Things are moving a little bit for Judas Priest in this year 1977. Already, with "Sad Wings Of Destiny", the band killed two birds with one stone by getting rid of its contract with Gull Records and attracting the attention of the famous Columbia label. Moreover, a certain Roger Glover will feel the potential of the group and offer his services to the production. All that will be left for the band to do is to get a drummer who passes by, Alan Moore having left the band, and they will then be able to start recording what will become "Sin After Sin".
Musically, the tone is not so far from the previous opus, without however resembling it. Let's rather say that on the same basis, namely a muscular and rhythmic hard rock for the time, Judas Priest hardened the tone to obtain a sound close to what will soon be called heavy metal. It is on the whole faster than on "Sad Wings...", as the superb "Sinner", dynamic and complex, or "Dissitent Agressor", which will be taken up by Slayer. The guitars sound quite metallic, and less bluesy than before. The riffs are incisive and the solos strident.
Of course the album is far from being entirely heavy as we can hear it sometimes. The cover of "Diamond And Rust" proves this attachment to rock'n'roll that still lingers here. On the very Sabbath-like "Raw Deal", we are still far from "Painkiller", and let's not talk about the almost pop "Last Rose Of Winter". Be careful, don't believe that this softer side is a flaw. Most of the time, the tracks are very well exploited, like "Here Come The Tears", all in ambiance and delicacy. The production and the musicians adapt perfectly to the variations of atmosphere and it would grieve me to finish this paragraph without having told you that Rob Halford is here imperial.
As you will have understood, this album is the logical continuation of his predecessor. Judas Priest is beginning to find his marks. The only risk is to find the production old-fashioned, but even on this point the album does not do so badly, as long as the listener's ear is not too formatted by the current compressed sounds. Efficient compositions, authenticity, a promising sound that is becoming more refined... I see no reason not to be enthusiastic about such an object.