August 2001
Released: 2001, Century Media
Rating: 3.5/5
Reviewer: Pete
First off, let me commend Century Media for putting out these things. You don't see the "big" labels doing this. If it wasn't for the Identity samplers, I wouldn't have discovered such bands as Iced Earth, Sentenced and Stratovarius to name a few. Man, for like $5 you get to check out 12-20 different bands and when you're popping $20-$25 a CD for a band you haven't heard before, these things can come in handy.
Now on to Identity 7. This disc contains 19 bands. Out of the 19 tracks, I liked about 11 of 'em. I could go into detail and give a review of each individual track, but I'll only make note of a few. You have the more obvious choices here, being Nevermore, Iced Earth, Eyehategod, Cryptopsy, Jag Panzer and Stuck Mojo all producing outstanding tracks. Then there's the bands I'm unfamiliar with - Lacuna Coil's "To Live Is To Hide" is very cool, metal with male and female vocals. Tad Morose's "Another Time Around" is great power-metal with strong lead vocals. Big surprise was Skinlab's "Come and Get It" as I haven't heard anything from them since their debut and it sounds like they've come quite a ways musically. Unfortunately tracks by Scar Culture, ...And Oceans and Carnal Forge were a bit to manic for my liking, although I can certainly appreciate their intensity. Bottom line is if your curious about any of the bands on the Century Media roster, Identity 7: Deadly Sins is a great introduction.
