LIV SIN - Follow Me (Album Review)

After the sudden, tragic, and immensely disappointing for their fans (Meister) break-up of Swedish band Sister Sin, Liv Jagrell returns! Hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, Sister Sin was a hard rock band fronted by venomous female vocalist Liv Jagrell. Together with her bandmates, founder Dave Sundberg (drums), Strandh (bass), and Jimmy Hiltula (guitars), Sister Sin issued five albums. Many of them were reviewed for Decibel Geek by The Meister, a huge fan who also interviewed Jagrell on 2 occasions. In 2015, after 13 years, Sister Sin suddenly and shockingly called it quits, leaving a gaping void for many.

Now Liv Jagrell has put together her own outfit, Liv Sin, issuing their debut, Follow Me, on April 28, 2017, via Despotz Records. Alongside Jagrell (vocals), Liv Sin features Patrick Ankermark (guitar), Chris Bertzell, (guitar), Tommie Winther (bass), and Per Bjelovuk (drums). The forthcoming Follow Me album features the recording and production talents of Fitty Weinhold (U.D.O.) and Stefan Kaufmann (ex-Accept/ex-U.D.O.).

Liv says: “For me, it has never been an option to stop singing. I live for the stage and for my fans. I still miss Sister Sin, but I am very excited to work on my own project and I can promise that it will not be some soft pop rock. This is going to be metal deluxe because that’s who I am!”

LIV SIN – Follow Me

Holy shit! Attacking with a vengeance and a forceful roundhouse kick to the package, Liv and company waste no time backing up that statement! With the aggressiveness of lead track “The Fall”, Liv displays her need to be making music and how she deserves to be on stage. The venomous vocals are forefront over pounding riffs and a song fitting solo. It’s like a heavier, thrashier Sister Sin. I may already be hearing my album of the year and it’s only track one! Thundering on with “Hypocrite”, there’s no letting off the gas as Liv beckons the listener to “…follow me into the dark...” The lead single from Follow Me, “Let Me Out” appears next and it’s an anthemic Sister Sin-ish 4 minutes of glory. Check out the advance released video below.

Liv Sin‘s Follow Me rages forward for the next 30 minutes or so to encompass 11 songs in total. Every composition is a neck-breaking headbanger to the maximum until we reach the tender ballad beginnings of closer “The Beast Inside”. Some songs, of course, shine a little more brightly to each listener than others. For me, aside from the aforementioned three, “Godless Utopia” exhibits a wicked groove and “Emperor Of Chaos” lays waste to all contenders. But there’s so much more on Follow Me. Each and every awesome track sucks in the listener just a little bit deeper.

The album surprised me during the initial playthrough when things came around to the tenth song. It’s an unexpected cover of Fight‘s “Immortal Sin” and a great job at it as well, displaying a different twist. For those unfamiliar, Fight was Rob Halford‘s band post-Judas Priest that included future Steel Panther guitarist Satchel (Russ Parish). Great song….both versions!

Final Thoughts

As with the band’s moniker, Follow Me is a hybrid amalgamation of the singer herself and her former band, Sister Sin. I see no reason that longtime fans and new alike wouldn’t highly revere this release. So far it’s clearly the album of the year for me and will take something really special to knock it off! Buy this now!