Review of Sinister - Savage or Grace

When it comes to pure, "old-school" Death Metal, Sinister is definitely one of those bands you should know...uh... plays it, and plays it into the fucking ground. Old School Death Metallers are pretty persistent, obsessed types... they know how they like this shit, and they won't have it any other way... its sort of like the situation where a cannibal is getting the death penalty, now they have to give that fucker what he wants for a last meal... well what if he asked for human flesh? what would they do, they supposedly HAVE to give the bastard what he wants. Well if these Netherlands Metallers were the person who decided that shit, This person would grab someone, slash the fucks throat, and throw whomever on the BBQ, because the nutcase is going to live up to his word. I realize that had nothing to fucking do with Sinister per say, But the point I'm getting at here, is that Sinister is reliable, they don't compromise, they don't fucking alter their direction, and they don't give a flying fuck what you think about it. This band has been plugging away since 1989, gone through numerous line up changes, the most notable (lately) probably being the inception of Ex-Occult Vocalist (& Babe), Rachel... now, those of you whom have heard 2001's Creative Killings know that, while Angela Gossow is a female that can do death growls, Rachel is a female that can do death growls that make most male vocalists sound like some "adorable" fucking small animal, this woman's voice is unholy, somewhat makes me think of Fleshgrind's, and I love every minute of it, because Rachel is NOT a poster girl, she is there because she flat out owns you. Now, if you are expecting 2003's new "Savage or Grace" to be more melodic, less brutal, more brutal- whatever, well- your fucking wrong, this is the same Sinister we know and love. From the opening of Rise of the Predator, to the end of Apocalypse in Time, your going to get 9-tracks, 30:21 of Sinister Death Metal... please allow me to be your ferryman into the pits of the underworld... This fucker begins with, as stated before: Rise of the Predator, this is basically a nifty-named atmospheric intro... kind of eerie, definitely a mood builder, it picks up pace about half way through... but this is what it is, a diabolical intro into this album... wait, is someone saying Satan's Whores?... fuck it, I'm too tired & drunk to find out, buy the album and listen yourself, satiate your curiosity. Well ok, from there on in the album basically doesn't let up except for the intro to track 5 (Conception of Sin), but that lasts for only about a minute until the bass kicks in. This is all above-average paced Death Metal, what style was it again? That's right- Death-Fucking-Metal. For those of you who don't know who Sinister are... well, I should laugh at you, but lets just say they come across sounding not to far from the realms of The Bleeding & Like an Ever flowing Stream combined (please tell me you know who released those two milestones)... and the Dutch psychos do it well. The guitars hammer out some great shredding riffs, and those nice 7 second solos Death Metal used to have all the time. The bass thumps along quite nicely, no Les Claypool action here... thank god, and the Drums keep the pace, no blast beats, no fucking frills, no bullshit glorification, just nice rhythmic drumming in the Death Metal style. On the other side of things, the music itself- to some, will sound... dated, I guess is the word. Like I said- it is of the old-school persuasion. The production is rough, clean enough, but rough, and the material isn't exactly "new and original". Some of you who like their metal to be produced like a fucking Britney Spears album may be scared, or bitch & whine about some of the distortion fuzz, the fact that the drums aren't sticking out like a Ron Jeremy hard on, going faster than Derek Roddy on speed, or perhaps the fact that no- this album doesn't sound like N*Flaymz & SOYLWERK (admit it, the nicknames In Flames & Soilwork are developing are as snicker-worthy as they are true). Like the nifty little info-packet that came with the promo says: "If you want guitar harmonies, vocal melodies and catchy choruses (note: or hell, progressive, experimental material), look elsewhere. But if you want brain-bashing, skull crushing brutal heavy metal, step right up, Sinister delivers a deadly blow with Savage or Grace." Basically, yeah- that sums it all up, maybe not exactly buy or die, but this is some quality DM baby. Thanks Sinister, oh and welcome back to Nuclear Blast... now come to America. Oh yeah, and by the way- The Cover Art is fucking cool... so did I win the "quote to be featured on Sinister website" award?…

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Sinister

Savage or Grace

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