Sister are a band wholly unique among their contemporaries in the Swedish sleaze metal scene, I’d even say they are a band unique in the rock scene worldwide period. Over the course of the last four albums and their debut EP they’ve crafted a sound that while rooted in Sleaze metal also bears strong influences from black metal and punk, It’s the unusual combination of those styles that makes Sister such a stand out band. Their songs are hard hitting, High energy assaults on the senses that will have you screaming for more.
The Way We Fall marks Sister’s fifth full length album and this is hands down one of their best records, Everything that makes this band great is on full display here.
The title track gets the album off to a roaring start with what has become one of my favorite songs this band has ever recorded, An organ plays with some choral vocals over it which becomes the backdrop to the vicious and energetic, Hard hitting assault that follows. The band is in top form here, Playing furious and always with a great sense of rhythm, Singer Jamie Anderson delivering his signature screams like a banshee and delivering a chorus that I have no doubt will be a massive hit at their concerts. He has in my opinion one of the most unique voices in the rock scene today. This is a hard rocking track that definitely deserves being the albums namesake.
Things don’t slow down on the next track either as “Howling Hell” delivers another absolute belter, This one really shows their point of origin musically, The bones of this song owe a lot to the Swedish sleaze scene and you can hear traces of Crashdiet and Hardcore Superstar on this one and that’s just great company to be in.
“Tanz Der Toten” (Google translated this to mean The Dance Of Death for anyone interested) keeps the momentum going and has a great guitar solo from guitarist Axl Ludwig.
“Blood Sacrifice” slows the tempo by a hair in the verses before going into a great energetic chorus, The riffs in this song are fantastic and i can’t compliment Cari Crow enough on his drumming on this record.
The wild card here is “Let Me Be Your Demon” which is a power ballad. Jamie sings a duet with Swedish pop star Linda Varg, a melancholy guitar melody plays as Jamie softly sings the verses before returning to his more aggressive voice in the chorus which seems like an odd pairing because this song is a little more in the realm of what Seether did with Amy Lee when they recorded “Broken” only less grungy. Linda comes in at the second verse and at times she sounds like Amy Lee if I’m being honest.
It’s a good song, it’s well written and played, I just heard way too much of this sort of thing in the early 2000’s to the point that it doesn’t do much for me in all honesty.
“Blinded And Buried” gets things back on track with the sort of music I really love from this band, Another energetic rocker that kicks your ass and leaves you coming back for more. This just hammers the whole way through, A killer chorus semi reminiscent of Hardcore Superstar by way of the heavier style of this band, Charging riffs, Pounding drums, and a great guitar solo. Easily one of the best songs on the album.
“Rose Red” is straight up hardcore punk and Swedish sleaze perfectly fused, An absolutely furious song.
“Die To Live” leans further into metal in the verses but the chorus has traces of Crashdiet in it.
“Mortal Sin” starts out with a cool synthesizer sounding effect before going into the heavy riffs, Aside from Jamie’s voice there’s a little more black metal influence on this track and that element has always been one of the parts to this band sound that makes them stand out. This one stands apart from the rest of their heavier songs as being a bit different and it works well.
“When She Dies” ends the album on a powerful note, this is lush and vicious. It’s atmospheric, Full of powerful riffs, great leads, and powerful vocals from Jamie.
What a KILLER record! Easily one of the years best and at this point for me as a fan it’s tied with Hated for my favorite album by them, Time will tell which one wins out but I have been listening to this a lot lately and it hasn’t gotten old.
If you’re looking for something more than just a good rock album and really want something bare knuckled and hard hitting, A riot in sonic form, Something that will lay you out and have you coming back for more then this is the record for you. Sister are nothing if not consistent, They aren’t really reinventing the wheel here and they don’t need to, Every fan of hard rock should be checking out this band.
9/10
