“Well better late than never” is the expression and it's certainly the case here, 'Shiva' as it was backing in '77, was a band featuring 'Mat Sinner' and 'Armin Sabol' who were opening for the likes of 'Whitesnake', but problems in the studio delayed their debut and eventually the band dissolved, with 'Mat forming 'Sinner' and 'Armin' concentrating on producing. Jumping forward to 2007 'Mat', 'Armin' and drummer 'Martin Schmidt', have finally managed to release some material (under the name 'Goddess Shiva'). I had pretty high hopes for this album, I've always like 'Mat Sinner's' work, but didn't know what to expect here, well in all honesty this isn't as good as I would have expected. Musically they fleet from one genre to another, without being totally convincing in any, vocals are split between 'Armin' and 'Mat' and while neither poor, a lot of the songs don't suit their styles and as a whole it all comes off far too disjointedly.

The album unfolds with an Indian influenced instrumental titled 'Heritage of Shiva', that while in keeping with the name and artwork, doesn't really add anything to the album. The first proper track 'Walking on Thorns' is surprisingly more reminiscent of recent 'Dokken', but that said, it's still one of the best cuts present, with a nice melody and rhythm which keeps the track moving, while 'Armin's' delivery suits the lyrics pretty decently. Slightly heavier and a lot less subtle is the 'Mat' sung 'Mind of a killer', which for all intent and purposes is just a 'Sinner' track, that said it's fairly decent, gritty, nice guitar work, but ultimately pretty meat and potatoes stuff. Some 'Thin Lizzy' influence creeps into the up-tempo Rock of 'This ain't love', an enjoyable, more carefree number, 'Mat' isn't totally credible on the vocals but far from a poor track. The intro 'Gone with the Dough' announces the Blues heavy 'Barefoot and Naked', which regrettably is a fairly blatant and tedious number, that despite a respectable execution is rather forgettable. The 'Thin Lizzy' influence is resurrected for the lifeless rocker 'Down on Luck', that's static tempo and repetitive lyrics are an instant turnoff, the only saving grace is a sharp 'Armin' guitar solo. Also falling short of the mark is the dated and trite 'Van Halen' rip-off 'Heat of the Night', while the instrumental 'Ali Baba', despite it's Eastern name sounds more like 'Metallica' meets 'Yngwie Malmsteen' and overlooking solid axe work is fairly dire. The tempo falls for the pure 70's Blues influenced Hard Rock of 'Same Old City', there's elements of 'Rainbow', 'Whitesnake' and 'Thin Lizzy' in there, while 'Armin's' vocals lend themselves well to this style. Less impressive is the straight-forward Rock of 'Hold On', which doesn't suit the vocals of 'Mat' or 'Armin', especially the chorus which is just plain weak, the instrumental however parts are sharply performed, but all told nothing fantastic. The album bows out with the best track of the album, the more metallic 'Red' which is fuelled by some splendid driving rhythm from 'Mat Sinner' and 'Martin Schmidt', while 'Mat's' gritty vocals work a lot better on this brisker cut. The album closes as it begun with the pointless instrumental 'Heritage of Shiva'.

There's a couple of decent cuts here, but in my opinion this doesn't have a lot of replay value, if you like 'Mat Sinner', stick with your 'Primal Fear' and 'Sinner' albums, as this offers very little in the way of new or superior material to the aforementioned groups.