There are some albums that arrive, hit hard, and then slowly fade into nostalgia. Then there are albums like Drowning Pool’s Sinner, a record that didn’t just belong to a moment, it became part of people’s lives.
Twenty five years on from its release, Sinner still carries the same punch that made it such a defining heavy album of the early 2000s. Built on the force of tracks like “Bodies,” “Tear Away,” “Sinner” and “Sermon,” the album captured a band that was hungry, raw, heavy, emotional and right on the edge of something massive.
For CRANNK, this latest chat with guitarist CJ Pierce felt like more than just another anniversary interview. This was the third time Jai That Aussie Metal Guy has caught up with CJ, and since their last conversation, Jai had finally been able to catch Drowning Pool live in Adelaide on their Australian tour with Alien Ant Farm. That show added another layer to this conversation, because it proved something that longtime fans already know: Drowning Pool are not just a legacy name. They still hit hard live.
Before diving into the anniversary, CJ reflected on finally bringing Drowning Pool back to Australia, a country the band clearly holds a lot of love for. After years away from Australian stages, the band’s return was met with the kind of energy that reminded everyone how deeply these songs have travelled. Old school fans, newer fans, and everyone in between were all there, throwing themselves into the moment.
That same sense of connection sits right at the heart of this Sinner anniversary.
Craft Recordings are celebrating the 25th anniversary of Drowning Pool’s platinum selling debut with a limited edition vinyl reissue and expanded digital release. Alongside the original album, fans are also getting bonus material including “Bodies” Chris Vrenna’s XXX Tweaker Mix, “The Man Without Fear” featuring Rob Zombie, and “Break You” demo. For longtime fans, it is a chance to revisit a huge era in the band’s history. For newer fans, it is a doorway into the record that started it all.
When CJ looks back on Sinner, the years seem to collapse a little. There has been a lot of life since 2001, but in the interview he speaks about that time with a mix of humour, gratitude and disbelief. He remembers the rush of the album taking off, the chaos of the early touring years, and one huge Ozzfest moment where Drowning Pool were the first band on, early in the morning, as the gates opened and fans came pouring in just as “Bodies” kicked into life.
It is the kind of memory that says everything about the way Sinner exploded. Drowning Pool were a local band from Dallas who suddenly had one of the most recognisable heavy songs on the planet. But listening to CJ talk about it now, the focus is not ego or myth making. It is gratitude.
The band wrote what they felt. They played with the energy they had. The world did the rest.
Of course, any conversation about Sinner has to come back to Dave Williams.
Dave’s presence is still all over the record. Sinner remains the only Drowning Pool album to feature the late vocalist, and that gives the anniversary an emotional weight far beyond a simple reissue campaign. CJ speaks about Dave not only as a frontman, but as a friend, someone whose charisma and spirit lit up rooms, stages and local scenes long before the world knew his voice.
There is a warmth in the way CJ talks about him. Dave was not just the singer on a platinum album. He was part of their lives. He was part of the chaos, the friendships, the shows, the jokes, the stories and the emotional thread that still runs through the band today.
That emotional thread is one of the reasons Sinner still connects. Yes, it is heavy. Yes, it is full of riffs built for pits, stages, wrestling arenas and festival fields. But underneath the aggression is a record full of tension, self reflection and release. From the opening punch of “Sinner” through to the closing weight of “Sermon,” the album carries themes of relationships, religion, inner conflict and survival.
Then there is “Bodies.”
Few heavy songs from that era have crossed over as hard or as far. It has lived in wrestling, sport, film, television, games, memes and arenas all over the world. But as CJ and Jai discuss in the interview, the song has always been about the pit. It is about release. It is about throwing yourself into that moment, but still understanding the code: if someone goes down, you pick them back up.
That distinction matters. “Bodies” is aggressive, but it was never mindless. It was built from live energy, from the physicality of shows, from the communal madness of heavy music. Twenty five years later, that message still matters.
“Tear Away” carries a different kind of weight. It may not have the same universal pop culture reach as “Bodies,” but for many fans it hits even deeper. In this interview, Jai revisits the song with CJ, not to retell the full guitar tone story they had already covered in a previous chat, but to get into why the track still means so much to people.
CJ touches on the way fans have connected “Tear Away” to grief, loss, self respect and personal space. It is one of those songs that has grown with listeners over time. What might have once felt like defiance can later feel like self preservation. That is part of why it remains such a powerful piece of the Sinner story.
The anniversary edition also brings “The Man Without Fear” featuring Rob Zombie back into the spotlight. Originally tied to the 2003 Daredevil film, the track is a perfect snapshot of an era where heavy music, comic book culture, soundtracks, wrestling and mainstream entertainment were all colliding in huge ways. With Rob Zombie involved, the song captured two major forces from that world meeting in one heavy, cinematic anthem.
Its return as part of the expanded Sinner release gives fans another reason to dig back into the band’s wider legacy around that time. It is not just about the album tracks. It is about the whole world that surrounded Drowning Pool as they broke through.
For CJ, revisiting this material is like opening a time capsule. The songs are tied to riffs, rooms, people, shows, personal memories and pieces of life that come rushing back once the band starts digging into the album again. As Drowning Pool prepare to play Sinner in full, CJ speaks about the excitement of going beyond the usual staples and returning to the deep cuts, the subtleties, and the physical energy of those early songs.
There is also a sense that this anniversary is not just about looking backwards.
Drowning Pool are still moving forward. CJ talks about the band being busier than ever, balancing the anniversary with new music, studio time and the next chapter of the band. There is plenty happening, and while Sinner will always be the foundation, Drowning Pool are not treating it like the final word.
That is what makes this conversation feel so fitting. It is not a museum piece. It is not just nostalgia. It is a look at a band honouring where they came from while still keeping their boots planted firmly in the present.
Twenty five years after Sinner, Drowning Pool are still here. Still loud. Still grateful. Still connected to the fans who were there from the start, and still finding new ones who are discovering those songs for the first time.
PRE/ORDER-PRE/SAVE: https://i.craftrecordings.com/dp-sinner25
