UMUR "World of Evil" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US heavy metal act Sinister Realm. The album was released through Shadow Kingdom Records in August 2013. Sinister Realm was originally formed as a side project for Pale Divine members John Gaffney (bass) and Darin McCloskey (drums), but has since evolved into a "real" band.

The band originally played traditional doom/heavy metal, but on this particular release, they´ve crossed fully into traditional heavy metal territory, with galloping rythms, harmony guitars, blazing solos, heavy edgy riffing and a raw yet melodic sounding vocalist on top. The riffs may be heavy at times, but they are not doomy. An example of that can be found in the main vers riff on the title track, which is a really heavy yet energetic riff. One of the things that Sinister Realm succeed in doing really well is combining raw and powerful riffs with epic choruses and melodic harmonies. Because of how the harmony vocals are arranged, there is slight power metal edge to the proceedings too.

The songwriting are generally on a high level and the tracks are both intriguing (even though they are predominantly vers/chorus structured) and memorable. Featuring a professional and powerful sound production "World of Evil" is on all parameters an excellent release. The music is hardly original sounding, but when you combine strong musicianship with well written material magic sometimes happens, and that´s the case here. A 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating is deserved.

adg211288 World of Evil (2013) is the third full-length album by US heavy metal act Sinister Realm. The album is my introduction to the band, but from what I can tell their earliest work is generally accepted to belong to the doom metal genre. On World of Evil though the band plays a brand of traditional heavy metal, with only occasional doom flavour, mostly heard in the song The Ghosts of Nevermore.

The sound is quite old school to my ears, catchy and riff-driven, without giving way to the modern extra melodic sound that makes it sound like slower power metal. The songs are more or less traditional heavy metal standards but as stated above they also flirt with doom metal and this does result in an album highlight in the form of the aforementioned The Ghosts of Nevermore. Along with the closing epic Four Black Witches this represents the very best of the album. I have to also single out the latter song for its use of both traditional and doom metal as well as a quite progressive instrumental section which is impressive as hell, really raising the bar of what Sinister Realm are capable of. Prophets of War and Cyber Villain come close to the same standard while the opener Dark Angel of Fate is a great way to set the mood for the eight tracks (well, seven and one interlude instrumental) that will follow.

While not an album that breaks any new ground World of Evil is a passionate and convincing take on a tried and tested formula with enough diversions into the territory of other metal genres to keep it fresh and interesting throughout. The musicianship is solid and Alex Kristof's vocals perfect for the tone of the album. If metal that sticks to old school values is your thing then Sinister Realm are the band delivering the goods. An exceptional grade rating is deserved.

88/100

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven: http://metaltube.freeforums.org/sinister-realm-world-of-evil-t3138.html)