Shortly after Aggressive Measures, vocalist Eric de Windt was replaced by Rachel Van Mastrigt-Heyzer (yes, a female vocalist) for the band's fifth full-length recording, Creative Killings. Unfortunately, this seems to be where the fans of Sinister began to divide. Many really enjoyed the female impression on the band in the vocals, and others enjoyed the sometimes borderline Grindcore elements. Either way though, many claimed that Creative Killings just didn't sound like a traditional Sinister album, and only showed the group slowly performing and career suicide in front of their fans. While Aggressive Measures was far from a terrible CD, it becomes a question of whether or not Creative Killings can stand on it's own, or if it does live up to the title as one of the worst Sinister CDs recorded.
This is actually the first Sinister full-length to not be featured on Nuclear Blast Records, and it really shows. While the band's albums were progressively sounding better production-wise with each new release, the band wound up with Hammerheart Records, and found themselves back in a raw production element again. While this isn't bad at all, the recording really does suffer thanks to the guitars sounding muddier then they really should be, eliminating much of the bite from the recording from distortion overkill. The more technical approach from Aggressive Measures was dropped, and the band returned to their more groovey Death Metal approach. However, while the music took on that groove appeal once more and had far less intricate chords and evil atmospheres, the songs seemed to actually take more from Grindcore then anything, taking on more of a Napalm Death vibe to some of the songs, such as with the title track, "Creative Killings". This happens quite often, and it wouldn't be so bad if the blast beats were executed better. Often the blast beats just feel like the same snares, kicks, and cymbols repeatedly gone to, many a time for what feels like no reason. The vocals also come off as less then inspiring, again taking a more traditional Grindcore/Death Metal Napalm Death approach, while sounding more male then female, though the latter part isn't necessarily a bad thing.
With Creative Killings, it's also hard to figure out where some songs end, and some start. You could black out during a song and not pay attention, and then listen to part of a completely different song without realizing anything had changed. Even if you have it going and just don't pay attention you may not even notice the change. While they don't sound exactly the same and all have rather different chords, the drumming is essentially the same, the vocals stick to one performance and have pretty much no range, and the guitars are either fast paced and trying to be technical but failing and be rather groovey instead, or just going with the blast beats in a furious attempt. Another issue comes from "Judicios Murder" where the drums don't quite reach that blast beat speed or intensity, but are played in a very generic manner, mostly hitting snares and kicks at the same time, but the drumming feels horribly off at this track throughout the song. Luckily it doesn't really happen that much in other songs, but once ina while you can hear the snares just not in time with the guitars, or if they are on time they just sound a little off. "Moralistic Suffering" is another track with issues with the drums. They are on time, but due to how fast the guitars are, the drums feel like they are a little off in the timing because they seme a little slower then the actual guitars.
While there exist plenty of problems with the album, the more raw quality does suit the band, the band themselves seem to sound pretty bad from the distortion levels, things not lining up right, and the vocals being pretty bland and generic even for female vocals, which was something rather unheard of still at the time of it's release. "Moralistic Suffering" is a blistering track that breaks up the monotony of the recording thanks to it's speed and fury. "Altering the Beast" have a heavier groove to it that is rather catchy and just feels solid despite the instrumental flaws as well. "Bleeding Towards the Wendigo" is also a decent track, as it shows the band really trying to nail that technical aspect and succeeded in many ways. While the track is not as catchy, it makes up for it in aggression, making it sound a little more impressive then some of the other tracks on this release. "Storm in My Mind", however, seems to greatly prosper from the many faults of the music, and really grabs hold of the raw production quality by the neck and refuses to let go. This song really doesn't sound that much different from the rest, but it just has the right mixture of energy, catchiness, and brutality to really makes this closing track stand out. The introductory guitar solo is also a nice touch. But, this all becomes really pointless when you realize that "Storm in My Mind" is actually a cover of a Possessed song, so it makes sense. Either way, still one of the better tracks on the recording. Of course there are others, but most of them, while the music sounds like it should be impressive, typically fall prey to the faults already outlined.
| 2011 Reissue |
Sadly, this edition feels lacking greatly, and not all of it is the label's fault. Creative Killings is the sixth CD in the Altered Since Birth box set, and of course is just like the others. Digipack case with no booklet, instead the liner notes appear in the ninety six page book that accompanies the set. The album is also remastered in twenty four bit digital, but it really just doesn't do much to save the album. yes, the audio is a little clearer, but not by much. It's still really muddy and the distortion still feels like overkill. The only really enjoyable aspect of this edition is the inclusion of the bonus track "Bleeding Towards the Wendigo (Live)", which is a raw live recording that sounds much better then the version available on this CD.
However, here is where the ball is dropped. While the label couldn't necessarily do much for the music not being that good on this album, the initial also included five bonus tracks. Four of these are already made available on the Demo-Nica compilation CD in the box set. However, what is missing entirely from this disc, as well as the box set, is the cover of the Slayer track "Praise of Death", which is something one would imagine that metal Mind would have kept on here, especially since it appeared on the Karmageddon Media reissue sometime prior to this. So, even if you buy the box set, if you're a dedicated Sinister fan, chances are good you'll still go out and buy the previous reissue, or at least pick up that song from an MP3 on-line retailer that has it, just so you can sit down and say you own all the material. It's a low blow that does hurt the reason to pick up this specific reissue, but, in the end the reissue is just slightly better thanks to the remastering, though it really didn't do much to save the material recorded for this release. |
In the long run, Creative Killings is far from one of Sinister's strongest offerings. The music has a bit too much distortion for the raw production the album got, the vocals are more bland then the previous release Aggressive Measures, which also had some pretty generic vocals itself, and the music just isn't that good. While far from a bad CD, it's just one that comes off more as a release for the dedicated Sinister fan then just your typical Death Metal fan. If you enjoy the band, give it a spin, as there are a decent amount of good tracks, but nothing that will leave a lasting impression outside maybe one or two original compositions, and the band's cover of the Possessed song "Storm in My Mind". The reissue doesn't do much to save the material, and is also featuring a key song that came out on a previous reissue. So, as it stands with Creative Killings, either version will work, but all versions are worth sampling before buying.
|
