  
Massacre/Sound Pollution
SINISTER returns with album number nine, or the third after their comeback. They started out in 1989, and debuted in 1991 with “Across the Styx”. After several vocalist changes, with e.g. Rachel van Mastrigt-Heyser singing betwixt 2001-03, original member Aad Kloosterwaad, vocals, restarted the band together with guitarist Alex Paul, bassist Bas van den Bogaard and drummer Edwin van den Eeden. Ridiculously heavy death metal is offered here according to the info, I press play…
A somber intro with distorted narrative voice opens lead heavy. SINISTER will not reduce their heaviness, or the meanness. They have changed and disintegrated but risen again, quite similar sounding apart from the gender differences in vocal styles. Drummer Edwin works hard and it all feels quite ok. I have heard a stronger opener than “Into the Blind World” from this lot though. Aad growls in a husky fashion, sometimes a bit too muffled for me. Alex churns out riff after riff, but turns melodic in the right moments, as in the part before the solo of “The Enemy of My Enemy”. The plucky riffs are all very well thought-out and they have the necessary grooves most of the time. The grooviest moment is probably in the excellent “Anatomie of a Catastrophy”. The title track breathes SLAYER from the start, ominous, mosh-friendly and with a nice refrain it is a highlight. The exceptions on the album are the uninspired “The Hornet´s Nest” and the directionless “The Living Sacrifice”. But all in all this is entertainment on a high level from a born-again band.
Track List
Herd of Damnation (Intro)
Into the Blind World
The Enemy of My Enemy
Anatomie of a Catastrophe
The Sin of Sodomy
Legacy of Ashes
The Hornet´s Nest
Righteous Indignations
The Living Sacrifice
www.massacre-records.com www.myspace.com/sinisterwingsofdeath
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