Search - Sinister :: Bastard Saints

The last of the extraordinary Sinister works

Phillip Simonis | Orange County | 06/30/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am very partial to this EP, sure it's short, but Mike's vocals were at peak of brilliance displayed here. I was really anticipating their following album at the time, but sadly Mike had left the band due to personal reasons, a shame because this band was at its pinnacle. "Pre-Aggressive Measures Sinister" have always been what I consider to be perfect death metal. This band was what Death Metal was born to be. Haunting, mysterious, heavy, the vocals were the epitomy of what Death Metal vocals are supposed to be. Better than any other band in the genre in my opinion. These words were not "barked" out or just merely growled out, they were constructive and added a powerful element to the music. I love the drumming, just crushing. If you are new to Sinister, only listen to Sinister's first three LPs and this EP! Buy or Die!"

Strong stuff...

Aerik Von | New York, New York | 04/26/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This hook-filled slab of raging death metal is quite the headbang. Meaty riffs mixed with the occasional off-time guitar run mixed with quality vocal melodies (if you can call them that) and an air-tight production job show the Sinister boys doing what Swedes often did best. "Bastard Saints" is one of the better offerings they belched out and a worthy purchase for all of those who like their death metal smooth and aggressive. This avoids the problems of production many death metal bands have as the sound encompasses all things clearly without being TOO clear, and the boys in the band grind away with a sense of beat that is unique in a scene dominated by cold levels of brutality. Yes it's brutal, yes it's often technical and yes it's death metal...but it's also a good time in many ways that most bands are not.



The opening "Bastard Saints" is the catchiest death metal toon I've heard in quite some time. It's wrenching riffs and simple (aka addicting) melody stuck in my head for days. "Rebels Dome" is also quite the kick fest as Sinister grind and plod away with a deep pocket of intensity througout. All of the songs retain a high level of melodic brutality that keeps the melodies on the right side of rock and roll. This is not the American splatter-style nor the Scandanavian leanings towards Maiden-esque melodicism - this is a style that Sinister carved taking the best technical death and grafting it to the simple qualities that made old-skool heavy metal so enjoyable.



Sinister never really got the credit they deserved amongst a morass of bands who wrote songs HALF as memorable as this. Even after turning the CD off the direct-but-catching songs kept me hooked for hours. It bothers me to this day that Sinister got the credit they deserved.



BUY OR DIE!!!"