Review by Vladimir on August 27, 2024.

When it comes to old-school Swedish heavy metal from the 80s, the band Mindless Sinner from Linköping is no stranger, especially since they are one of the reasons why we have so many great bands of the new generation like Enforcer, Helvetets Port, and Lethal Steel which proudly carry their sacred flame. Since the band’s reformation in 2014, we received two solid albums that were met with generally positive fan feedback, and now as of 2024, things are about to get wild again. Their fifth full-length album Metal Merchants is set to be released on October 25th, 2024 via High Roller Records, and this one continues where the band left off with Poltergeist in 2020. If you are hungry for the heat and you want to dive deep into the molten metal river, then let’s go. 

Kicking things off with 'Speed Demon' we are instantly burning the highway in full-throttle as the riffs of pure steel and heavy metal cut like a hot knife through butter, alongside the fast drumming and epic singing vocals of Christer Göransson, altogether setting the stage for this magnificent journey that stands before us. This incredibly solid start already shows plenty of promising stuff to come in this molten steel adventure, and luckily it doesn’t take long to find out that the riff work on Metal Merchants is just pure metallurgy all the way through. From the very get-go, Metal Merchants showcases a lot of heavy chugging riff work with some fine guitar melodies that manage to nicely fuel this machinery to rock out with its fist-pumping action and well-hyped-up entertainment that holds up throughout the entire album. You will find some amazing tunes on here, some of which could be classed as heavy metal anthems in terms of their overall execution, these examples being 'Metal Merchants', 'Carry On' and the exceptional 'Mountain Of Om', with all of the three taking the lead with their powerful choruses. The great thing about the entire album, apart from all the great song delivery, is the fact that it manages to stay on track with its heaviness, by maintaining its constant flow, and generally keeping things simple and straight from start to finish. I would go as far to say that Metal Merchants gets even more interesting during the second half, especially on the energetic rocker of the track that is 'Monsters' which is very stylistically so simplistic yet effective, and it builds up to the grand climax with 'Storm Of The Steel' that melts away with this well-lived adventure with an absolute banger. However, we’re not done yet. Certainly, the journey does end here if we’re talking about the cassette and vinyl release of the album, but that rule does not apply to the CD and digital release, which give us three bonus tracks that serve as a nice expansion pack for the diehards that do not wish it all to end it so abruptly. If you wanted more, the more is what you will get, because these additional tracks do a great deal of justice to the rest of the album, and if you enjoyed the entirety of Metal Merchants, this certainly feels like you unlocked a bonus stage, which is highly rewarding for all Mindless Sinner fans. 

The songwriting on Metal Merchants is quite as simplistic as it can get for traditional heavy metal, with standard song structures that give a general sense of familiarity, but it still holds up very well throughout the entire album by never feeling generic or formulaic. What was previously established with the two predecessors The New Messiah and Poltergeist, their new output certainly expands and compliments that foundation, and you can clearly tell that Mindless Sinner did their very best to take it to the next level with Metal Merchants. Comparison-wise, even though the band does not exactly introduce anything new in a matter of style from an objective perspective, the substance is what matters the most here, because if you came here to blast this badass machinery on full volume, then you know what you came for, and I can safely say that these Metal Merchants deliver the goods. Their reborn saga that started with The New Messiah in 2015 has successfully managed to prove its worth here, because the material still feels as fresh and strong as ever before, and on top of that, I really have a hard time believing that Christer Göransson is nearly 60 years old, because his vocal delivery is so flawless and incredible after all these years, and I can easily say that it aged like fine wine. Apart from the well-executed songwriting, one of the main qualities of this album is the top-notch production, which provides a very huge sound that gives an extra edge to the band’s tight performance. 

In the end, Metal Merchants is a very enjoyable experience that kicks ass all the way through with its simplistic approach full of rock-steady headbanging delivery. It might be Mindless Sinner’s best album since their resurrection in 2014, perhaps even their best work since their debut full-length Turn On The Power from 1986, but I will leave it up for the Swedish heavy metal fans to decide if that’s a plausible opinion. In any case, if you really love these guys, I highly recommend that you check out Metal Merchants when it’s released, because you are gonna have a blast with this one. 

Rating: 8.4 out of 10