fine in its own right.  Maybe a bit too long

Dead Bury Their Dead - Fast paced song, no slow down just all speed.  The tapping section in the solo is fun.  Not a super memorable song but not bad

Web of Lies - I dont care for the verses here.  The palm muted chugging just doenst pair well with the vocals.  The chorus is decent but ends too soon.  The pre-chorus is good, I really like how this sounds, but they switched away too soon.  Too many ideas left half thought out here

The First Deadly Sin - I like the riffs in this one, they're great.  This one is more similar to Dead Bury Their Dead.  Fast paced song that doesn't relent.  

Behind the Smile - Another slower song.  The intro riff is chunky as hell and excellent.  Thr vocal effect didn't hold up well, feels kinda dated, but the chorus is excellent and the solo is very emotive.

Snow Bound - Instrumental break.  Probably my favorite one up to this point

Shadows & Dust - Yeah this one rips.  Great riffs, great vocal performance, excellent solo.  The outro, croaky Shadows and Dust is a little dumb but fun

Lament of a Mortal Soul - Great chorus, I love the riff, awesome solo.  Verses are decent, not great.  Good album closer

Now, I own the 2 disk bonus version, so here's reviews for the extras

Starbreaker - Judas Priest cover - I love Starbreaker, its an excellent Judas Priest song.  Its jarring switching here because disk 2 is all Liiva material.  This cover though isn't great.  Liiva just doenst have the range to pull this off, kinda reminds me of that god awful Six Feet Under cover aluminum of Judas Priest songs

Aces High - Iron Maiden cover - Same version as on Black Earth

Scream of Anger - Europe Cover - I've never heard the Europe song before so I check that out first and I honestly prefer the AE version.  Liiva cant do Europe's vocals but his screams work well here

Diva Satanica - B-side/bonus track from Stigmata.  Im not sure how this got cut from the album its excellent. Great riffs, decent vocals.  

Fields of Desolation '99 - Im not quite sure what this is.  A re-recording of Fields of Desolation (from Black Earth) for Burning Bridges?  Either way it was excellent on Black Earth and sounds even better here, Liiva really nails it

Damnation's Way - Bonus track from Stigmata - This should never have been put after Fields of Desolation, its no match.  Liiva sounds like he's barely keeping up and the song is just meh.   But, unsurprisingly, the solo rips

Hydra - Bonus track from Stigmata - Weird little song here.  Not sure if it adds anything.  Could have been a cool interlude somewhere but as a closer it just doenst work.  But this is just bonus tracks so NBD

Overall 6 green songs, no red (I'm ignoring the bonus songs).  An excellent album and a great introduction to Angela Gossow.  There's some rough parts, the production sucks and they have some gimmicky effects in places, but as a whole, this is the best they've sounded.  

4/5