Bottom Line

This 1995 effort I've seen get lumped in with the group's run of highly questionable hard rock output post-Touch of Sin, but in actuality, this is predominantly a heavy metal album comparable to 80's Accept and maybe some Black 'n Blue. Its drums and guitars actually sound a bit beefier than on the next full-length, and both the double bass churn and the crunchy grooves of later, more spoken of material often appear in full swing. Some very solid cuts are offered up here, and it's not hard to draw a line from this to Mat Sinner's later project Primal Fear three years later.

However, as with Sinner's late 80's/early 90's albums, the more rock stuff on Bottom Line sadly brings down the overall quality a fair amount. Now, I should note that I've always approached Sinner's stuff from the perspective of being a fan of the screaming power metal of Primal Fear first and foremost. But metal is just SO clearly what they do best and what they sound most natural at. As Empyreal touched upon in his review for the next (also somewhat transitional) album, I get heavy middle age crisis vibes from the ballads and sleazy hard rock moments. Much like Rolf from Running Wild with his side projects Toxic Taste and Giant-X (of which some influence has unfortunately crept into RW's recent stuff), it's like Mat harbors some manchild rock 'n' roll fantasy complete with chicks and money or whatever, and will from time to time give in and ignore better judgment. Their 1998-ish to 2003 era is where he most successfully kept such urges at bay (during which Primal Fear may have provided a form of therapy), resulting in the best records they ever did, before sliding right back into rockish nonsense again. To be sure, this album is way preferable to Sinner of late, but its problems are pretty clear regardless.

Highlights include high octane scorcher "Rage of a Hurricane" and the all-you-can-groove "Roses of Yesterday", the chorus of which features one of Mat's best vocal performances (it also appears on the bonus disc of There Will Be Execution in mildly retooled form). Again, Sinner's best stuff starts a couple of releases down the line, but Bottom Line is pretty cool if you want more.