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| SINTAGE - Paralyzing Chains LP | |
HRR 916LP, ltd 500, 250 x black + 250 transparent purple vinyl, insert, 2nd pressing: ltd 500, 250 x black + 250 x silver vinyl | |
| RANDY - vocals JULEZ - guitar MARCUS - bass ANDRE - drums | |
| 01 Midnight Evil 02 Spirit of the Underground 03 Venom 04 Wild Dogs 05 Escape the Scythe 06 Blazing Desaster 07 Rocking Hard 08 Flames of Sin | |
| 1st pressing: SOLD OUT! 2nd pressing: AVAILABLE | |
“I met Randy at a GBH gig in Leipzig in 2019,” explains guitarist Julez how Sintage, a young traditional heavy metal band from Germany, following in the footsteps of Teutonic upstarts like Blizzen or Stallion, were originally formed. “We got talking about rock music and decided to form our own band right there on the spot.” It was vocalist Randy bringing drummer Andi with him, Marcus took over on bass and Sintage were born. Andi was temporarily replaced by Jonas (Tension, Firmament) until Andre was found in the summer of 2021 to complete the first stable line-up of the band.
The same year a self-financed EP entitled »The Sign« was issued on tape (Alone Records from Greece later pressed vinyl and manufactured CDs). As a result, Sintage signed to High Roller Records and have just completed their first full-length album »Paralyzing Chains«. “Compared to our EP, we have definitely progressed as a band,” analyses guitarist Julez. “That’s down to the line-up changes and the number of live gigs we have played in 2022. Andi was indeed quite a good drummer but Andre is a class of his own. It’s amazing what he does behind the drum kit, and this has given us lots of new possibilities for the songwriting. That’s why compared to the EP the album is more brutish and in parts faster. But all in all we have not changed our recipe, like »The Sign« the new album is once again a mixture of traditional heavy metal and some dirty hard rock.”
“’Paralyzing Chains’ is an expression from the song ‘Venom’,” explains Julez the meaning behind the album title. “It’s about how it feels when you are bitten by a venomous snake – metaphorically speaking you are in ‘paralyzing chains’. Originally »Venom« was also a contender for the album title, but in the end we thought »Paralyzing Chains« is stronger.”
Stylistically it’s not that easy to pin down what Sintage are all about, as they are showcasing a captivating mix of classic Euro Metal, NWOBHM and 80’s US Metal. “That’s true,” confirms guitarist Julez. “I totally agree. When we originally formed, we wanted to follow the direction of W.A.S.P., Quiet Riot and The Rods but eventually the Euro Metal influence was getting more and more prominent.”
Let’s call it traditional heavy metal with some speed influences then. Strangely enough, it seems as if some classic Scandinavian metal has been thrown into the mix as well, thinking of bands like Torch or Oz. “That’s quite a cool comparison,” thinks Julez. “We have not heard that one before. But this specific influence probably comes from me listening to a lot of Swedish rock, bands like Gotham City, Rising and also newer stuff like Tyrann or Helvetets Port.”
To my ears Julez’ riffing on »Paralyzing Chains« is sometimes reminiscent of old Accept, and in fact the guitarist does not lose time confirming my impression: “Accept had this basic, reduced hard rock style, which we cherish a lot. These guys are a huge inspiration for us.”
Apart from Julez’ fine guitar playing, Randy’s individual style of singing is another trademark of the original Sintage sound. “Indeed, Randy is a fantastic singer,” beams Julez. “Right from the very first audition he had a huge impact. His voice is really raspy and raw but on the other hand also quite melodic – and that’s the perfect combination.”
“Wild Dogs” and “Rockin’ Hard” are two songs Julez likes to single out: “These are two fist-in-the-air bangers which go down very well when we play them live. For us, ‘Escape The Scythe’ is another favourite on the album, mostly because of the epic spoken word part, which has turned out really cool.”
The mentioned “Rockin’ Hard” has a slight old Angel City/AC/DC/Airbourne feel, and according to the guitarist “it’s this fiercely dirty number, AC/DC are one of the most important bands of all time, and they are a huge influence on us.”
»Paralyzing Chains« contains eight tracks all in all, and it was exactly this selection that the band recorded, with one minor exception: “Originally the last song on the record should have been a different one. But then shortly before the recordings started, I had this idea for the main riff to ‘Flames Of Sin’. Randy liked it so much that he insisted that it’s going to be the last song on the record.”
Being firmly rooted in the metal underground, Sintage penned a song called „Spirit Of The Underground”, celebrating heavy metal culture: “It’s a song about the metal scene, about the inner circle of the underground. The message is quite simple: rock till the end and live your life as an outsider of society.”
As bands like the mentioned Blizzen, Stallion or Space Chaser from Berlin prove, the current German metal underground scene has come a long way since its beginnings in the early 1980s. The quality of the music is quite astounding. Julez explains: “In the recent past lots of new bands have been formed, they are all influenced by the old legends but they make their own thing out of it. I think that’s the reason. It’s very inspiring, pushing yourself to give your very best and play honest music, without starting some kind of competition. We only want to have a good time and rock hard, and you can hear this in the sound of all these bands.”
As Sintage shows, especially in the East of Germany there’s lots of fresh new talent, Julez knows some names: “A shout goes out to our friends from Firmament, Acid Blade and Pursuit . These are all very powerful and original sounding bands. Also Leoprene from Leipzig rage.”
MATTHIAS MADER