Sin

Sin is the hard-rock album that lets you take in head-on the crying expression of Adrian Vandenberg’s guitar and the persuasiveness of thick riffs. The fifth full-length, following the 2020 comeback, it was released on Mascot in 2023. The vocals passed to Mats Levén (ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, Candlemass), with Koen Herfst (drums) and Randy van der Elsen (bass) holding the rhythm. Bob Marlette again produced. On the racing “Thunder and Lightning” and the low-slung “House on Fire,” Adrian picks only the notes needed to support the vocal melody, then opens up space in the solos. That ebb and flow gives the songs a classic dignity. The seven-minute title track “Sin” carries a Led Zeppelin-like heft, while the ballad “Baby You've Changed” and others wear the strong color of Whitesnake, the band Adrian belonged to. Rather than flashy ornament, it plays through the bond of guitar, voice and rhythm. The sharks from Heading for a Storm return on the cover — a record that eases traditional European hard rock into modern sound.