SIN DEALER
Dying To Live (self-released) Fall 2007
www.myspace.com/sindealer
Dealers are purveyors of what you really desire. Pushers, on the other hand, force you to take what they have. In a music industry accused of pushing the latest trend and focusing on replicating the current fad there is at least one band focused on dealing in their own niche. Sin Dealer are providing real rock fans what they truly desire, their sophomore opus Dying To Live.
The Toronto, Ontario based quartet was born out of the ashes of the likes of Sea Of Green, Sons of Otis, Plasma Blast and Edwin & The Pressure in 2005. Eric Kuthe, vocals; Jeff Zurba, drums; Frank Sergeant, bass; and Ron Bechard, guitar, came together with a true sense of musical duty in an effort to make the music they loved without the expectation of a label. With over 100 different releases under their collective belts, one might surmise the veteran atmosphere allows for some unique interplay. As Kuthe explains, “This is a collection of all we’ve seen, tasted, smelled and felt over the years,… and ended up being a collaboration between a bunch of buddies that just ‘get’ the music together.”
The range of influences expresses itself from the big riff rock to the underpinned blues vibe. “We aren’t pegged as any one genre, it's windows down, peddle to the metal cruising music,” says Bechard. That shows forth from the opening guitar lines through the closing notes as the album pumps out a blue-collar work ethic and a classic vibe. From AC/DC to Elvis, from KISS to Johnny Cash, from Motorhead to Alice In Chains, Sin Dealer draws from the influences of those paramount artists that understood what being a true entertainer really was.
“Bands used to be these untouchable entities and that is what we aspire to,” tells Kuthe. “The atmosphere of a bygone day of pure rock and roll the way it was meant to be, stripped down and raw.” The unmitigated power of what Sin Dealer aspire to shines forth on their latest offering.
The record encompasses that timeless feel right down to the way it was laid down as drummer Zurba imparts, “We recorded in a 110-year-old converted farmhouse in a small town 1 1/2 hours outside of Toronto. The one memory in particular was when we were all in the main tracking room with the 60-foot cathedral ceiling and views out over the farm fields. This fog had drifted in; it was winter - January - so the trees were bare and it was reminiscent of the music we envisioned in our youth and how classics like Zep and Sabbath probably recorded.”
Recording at Escarment Sound was not the only throwback Sin Dealer undertook. “There was no pressure on us to accomplish anything, we just went in and jammed,” Sergeant explains. “We weren’t afraid to just try things… to just be spontaneous as a bunch of friends sharing ideas with one another and find a common ground to make us happy.” This element allows for the band to accomplish a pure sound out of their efforts.
Sin Dealer’s sophomore experience is a balance of the heavy and the melodic, the raunchy and the passionate, the reality of life and the roots of rock and roll. It really will leave you dying to live.
- written by Eric doormouse Peltier.
