Review Summary: Seven Sisters ups the ante as it transitions from studio project to proper band.
At first glance, 2015's
Lost in Time may appear to just be a single - perhaps released as a stopgap - but is in fact one of great importance, for it is the release which inaugurated Seven Sisters as a fully-fledged band, having already raised hell and pulses alike gigging all over Britain since late 2014. First and foremost, guitarists Kyle McNeill and Graeme Farmer are now joined by a real rhythm section in bassist Adam Thorpe and drummer Steve Loftin for this release. The change most immediately apparent to the listener, though, is songwriter McNeill's decision to assume vocal duties for the foreseeable future after the departure of
The Warden vocalist Josh Winnard in August the previous year. With McNeill (who also serves as recording and mixing engineer) saddled by the burden of recording a live drummer,
Lost in Time arguably lacks the relative polish of
The Warden.
It hardly matters, though, as on this single, even the very fact that Seven Sisters exists as a band in the flesh and metal energises their sound to no end, as the A-side amply demonstrates. Buoyed by the newfound strength of the rhythm section, McNeill surprises with a charismatic, impassioned, and perhaps charmingly naïve vocal performance - arguably in the same way many NWOBHM vocalists did - while him and Farmer spit out tasty, harmonised licks and freewheeling verse riffage at the drop of a hat. Whilst Loftin makes his presence known all over this track, Thorpe's time to shine comes in the quiet bridge section, painting the backdrop to a slow harmonised solo... which, as usual for the McNeill/Farmer tandem, gives way to white-hot shredding leads. The songwriting is better this time around, too, with a genuine chorus hook that is guaranteed to generate many an earworm, and McNeill hints at his progressive inclinations (to be revealed in full on later releases) by cleverly sneaking some keyboards into the chorus for texture; that, and perhaps even more crucially, "Lost in Time" displays McNeill's newfound mythical and fantastic preoccupations. B-side "Wicked Steel", meanwhile, is a more ordinary tune, sounding more like a song from
The Warden's era, albeit performed with greater panache by the new lineup, and displaying a soon-to-be-patented McNeill songwriting device in its key change during the song's conclusion. Topped off with some seriously cool artwork by Nick Huck of Pixel Death,
Lost in Time's release on 21 June saw rave reviews and an overnight increase in the band's fanbase, giving Seven Sisters plenty of breathing room to work on a follow-up.
