Mad Sin

Survival Of The Sickest (2002)

Yeeeehaaaaa! After a long long time of waiting the new Mad Sin album is finally here and won't leave my CD Player anytime soon. Well, what can i say… it was well worth to wait for this album!!! In my opinion it is better than the previous one, kinda back to the psychobilly roots and closer to "God Save The Sin" than to "Sweet And Innocent". It's not a copy of any of their previous stuff though, Mad Sin obviously doesn't stand still and knows how to develope their style and to add elements to their music without getting too far away from their very own unique sound.

This album is the first one featuring Tex Morton (ex- Sunny Domestosz, ex- Lolitas) on second guitar, and he definitely makes them sound fuller and even more powerful. He not only fits into the band musically but also personally which is extremely important for a band like Mad Sin.

The album starts with "Communication Breakdown", a song about unity and a perfect starter for the record. Nick 13 of Tiger Army did the background vocals for this song, and they fit in very well. The song is fast and driven by a good dose of punk rock energy mixed with the typical Mad Sin sound, and features Holly's characteristic slap bass. This song is already a highlight at their live shows which is quite unusual for a song that's yet to be released. The song is followed by "Revenge", a fast psychobilly song with a nice sing-a-long chorus. Typical psycho harmonies are played high speed and together with the hard slapping bass this should make a wrecking pit filler…

The song "Sin Is Law" has creepy guitars and a skaish rythm. As many songs on the album the lyrics are not fictional but describe something out of the real Mad Sin life - in this case an aftershow hotel party situation (Schweinfurt!!!). What follows is a tribute to the old punk rock heroes like Johnny Thunders, Stiv Bators, Dead Boys and the likes. This song was originally done by Demolition 23, and Mad Sin added a good dose of Rockabilly to it - a song that brings you in a real party mood! After that the first (and only) ballad of the album comes, and this has to be one of my favorite songs of the album. "1000 Eyes" is a psychobilly ballad with a graveyard atmosphere which reminds me of earlier Nekromantix stuff, and i could listen to it all day and night. Very very good. The album goes on with "Conquer The World" which mixes a stomping psychobilly beat with punk rock attitude. It contains Mad Sin's typical breaks from very fast to slow and vice versa and goes straight forward. "Sweet Caroline" is a fast song about a girl that gets abused by her dad while everybody looks away, and finally takes revenge.

The next song "Psycho Sideshow" is a "typical" Mad Sin song with Misfits-alike background vocals. It also could have been on the God Save The Sin album since it's close to its style. The song is inspired by the movie "Freaks" from 1932. "Love Is Dead" is a song about lost love, and has a cool sing-a-long chorus. "Where The Wild Things Are" is another dance floor filler, a cool psychobilly stomper with slower parts to pick up the injured wreckers from the floor. If you wanna stay in the wrecking pit during a complete Mad Sin gig you need a lot of energy, especially if they would play just this album…

"She's So Bad It's Good" is a song that pays tribute to BAD girls - again we have a catchy chorus that makes you wanna jump around and against a wall or something. It's almost impossible to sit still while listening to this record… well, not almost. It is impossible. After this song Mad Sin show with "Senseless Species" that it's possible to play really really fast without just building up a wall of noise. Again there are some slower parts included to give the wrecking pit victims a chance to escape… "Danger Zone" is some kind of modern version of the all time classic "The Walltown", not musically but lyricwise. The lyrics are about living in Berlin during the early eighties and the song has a very catchy chorus. This is definitely another favorite track on the album!

For the hangover the day after there's "Delirium" which will wake you up again. A song about drinking… and drinking… and more drinking… and forgetting about tommorrow. "Bloody Monday" is a song about the sickness of society and going insane. This song is inspired by the Littleton massacre and the recent things going on in germany make it a very topical. After that it's unfortunately already time for the last song…. "Class War Path" starts with Holly's bass and turns into a fast psychobilly song with some metal-like breaks. Towards the end the song turns around and becomes a sing-a-long punk rock piece.

This album is really satisfying, and at no time i felt like skipping a song - actually i just wanna listen to it again when it's finished, and i have to force myself to put in another CD once in a while. Mad Sin prove with their 8th album they're still not running out of ideas after playing for 15 years, and to see they are still not getting tired, you have to see them live. The album is very well produced and shows that Mad Sin are still one of THE top bands of the scene!

By the way, the new Mad Sin website has all lyrics of the album and liner notes by singer Köfte for every song, so check it out!