Sixx:A.M. – “Prayers For The Damned” (Volume 1) [Album Review]

There is a line during opening track “Rise” where Sixx:A.M. frontman (and album producer) James Michael announces “it’s the dawn of a new day” and it has you wondering if (for at least two of the band’s members) being free of the shackles of their life-consuming day jobs has given them a chance to really turn on the creative juices? Well, the three friends defiantly answer that with Prayers For The Damned, the first of a double-album set with the second due later this year.

A massive-sounding album on all levels, “Rise” quickly sets the tone for what’s to come. A huge anthem of a song, this track alone epitomizes everything about Sixx:A.M.. An enormous sound, a powerful message and a huge chorus, it’s no surprise that the recording’s opener is already a hit single. Elsewhere, the album flirts with both heavier anthemic rock moments like the thundering “I’m Sick” and more melodic moments like the stunning “Better Man”.

In fact, by the time the Prayers For The Damned has reached “Better Man”, it’s crystal clear that the creative juices are fully flowing with not one sign that this band started out as a mere side-project. “Belly Of The Beast” and “Everything Went To Hell” see the band crank up the volume again while the three friends bring the first chapter of this double album to a close going out all guns blazing with “The Last Time (My Heart Will Hit The Ground)” and the dramatic “Rise of the Melancholy Empire”.

Discussing the double album in a recent interview with PureGrainAudio, Sixx:A.M. explained the writing process and how each track on Volume 1 has a sister track on Volume 2. Extreme creativity is clearly gushing and, in listening to both the band discussing the double album project, plus the first eleven offerings of this mammoth twenty-two song set, expect the second half to be, as they say, “all killer and no filler”.

Track Listing:

01. Rise
02. You Have Come To The Right place
03. I’m Sick
04. Prayers For The Damned
05. Better Man
06. Can’t Stop
07. When We Were Gods
08. Belly Of The Beast
09. Everything Went To Hell
10. The Last Time (My Heart Will Hit The Ground)
11. Rise of the Melancholy Empire

Run Time: 49:34
Release Date: April 29, 2016

Check out the song “Rise”