What is pretty much impressive is the amount of hitsingles that can be found on "Songs For The Sinners". The band said themselves that they had several potential songs to be the first single. This already begins with the first track, 'Colder', which was already played live at summer festivals in 2004 as it was the first one that was written for this CD. For the listener it is easy to get into the album through this song as it already creates a certain gloomy atmosphere and combines lots of the elements on the album in it. Without any doubts 'Colder' is one of the best tracks on this album. However, one of my personal favorites is the next one 'Deep Water'. Basically everything is perfect here. Musically it reminds me a bit of the style on their previous release, and the chorus is amazing. As mentioned earlier you can hear the freshness of the album here. Another "hit" song that could be added to this row is called 'Rain'. Once the song has build up you cannot stop it anymore and here we have another very catchy chorus along with nice melodies. I suppose this track would be a good one to be played live as well. The fourth and last "hit" in my list is of course 'Ride On Tears', the single which hit the official Finnish single charts on #2 already. This is without a doubt the most bombastic track on the album and I would even say it's one of the best songs the guys have ever written. With 'Air' we have something which can be seen as a split between the first and the second part of the album. It is a dark ballad in the style of 'Sorrowsong' which is in my eyes the most beautiful Charon-ballad ever. 'Air' is again a duet between J-P and Jenny, and the abovementioned cello, a piano and drums are the only instruments used in this pretty slow and calm song. Of course this track is a big contrast to the other ones of the album but it also proves again that these guys are able to write many different pieces of music. Something very different we have also with 'Bullet'. It is more aggressive and probably also heavier than the other songs and includes a couple of the new elements. In the intro we can hear the cello again and there's also a Hammond-solo played by Kari Tornack (Thunderstone). For me it took a while to get into this piece but eventually the chorus was able to convince me nevertheless.

'Rust' and 'Gray' are two rather mediocre songs among the hits on this album. Of course they have pretty decent choruses again but compared to the first half of the album, they just aren't as good in my eyes (or ears). However, they don't pull the high level down which we have on this CD. Though every album has to have something as a weakest song and for me this is 'She Hates'. It opens up the second half of "Songs For The Sinners" after 'Air' but can't convince me as much as the other songs. Everything has an end and this album ends quite epic with 'House Of The Silent' where the cello appears as well for the last time. A rather slow and calm track again and it reminds me a bit of '4 Seasons Rush' from "Tearstained". There was no better song to finish Charon's new album with and the vocals are just perfect here. After some 5 minutes the track fades quietly but yet melodic into something silent. I like this kind of end pretty much as it gives the song another dramatic touch.

To end this all - thanks for making this album. Even though "Songs For The Sinners" can offer a couple of very well-composed and catchy songs it still lacks something to get the 10/10. Still I guess I have a new favorite Charon-album :)

written by Silence

Playing time: 43.15