Swedish Sleaze Metal Strikes Again.
Perhaps it's no mistake that the Swedish Sleaze Metal quartet Sister share their name with a now defunct late-70's metal outfit which brought members of W.A.S.P, New York Dolls and Motley Crue together. That's exactly what they sound like.
Wait a minute, I see what they did there. It's all part of the sneakiest musical rebrand in history. Sleaze Metal is just another way for you to say 'Glam Metal' without looking like you secretly wear leopard print spandex, faded denim and listen to Def Leppard in your spare time. All the hallmarks are apparent in "Hated". The riffs that borderline Arena Rock and Psychotic Thrash? Check. Vocals that switch from wail to snarl to harmonising chorus? Check. That over the top balls-to-the-wall attitude? Check, Check and Check. They've even written a ballad for this album. A god damn rock ballad. I haven't heard a new one of those in years. Giving a statement on the band's general outlook, this is what they had to say,
"We do what we want both with our music and in our lives. If you have a problem with it, well that's your fuckin' problem. That's one thing that drives this band, to show people that you don't have to follow in line all of the time. And we kinda just like to piss people off. Ha!" So there you have it, they kinda just like to piss people off. Except their music has the exact opposite effect. Their fuck-you attitude seen in songs like "Bullshit & Backstabbing" and "Motherfuckers (Like You)" is more endearing than anything else.
It's always been hard to describe Glam Metal. Glam Metal is Glam metal and it's sounded the same since the 80's, except black is now the only colour in the Glam Metal canon and leopard print spandex has become unacceptable because it might scare all of the children away. For me at least, Sister's music conjures up images of the hair metal bands cock-walking across the stage on Sunday afternoon television. I hate to compare bands to other bands but sometimes that's the only way to do it. Think about a toned down version of Avenged Sevenfold with a little Poison or Cinderella thrown into the mix and that's what you get with "Hated."
Overall, Sister are the kind of band that embody the indulgent cock rock and emerging glam metal of the 80's both in musical style and everyday swagger, producing in "Hated" an album which is both a snapshot of Sister's outlook and a marker to show where Glam Metal stands as of 2011. Oh, and their guitarist is called 'Lestat.' Make of that what you will.