Sinister – Deformation of the Holy Realm (Album Review)

Sinister - Deformation of the Holy Realm

The old school Dutch death metal staple Sinister are back again with their 14th(!!!) full-length record Deformation of the Holy Realm. Having been consistently making crushing death metal since their debut in 1992, other than a brief hiatus between 2003-2005. This album brings all the no holds barred brutality you have come to expect from the band.

Surprisingly, I hadn’t listened to any of the band’s previous material before diving into this album, despite their longevity. The classic 90s death metal sound still reigns supreme in this album, with very few melodic interludes appearing to present any semblance of relief from the chaotic wall of classic death metal instrumentation. This album still sounds a lot like the bands they developed their sounds alongside with riffs reminiscent of Morbid Angel and lyrical themes that would fit nicely into a Deicide album. That’s not to say this is a bad album, not by any means. This extensive album has a decent run time of nearly 50 minutes and other than the brief intro and outro tracks the album is jammed full of brutal riffs, face-melting guitar solos, and everything you’d expect from an old school death metal album.
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Other than some intro samples, there are some short orchestral/choir parts overlayed into the hellish soundscape, but these parts are so low in the mix they are barely audible and, in my opinion, don’t add too much to the dynamics of the record.
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While this classic sound still has plenty to explore, it would have been nice to see Sinister vary their sound a little and incorporate a couple of new ideas into their music.

This album, of course, provides plenty of tracks to have you moshing about like a lunatic. The title track and my personal favourite Deformation of the Holy Realm has a very nice, catchy main riff, that manages to stick around in your head long after the track has drawn to a close. The tracks Scourged by Demons and Suffering from Immortal Death also have some memorable riffage accompany the sonic onslaught and are certainly my highlights of the record.

If you are in the mood for some straight-up carnage, this is a great album to turn on. This is an album created for death metal purists, just don’t expect to hear anything revolutionary.

Release Year: 2020
Label: Massacre Records
Category: Album
Country: Netherlands

Reviewed by Jarrad Fisher