Jobie’s (Bite-Sized) Music Reviews 10*: Sins Of A Divine Mother (EP) - Sins Of A Divine Mother

Sins of a Divine Mother is a 2004(?)[a] (see note below) EP by Sins Of a Divine Mother, a short-lived alternative rock view that has very little surviving material still around today. One particular song from this EP - "Broken" - was intended to be used as the Neutral Hero theme in the 2005 video game Shadow the Hedgehog, but plans fell through when Wylie Bleacher (the lead singer of Sins of a Divine Mother) was unable to be contacted for permission to use the song.

As stated earlier, most of the band's material is no more - there was apparently a demo album, as well as other versions of "Broken", but these have yet to be found. An alternate version of "Broken" is included on the EP, but this is the only other version of "Broken" that we currently have. The maximum kbps that the EP has been found in is 320kbps. A CD-quality version of the EP has yet to surface.

Background information aside, Sins Of a Divine Mother is a 32 minute and 9 second effort by the disbanded group, which has a sound similar to 2000s era Linkin Park, and uses distinctive vocal effects in a decent amount of its tracks. For example, in "Break Me", one can hear a unique mixing method used on Wylie's voice - it's sort of hard to describe, but once you listen to the song, you'll know what I'm talking about.

"Broken" is by far one of the best songs off the EP. Its instrumentation reflects its melancholy nature, with deep, dark riffs encapsulating the entirely of the song's runtime. Another highlight is "Falling Out", which incorporates a fair amount of electronic instrumentation alongside alt rock riffs. It's executed fairly well, and certainly makes it stand out from the other tracks on the EP. "Overshadowed" is reminiscent of Ministry's The Land of Rape and Honey sound, with a unique mix of synthesizers(?) and slightly distorted vocals being present on the track.

Overall, from beginning to end, Sins of a Divine Mother's Sins of a Divine Mother EP is an interesting alt-rock effort with hints of electronic elements, interesting vocal effects, and a sound that reflects the often melancholy lyrics of the songs contained within. It's nice hearing a different version of "Broken" (which won't count towards the recommendation/non-recommendation of this EP, since this was clearly an unfinalized version of the song: the mixing is a lot less polished, and the vocal effects were Taken Up to Eleven, unlike the final version of the song).

* JRM 181

[a] This is the most likely release date. My rationale is that, since the game was released in 2005, and the song "Broken" was planned to be used in the game, it's likely that the EP was released a year or so before. This is not confirmed.

[b] It is unknown if someone associated with Sins of a Divine Mother uploaded it to soundcloud, or if someone who ripped the album uploaded it to Soundcloud.

Soundcloud link: [b] https://soundcloud.com/sinsofadivinemother/sets/sins-of-a-divine-mother-sins

Internet Archive link:

https://archive.org/details/sinsofadivinemother