UMUR "Syncretism" is the 13th full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Sinister. The album was released through Massacre Records in February 2017. It´s the successor to the covers album "Dark Memorials" from 2015, but the first album by the band with original material since "The Post-Apocalyptic Servant" from 2014. Along with artists like Pestilence, Asphyx, and Gorefest, Sinister were one of the influential acts on the Dutch death metal scene of the early 90s and they´ve continuously been releasing albums since their inception in 1988, with only a short break in activities during their 2003-2005 hiatus.

The material on "Syncretism" is old school US influenced death metal. It´s relatively brutal, technically well played, and slightly one-dimensional in style. It´s artists like Suffocation, Brutality, and Deicide that I´m reminded of at various points of the album. The growling vocals are of the type which are almost completely unintelligible, which to my ears is a real shame, as they would have been much more effective, had they been just slightly more intelligible. It´s brutal alright, but catching a word or a phrase just occasionally, usually provides death metal vocals with a vicious aggressive edge, that these vocals lack. I´m usually a big fan of Aad Kloosterwaard´s vocals, but I think he goes a bit overboard on this album. The instrumental part of the music is very well performed, and there are several killer riffs and powerful rhythms featured on the album, but also the rare more melodic moment to bring a little variation to the music. Atmospheric keyboards are also used frequently.

"Syncretism" features a brutal, raw, and powerful sound production, which suits the material perfectly. So most elements are in place for a nice brutal old school death metal experience, and in many ways "Syncretism" is the epitome of the genre. My above issue with the vocals is probably a matter of aquired taste, but to my ears it is a minor issue, and "Syncretism" doesn´t exactly feature a sound where you would instantly recognise that it is Sinister playing, so the lack of a unique sound is also a minor issue, which affects my overall rating. I´ve been a fan of Sinister for many years now, and I´ve always admired how well they´ve been able to combine brutality, catchiness, and grooves, but there´s been a change towards a more old school death metal sound and less brutal grooves on "Syncretism". The music has become a bit too one-dimensional for its own good and I´m missing the grooves, which I always thought was one of the band´s greatest features. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved though as "Syncretism" is still a high quality death metal release.

Vim Fuego Back in the early 90s, Sinister was one of those death metal bands which most fans were familiar with, but were hardly ever anyone’s favourite band. Yes, Sinister’s songs had plenty going for them, like great writing, and excellent musicianship, and pretty damn good production, but there always seemed to be a certain spark missing to really propel the band into the big leagues.

Well, Sinister have stuck to the old school, and it sounds fucking refreshing. This is death metal the way it was initially intended to be. It’s just fucking… death. There’s no wanking around with prog-jazz infusions, pentatonic djenital fiddling, nu-core cluelessness, or folky fuckwittery. Nope, this is down-in-the-gutters bottom end riffing, turbo charged drumming, and gravel gargled vocals. It’s all that was good and great about death metal, and why most fans initially fell in love with it. Aad Kloosterwaard’s vocals are a particular delight. His gut-wrenching growl is a joy to behold, a cross between Chris Barnes at his most eloquent, and Glen Benton at his most bestial.

It’s generally pointless isolating highlights in a death metal album, because it is album-based music. That is, once you hear the first song, you know exactly what you’re getting for the entire album. If your ear isn’t attuned to it, all the songs might sound the same. If it does sound samey, it’s your loss. Stick to the radio. Sinister is not for you. For fans though, it’s nine tracks of somewhat Satanic gore and mire, with song titles like “Convulsion of Christ”, “Black Slithering Mass”, “Confession Before Slaughter” and “Rite of the Blood Eagle”.

This style of death metal isn’t sexy any more. The youth of today seem to find generic deathcore more desirable. This is for old perverts and deviants, who love things the way they used to be, when death metal meant death fucking metal, and didn’t need to be qualified with posts, cores or melodicks. Will “Syncretism” propel Sinister into the big leagues now? No. Should it? That’s up to the listener.