Sinner is a German
heavy metal band formed by vocalist and bassist
Mat Sinner
Mat Sinner (born Matthias Lasch; 16 October 1964 in Stuttgart, West Germany) is a bassist, vocalist, and record producer from Stuttgart, Germany.
Sinner has been involved in numerous bands and projects throughout his musical career. His main ...
in 1982 (who later joined
Primal Fear). They were part of the
German heavy/speed/power metal scene. Their latest album, ''Brotherhood'', was released on 15 July 2022.
History
![MatSinner2019](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/MatSinner2019.jpg)
Based in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Germany, Sinner released their first album, ''Wild'n'Evil'' in 1982.
This album, along with the next two (''Fast Decision'' and ''Danger Zone'') were raw affairs, having little in common with the melodic metal they would later become known for.
After many personnel changes (including drummer Edgar Patrik leaving to join
Bonfire
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used either for informal disposal of burnable waste material or as part of a celebration.
Etymology
The earliest recorded uses of the word date back to the late 15th century, with the Catho ...
), the band saw the addition of
Accept
Accept may refer to:
* Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc.
* Accept (band), a German heavy metal band
** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979
* ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970
* ACCEPT (or ...
's
Herman Frank
Herman Frank (born 20 January 1959) is a German heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Accept and Victory. In 2009, he released his first solo album called ''Loyal to None''. Frank has also recorded with Hazzard, Sinner, Moon'Doc, ...
on guitars and the release of ''Touch of Sin'' in 1985. Frank would leave before the next album, 1986's ''
Comin' Out Fighting
Sinner is a German Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed by vocalist and bassist Mat Sinner in 1982 (who later joined Primal Fear (band), Primal Fear). They were part of the Music of Germany#Metal, German heavy/speed/power metal scene. Th ...
'',
with future
U.D.O.
U.D.O. is a German heavy metal band founded by lead vocalist Udo Dirkschneider in 1987.
History
Following Udo Dirkschneider's departure from Accept in 1987, he formed his own band called U.D.O. He recruited guitarists Mathias Dieth and Peter ...
guitarist Mathias Dieth replacing him.
1987 saw the release of ''Dangerous Charm'', a much more melodic album than previous efforts, but shortly after this the band lost their recording contract,
took a break and would not be heard of again for five years.
In 1990, Mat Sinner released a solo album called ''Back to the Bullet'' on BMG with a completely new band. Three members of the Mat Sinner band reformed Sinner and released ''No More Alibis'' in 1992, an album far heavier than anything Sinner had released before. This renewed vigour coupled with songwriting that far exceeded the band's previous releases not only carried on but strengthened with ''Respect'' in 1994 and ''Bottom Line'' in 1995, the latter staying in the Japanese national charts for five weeks. Since the reformation the band's reputation had improved immensely, touring as support for bands such as
Mr. Big and
Savatage
Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed thei ...
as well as headlining their own German tour and releasing a live album. Sinner were to reach even higher peaks though, releasing two hugely successful albums with ''Judgement Day'' in 1997 and ''The Nature of Evil'' in 1998 before touring Europe as support for rock giants
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...
. ''The Nature of Evil'' was the band's most successful album to date, reaching No. 63 in the German album charts.
In 1998, Mat Sinner and Tom Naumann, who had been with Sinner since their reformation in 1992 formed
Primal Fear with ex-
Gamma Ray
A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...
vocalist Ralf Scheepers. Mat Sinner has been involved as a driving force in both Sinner and Primal Fear to this day.
![Day2-5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Day2-5.jpg)
In 2000, the band saw its first line-up change in five years as several members left, including guitarist Tom Naumann while ex-
Helloween
Helloween is a German power metal band founded in 1984 in Hamburg by members of bands Iron Fist, Gentry, Second Hell and Powerfool. Its first lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Kai Hansen, bassist Markus Grosskopf, guitarist Michael Weik ...
and
Gamma Ray
A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically ...
's
Uli Kusch
Ulrich Kusch (born 11 March 1967) is a heavy metal drummer. He is best known for playing with Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses, among others. He is known for his technical style of playing, fast-paced speed metal-like rhythm, an ...
filled in on drums for ''The End of Sanctuary''. However, in 2003 the previous 1995–1999 line-up renewed itself and on 20 January 2003 released ''There Will Be Execution'' before going quiet again for four years. In the past nine years the band had released six albums, proving to be the band's most successful period. This success would continue, as after releasing two more albums with Primal Fear, an album with his pre-Sinner band Goddess Shiva and guesting on
Tribuzy
Tribuzy is a Brazilian heavy metal band fronted by Renato Tribuzy. They have toured with Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson and guitarist/producer Roy Z. A live album called ''Execution – Live Reunion'' was released in May 2007.
Members
*R ...
's debut album, Mat Sinner brought Sinner back to release ''Mask of Sanity'' in 2007. This album spawned two popular singles in "Diary of Evil" and "Black" and included a faithful rendition of
Thin Lizzy
Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...
's "Baby Please Don't Go".
Album sales
Sinner album sales have never been spectacular: it is estimated they sold less than 150,000 copies of their first three releases. The band's six and seven track albums of the 1990s, ''Respect'' and ''Bottom Line'', sold less than 200,000 combined and without any real advertising except that of word of mouth. Sinner's fourth full-length album, ''Judgement Day'', received fair reviews but again had little advertising put into it as the band spent most of its money on recording. Sinner's ''Nature of Evil'' released in 1998 proved to be the band's most successful original album with over 100,000 copies sold. ''Nature of Evil'' was advertised heavily on the internet mostly on German Music web sites.
In 1998 and 1999, Sinner released two compilation albums, the first was ''Emerald Collection'' containing many tracks from ''Danger Zone'' and ''Comin' Out Fighting''. The second compilation album, which contained three songs from ''Bottom Line'', three songs from ''Nature of Evil'', four songs from ''Judgement Day'', two from live recording and three new released songs, was called ''The Second Decade''. ''The Second Decade'' became Sinner's best selling album, most of which were bought on
eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
. ''The Second Decade'' by Sinner until 2005 was the only album available for sale on eBay and proved to be an international success. ''The Second Decade'' brought new fans to Europe primarily from Latin America, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Poland and Greece.
''The End of Sanctuary'' and ''There Will Be Execution'' are currently Sinner's only 21st century albums that entered the German album charts. After the German Top 50 album "Tequila Suicide" Sinner toured Europe, Japan and Australia. The latest Sinner album "Santa Muerte" was released via AFM Records on 13 September 2019 including the first single/video "Fiesta Y Copas" featuring Ronnie Romero of
Rainbow
A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
. Sinner has released seventeen albums and sold over a million records worldwide.
Members
Current members
*
Mat Sinner
Mat Sinner (born Matthias Lasch; 16 October 1964 in Stuttgart, West Germany) is a bassist, vocalist, and record producer from Stuttgart, Germany.
Sinner has been involved in numerous bands and projects throughout his musical career. His main ...
*
Alex Scholpp
Alex Scholpp is a German guitarist born in Stuttgart, who is known above all for his activity in the band Farmer Boys and Tarja Turunen. He also composes/plays for the bands Tieflader and Sinner. He is also a session guitar player and teach ...
*Tom Naumann
*Markus Kullmann
Former members
*Henny Wolter
*Klaus Sperling
*Frank Mittelbach
*Calo Rapallo
*Edgar Patrik
*Helmut Stoner
*Mick Shirley
*Ralf Schulz
*
Herman Frank
Herman Frank (born 20 January 1959) is a German heavy metal guitarist best known for his work with Accept and Victory. In 2009, he released his first solo album called ''Loyal to None''. Frank has also recorded with Hazzard, Sinner, Moon'Doc, ...
*Bernie van der Graaf
*Mathias Dieth
*Angel Schleifer
*
Andy Susemihl
Andy Susemihl is a German guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He began his career in the 1980s and gained international success since 1987 in hard rock bands such as U.D.O. and Sinner.
Life and career
Born and raised in German ...
*Armin Mücke
*Tommy Resch
*
Uli Kusch
Ulrich Kusch (born 11 March 1967) is a heavy metal drummer. He is best known for playing with Helloween, Gamma Ray, Masterplan and Holy Moses, among others. He is known for his technical style of playing, fast-paced speed metal-like rhythm, an ...
*Frank Roessler
*Fritz Randow
*Christof Leim
*Alex Beyrodt
*André Hilgers
Discography
Studio albums
*''Wild 'n' Evil'' (1982)
*''Fast Decision'' (1983)
*''Danger Zone'' (1984)
*''Touch of Sin'' (1985)
*''Comin' Out Fighting'' (1986)
*''Dangerous Charm'' (1987)
*''No More Alibis'' (1992)
*''Respect'' (1993)
*''Bottom Line'' (1995)
*''Judgement Day'' (1997)
*''The Nature of Evil'' (1998)
*''The End of Sanctuary'' (2000)
*''There Will Be Execution'' (2003)
*''Mask of Sanity'' (2007)
*''Crash & Burn'' (2008)
*''One Bullet Left'' (2011)
*''Touch of Sin 2'' (2013)
*''Tequila Suicide'' (2017)
*''Santa Muerte'' (2019)
*''Brotherhood'' (2022)
Live albums
*''In the Line of Fire (Live in Europe)'' (1996)
Compilation albums
*''The Best of Sinner - Noise Years'' (1995)
*''Germany Rocks - The Best of Sinner'' (1995)
*''Treasure - The Works 93-98'' (1998)
*''The Second Decade - Best of'' (Includes three new tracks) (1999)
*''Emerald - Very Best of Sinner'' (1999)
*''Jump the Gun - Collection'' (2009)
* ''No Place in Heaven the Very Best of the Noise Years 1984-1987'' (2016)
Tribute albums
*''A Tribute to Accept'' (covers "
Balls to the Wall
''Balls to the Wall'' is the fifth studio album by German heavy metal band Accept. European label Lark Records released the album in December 1983, but its United States release was delayed until a month later in January 1984 as to not compete ...
") (2000)
*''The Spirit of the Black Rose - A Tribute to Phil Lynott'' (covers "
The Sun Goes Down") (2001)
*''Emerald - A Tribute to the Wild One'' (covers "The Sun Goes Down") (2002)
*''
A Tribute to the Four Horsemen'' (covers "Wherever I May Roam") (2002)
Mat Sinner solo
*''Back to the Bullet (Mat Sinner)'' (1990)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinner
German heavy metal musical groups
German power metal musical groups
German hard rock musical groups
Musical groups established in 1982
Nuclear Blast artists
1982 establishments in Germany
AFM Records artists
Noise Records artists