Prior to getting this album to review, the only thing I knew about Jaded Heart was that they were the opening act at Firefest in Nottingham later this month.  So I was quite surprised to learn that these German rockers have in fact been going since the early 90s, and “Sinister Mind” is their 8^th studio album. 

Jaded Heart are described as melodic rock, and if the band are to be pigeonholed then they would fall under this category.  However, they claim that with this album (the second with Johan Fahlberg on vocals) they have explored more musical varieties than ever before and you notice straight away that there is a lot going on with their music.   

The first few songs “Heroes”, “Justice Is Deserved” & “Sinister Mind” all have a certain feel to them, quality opening guitar riffs then powerful vocals taking over before the big sing-a-long choruses with the guitars picking up again later, to say that it is formulaic would be wrong, it’s more that they just have similarities.  The vocals in particular bring a certain amount of power metal to their sound, almost like a more mellow “Firewind”, this form of melodic power rock works very well and is a great way to start the album. 

The fourth song “Going Under” starts with a chorus of backing vocals before the guitars kick in, again the music slows for the singing and if there is a downside to the album so far, it is that you sometimes want the music to stay fast paced with the singing complementing it rather than replacing it.  This song gets better and better as it goes along and you can detect a certain amount of “Savatage” in the guitar work and the layered vocals. 

“See the Light” sees a slight shift to the pattern of the previous songs with the music still going strong when the vocals kick in, and it works brilliantly.  On the other hand “Open Your Eyes” has a much more traditional melodic rock feel, and although it is not my favourite, it is the song that gets stuck in my head.

“My Eager’s Red” and “Always On My Mind” slip back to the style of the opening tracks with the latter worthy of note with it’s very catchy chorus. 

“Heavenly Devotion” again brings something new to the album, the tune is very reminiscent of “Beautiful Creatures”, so much so that you almost expect “Joe LeSte” to break into song.  Again they shift their focus and manage to mould a classic dirty/glam rock tune together with some big choruses which works to create, in my opinion, the best song on the album.  

The remaining three songs, while possibly not as strong as others, and maybe not offering anything different, are quality songs that bring to a close a very good album.  

Jaded Heart have managed to create a great, modern sounding, melodic rock album with a heavy edge to it.  I recommend that if you are going to Firefest you get there early enough to catch them as they could very well be one of the highlights.

Let us know your views on Sinister Mind

 Track Listing

Hero
Justice Is Deserved
Sinister Mind
Going Under
See The Light
Open Your Eyes
My Eager's Red
Always On My Mind
Heavenly Devotion
To Please And Give In
Hellucinate
Crush That Fear

Line Up

Axel Kruse - Drums
Henning Wanner - Keyboards
Johan Fahlberg - Vocals
Michael Muller - Bass
Peter Ostros - Guitars