Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Jaded Heart
Label: Frontiers Records
Released: 2007
Running time: 54.57
Rating: 4.5/5
Jaded Heart are back with a new album, “Sinister Mind” (2007), their second since Michael Bormann left. The brilliant “Helluva Time” (2005) proved the guys can easily shred without that great singer. Of course, the band’s sound didn’t stay untouched. It’s gotten heavier, more direct and a touch darker, and with this record Jaded Heart edge even closer to the sound of the Scandinavian melodic hard rock bands.
The atmosphere on “Sinister Mind” feels even more tragic and gloomy, and with it Jaded Heart have thrown down an album with the heaviest sound of their career so far. Since there was yet another lineup change on the new record, Jaded Heart have turned even more Scandinavian thanks to newcomer Peter Östros. He comes straight out of the true-believer Scandinavian school of electric guitar mastery, so Norum/Malmsteen-style classical shred solos are no longer a rarity in Jaded Heart. Östros plays guitar in the Swedish power metal outfit Insania, so it’s no wonder Jaded Heart have steeled their new face a bit.
Jaded Heart keep the melody level high throughout “Sinister Mind” too. The music has turned mostly dark, thanks to the increasingly loud production on the guitar riffs and especially to the vocals of Johan Fahlberg, who is nowhere near as sugary, Jovi-esque – Bormann-style. The lyrics are a lot more personal compared to “Helluva Time”, and this time the band didn’t allow itself to slip in a cover, like Paid My Dues (orig. Anastasia) on “Helluva Time”. Also interesting is the total subordination of Henning Wanner’s keyboards, something we’re not used to from Jaded Heart. The riffs literally devour the keyboards, which lurk well hidden in the background of a sound built mostly on guitar riffs.
The album offers 11 tracks marked once again by an enviable variety of the basic musical motifs driving the songs. In line with their own well-known musical heritage and expression, the band naturally keeps working hard on big choruses, melodically front and center and, with a dash of obligatory polished bombast, shamelessly flourishing all over the record. “Sinister Mind” opens with the straight-ahead rocker Hero, which instantly shows off the band’s well-honed feel for building atmospheric, dynamic contrasts in motifs that flow seamlessly into one another. The band shapes this contrast twist between chorus and pre-chorus especially effectively in the American-sounding Heavenly Devotion. With Justice Is Deserved the band steps even harder on the gas, while the title track, with one of the album’s best choruses, and Going Under thoroughly twist the atmosphere into something dark and almost chilling. The choruses of Open My Eyes and My Eager’s Red carry a special Scandi – melancholic touch. The pre-chorus of My Eager’s Red leans toward the pre-chorus melody of Queensryche’s The Mission, but the atmosphere, rhythm and of course the production are completely different here. Only the sharpest ears will catch this purely coincidental, fleeting resemblance. The album closes with the punchy Hellucinate, whose chorus is made for seducing arena crowds, and the moody mini-epic Crush That Fear, one of the album’s melodic songwriting peaks.
With “Sinister Mind” Jaded Heart still sound fresh and inspired. They keep crafting polished, compact songs loaded with melody and atmosphere. The sound has now become very organic compared to the AOR Bormann-era output. The energy has changed, and the sound and style have too, to a degree, but Jaded Heart have kept all the important qualities that made them a highly regarded melodic hard rock band. “Sinister Mind” is another excellent album from the band.
Lineup
Johan Fahlberg – vocals
Peter Oestros – guitar
Henning Wanner – keyboards
Michael Mueller – bass
Axel Kruse – drums
Production
Chris Lausmann & Michael Voss
Tracklist
1. Hero
2. Justice Is Deserved
3. Sinister Mind
4. Going Under
5. See the Light
6. Open Your Eyes
7. My Eager’s Red
8. Always on My Mind
9. Heavenly Devotion
10. To Please and Give In
11. Hellucinate
12. Crush That Fear
