KK's PRIEST- Sermons of the Sinner
EX1 Records
So do I have to explain this band? OK I will, so years ago KK Downing, guitarist and founder of JUDAS PRIEST, left his long time band. He was suppose to have retired from music. Well not for long because here we have his new solo band. Obviously KK is not done with his former band. Duh! Now to those who are in the know yeah KK is doing his thing which is all PRIEST related and has Tim Ripper Owens on vocals. Les Binks was supposed to be on drums but had to drop out because of health issues. So basically you already get the idea that KK wants to continue on in the mode of his old band.
Now when the band came out with a teaser song/video from the album a few months ago I, as well as everyone else, gave it a listen. After hearing that cut I kinda thought that KK and company were going to revisit PRIEST's Jugulator/Demolition days aka: The Ripper era. But after giving this album a few listens I can say that's not the case, completely. Actually after two listens to Sermons of the Sinner I was not happy with it at all. But I figured lets give it another shot. So I spent two more days playing it before and after work. From that I can say there's some cool things about it as well as the same things I don't care for.
So as for the good things about this album. Sermons of the Sinner is/sounds like a PRIEST album. KK is/was the riff master from that band and on this album he shows it. Then again what else would you expect? After a retro 80's style intro titled "Incarnation", it's KK kicking things off with a signature whammy bar wail which kicks into the opening track “Hellfire Thunderbolt”. Now regardless of the tracks on here, I hear a lot of 70's and 80's era PRIEST style riffs. Of course there's some songs on here which remind ya of PRIEST's post 80's output. The title track could've been an outtake from Painkiller.
Some other highlights on here consist of the amazing solos by A.J. Mills. Plus KK gets to cut his teeth as well. Then of course there's Tim "Ripper" Owens whose vocals are always good. He's probably happy to get a paying/playing gig and out of his bar. As far as the rhythm section goes, Sean Elg's drum work is steady 70's/80's style with a flair touch here and there. Bassist Tony Newton is also playing it the same but adding a few runs when he can. So yeah that's all the good stuff.
So what is there not to like? Well this album is missing three things. Those three things are Ian Hill, Glenn Tipton and Rob Halford. Be that as it may KK is without his best co-songwriter Glen Tipton so there are some songs which have totally fucked up structures. Remember Nostradamus, well yeah some of that crap is on here. Next up is Ripper, sure you're not Halford and you'll never be. But when you're Ripper and thinking you're still in ICED EARTH you're not that fun to hear.
So that's my not so humble opinion on Sermons of the Sinner. Half of it is decent while the other parts are horrible but there's sections which try to bring it up to stuff. So KK Downing's debut is a worth while release for any PRIEST fan from the old days. But for some strange reason I wanna listen to Turbo. I'll give it a decent because it's a debut. A friend of mine called it a demo for PRIEST in order to let KK back in the band. I doubt that will happen but ya never know.
LISTEN HERE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkcrWhGyZFs
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