Toronto's Sin Dealer arose from the ashes of other Toronto bands such as Sea Of Green, Plasma Blast, Sons Of Otis and Edwin And The Pressure. The idea was to make music that was satisfying to them and not to succumb to making music just to attract record company interest. With many years experience and over a hundred different releases among the groups four members, Sin Dealer is a chance for a bunch of friends to make music together that they all enjoy. This new album Dying To Live is the follow up to the band's debut album "13" from 2004 and was recorded in a 110 year old converted farmhouse now known as Escarpment studios just to try to get the same "vibe" as bands like Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin did in the 70's by recording in similar locations.

The sound of Sin Dealer is really just no nonsense, street level, blue collar heavy rock/metal that owes a lot to greats like Black Sabbath and Motorhead as well as incorporating the newer and more modern edge of bands like Down and Corrosion Of Conformity. Tracks like Lying To Myself and Got Into You, feature booming, heavy Sabbath style riffs as well as an angry and more modern Al Jourgenssen (Ministry)/ Rob Zombie-like vocal by vocalist Eric Kuthe. Crushing heaviness is attained with drop D tuning on tracks like Gasoline and Going Down; adding more of a classic Sabbath feel with the guitar riffs. Betrayal offers up more of a diving tempo with some of the "stoner" vibe of Down and COC with atmospheric interludes to break things up quite nicely. The title track Dying To Live balances a slower hypnotic vibe with clean guitar and vocal with booming heaviness for the chorus section. The speed and recklessness of Magic Women gives it more of a punk vibe with some solid lead guitar work and it's easy to see both the punk and Motorhead influences on this one. An interesting cover of AC/DC's Walk All Over You in drop D tuning is included here and it gets the full Sin Dealer treatment. The album finishes with a strange, atmospheric and ethereal track entitled Devil's War. Definitely an anti-war anthem, the slow hypnotic tempo, use of tape loops and the whispery spoken word vocal give it eerie almost black metal like qualities.

This album is being released independently (like their "13") album and should appeal to fans of very street-wise modern hard rock/heavy metal. Although the same vocal style gets a bit monotonous, the band breaks things up with some very different sounding tracks showing that they have a message to their music and are not all about punishing the listener with heavy riffs all the time. They are a staple in the live scene in and around the Toronto area and are opening for W.A.S.P. at the Phoenix Concert Theatre this Thursday, Feb. 28th in Toronto. If you're going to that show, show up early and be sure to check these guys out.

For some song samples, check out their MySpace page