If
you talk about old school death metal, you can say that the band Sinister is one
of the Dutch pioneers. With a small hiatus between 2003 and 2005 they have
existed since 1988. In between they have released several EP's and full length albums.
This new album is the follow up to their 2012 record 'The Carnage Ending'. This
time with the same line-up, which for Sinister is an unique achievement.
Vocalist Adrie Kloosterwaard is the only regular and original member left, so
you could say that this is his band.
The
music still sounds very brutal and in my opinion even more brutal, but with more
variety and with a very modern sound. The drums are very tight and with a kind
of groove, the vocals low grunting ones and the riffs very heavy. Besides the
old school influences there are some rather melodic pieces, for example in the
song "The Dome of Pleasure", with some harmonic Testament kind of guitar pieces.
A song like "The End of All That Conquers" starts with a kind of Slayer intro
and more influences of several bands can heard in the variable songs, but
overall it is just Sinister. The tempo of the most songs is very high and this
is sure not music for the weak hearted. I advice you to buy the digipack, with 3
bonus (cover)-songs. Every metal head will immediately recognize the name of the
original perfomers by just looking at the titles. The Sinister versions are all
good and it is especially interesting to listen to "Unstoppable Force" withhout
the high vocals of the original.
Good stuff for the old school death metal fan!
