Sinister formed in 1988. In 1990, the group issued their first demo, and since then hasn't stopped. With now nine full-lengths under their belts, as well as a slew of EPs, Splits, Demos, and a DVD for good measure, Sinister has been a name on the tongues of dedicated Death Metal fans for a solid twenty years now. As the group looks towards a strong twenty fifth anniversary, Metal Mind Productions celebrates it a little early for 2011. Altered Since Birth (1990-2010) is a box set that will be issued worldwide on April 5th, 2011. In honor of this, Metal Mind Productions has shipped over a copy of this limited piece for review, and what better way then to break this box set down by one disc per day until it's release date?
For those who don't know, this box set is composed of all material released by Sinister prior to their 2010 full-length release. This limited to 1,000 box set includes a total of nine digitally remastered CDs, one DVD, and a 96 page booklet. Luckily, the package arrived from the label just in time to allow me to examine one CD per day, and spend enough time with it to give my honest opinion on the box set versus simply obtaining the original source material. It's an honor to be given this chance, as I'm not sure how many other publications actually got this box set for review as well. Either way, Sinister is an important band, and this band deserves the attention that they'll be getting from me to best promote this box set. So, come back every day to read up on my thoughts about this Sinister box set as I build up to a final critical decision towards everything it includes.
The Ten Days of SINISTER: The Altered Since Birth Review Chronological Breakdown
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| DAY ONE: Demo-Nica / The Blood Past |
The first disc in the box set, Demo-Nica collects material from the first six releases that include Sinister material, including splits, EPs, and demos. However, this is easily one of the most confusing and mind numbing of the band's discographies. Demo-Nica is actually not a new recording, being nothing more then the Goregiastic Records 2009 compilation The Blood Past, though it features new artwork and an edited track list, and is digitally remastered, all of which causes it to adorn a new name for the box set for some reason. While Metal Mind stepped up and fixed some problems the initial had, both have their pros and cons, and both required me to step back and examine each other in a deeper manner then simply "what does the reissue bring to table", as these do feel like two seperate entities. Check out both detailed reviews to find out what's wrong, and what's right with these releases.
-> Read the review of Demo-Nica here.
-> Read the review of The Blood Path here.
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| DAY TWO: Cross the Styx |
The second disc of the Altered Since Birth box set, and it's the band's first full-length effort. One of the reasons I love listening to old-school Death Metal albums is due to the overall quality of the recording. Having a more raw, analog sound can sometimes be a positive thing when it comes to the ferocity and intensity of early Death Metal recordings, and with Sinister is was no exception. While this release was never really part of my metal library, though it should have, even with the prior knowledge I had of this release thanks to borrowing a friend's copy for quite a while back in high school. Needless to say, I was worried about entering this recording due to the twenty four bit remastering done to it. Suffice it to say, I was quite impressed with the quality, and the fact that Metal Mind's remasters have yet to let me down was reinstated. Here's to another eight more days of Sinister!
-> Read the review of Cross the Styx here.
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| DAY THREE: Diabolical Summoning |
Diabolical Suffering is the third disc in the set. While Cross the Styx was a great album, Diabolical Summoning is by far the definitive Sinister album. The music on this feels more natural and fluid compared to the other recordings previous to it. The ferocity and intensity of Cross the Styx is matched perfectly with well paced music, a nice groove when necessary, and the digital remastering on this only enhances the recording. My blood was pounding shortly after this one started, more then it did when hearing the original pressing. This CD is one of the perfect examples of a reissue done right. amd well worth the money to add to the collection if you happen to be a fan of the style, or the bad.
-> Read the review of Diabolical Summoning here.
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| DAY FOUR: Hate & Bastard Saints |
The last of Sinister albums that Metal Mind Productions had actually reissued back in 2009, this is a split CD featuring both Hate and Bastard Saints from the mid-90's. Having this available remastered is a very nice touch. I honestly quite enjoyed the remastered version of Hate, but the Bastard Saints EP was worse then the original pressing, coming out too clean and with the edge and bite the initial release had basically removed. It was a little disheartening, but it's bound to happen when it comes to remastering material. The 2011 edition that comes in the box set does have a new live track, but the problem is that the four that appeared on the initial split CD are gone, finding them on another disc all together. It's understandable because they are better suited elsewhere in the box set, as well as to more then likely keep that intially limited pressing from having a genuine second edition available. Either way, it's a reissue that left me with mixed feelings, but with Hate it was well worth checking out.
-> Read the review of Hate & Bastard Saints here.
-> Read the review of Bastard Saints here.
-> Read the review of Hate here.
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| DAY FIVE: Aggressive Measures |
The fifth disc of the set, Aggressive Measures, introduces a new vocalist, and a new musical direction. Instead of groovey Death Metal that has a brutal atmosphere, we're given less catchy and groovey material with songs that are all somewhat similar, highly technical, and flat out brutal. The CD stands ouf nicely, and the digital remastering makes the release sound pretty damn good, making it one of the better remasters of the set. In the end, it'll mostly depend on taste. While on a critical level it's a strong album, but not one of the strongest due to the overly technical brutality and low-range gutterals, it's still a strong release from Sinister nonetheless.
-> Read the review of Aggressive Measures here.
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| DAY SIX: Creative Killings |
I will admit, prior to doing this review, I had never heard this album. I actually had to surf around the net for some high quality tracks, such as on Youtube, to base the differences of the 2011 reissue on (I do not download illegally so this was the best I could do). Honestly, it really didn't seem like much of a huge difference with this edition. I also was rather urked that this edition didn't include the Slayer cover song the previous Karmageddon Music reissue had. All in all, I was rather let down by this album, and it was pretty obvious why I had never really heard this one before. Of all the reissues in this box set, this one sounds better, but not by much, it features another live track, and it has a lot of problems. Critically or personally, I really don't see much of a reason to go out of your way to grab a better edition of this CD, but it's still worth a spin as some songs do sound a little better on here then the original pressing. So, definitely sample this version of album first, especially if you don't want the box set and just want to pick up the CDs that Metal Mind didn't reissue back in 2009, if you can even find these sold seperately of course.
-> Read the review of Creative Killings here.
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| DAY SEVEN: Savage or Grace |
Savage or Grace is one of the most bashes Sinister CDs, but still not necessarily considered as bad as Creative Killings, as the reviews for this one go all over the board from being a good album to pure garbage. It's hard to understand why people would consider this release such a bad Death Metal album in the first place, as it really isn't that bad. It just sounds much more raw and primal in comparison to other Sinister releases. Of course, the horrible altered-to-sound-male female vocals sound horrible on this release, there's no denying that in any way, shape, or form. However, the music is well done for what it is, and only really feels like the songs have a mixture between rich and open tracks. The album feels stronger at the end, but either way it's a decent release that the 2011 Reissue does manage to make sound a little stronger compared to the original. If you didn't like the initial pressing, giving this edition of the album a spin is suggested, as you may find a new appreciation for them, though it doesn't mean you'll practically orgasm for joy over it if you could not stand it the first time.
-> Read the review of Savage or Grace here.
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| DAY EIGHT: Afterburner |
This is about the time I originally learned about the existence of Sinister. I had discovered this band in a retail shop one day, and while I was, and still am, one of those guys who will buy pretty much anything from a label he likes, which happened to be Nuclear Blast upon further research of the band's name and album I saw, I immediately hit the internet to see if any friends had this CD. Luckily one did, I borrowed it, and the world opened up to me. At the time I was still in college and had actually lost the two jobs I was working, so I never did get to purchase this album and add it to the collection. Of course, Afterburner always has, and always will be a personal recomendation because of how it best represents how a reunion album should sound, coupled with the intensity and aggression, as well as the brutal atmosphere of the music, making it hard to pass up. The reissue version of it doesn't sound that different as far as the audio goes, and hearing the bonus tracks for the first time was great, though depressing to know the label released them on a different reissue in 2009. But, if you're new to Sinister, this is still a good argument to grab the Altered Since Birth box set, as it really shows the true potential this Death Metal band has to just kick your face in.
-> Read the review of Afterburner here.
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| DAY NINE: The Silent Howling |
The final CD of the Altered Since Birth box set, though not the last entry in it. While a lot of people rave about this release, it was good, but it felt a little restrained, and the title track got a little boring. Other then that, it's a superb step in the right direction. However, for a reissue, it doesn't quite stack up. Sadly, the digital remastering doesn't really do much to the quality of the album that really makes it better or worse. In fact sometimes you can't really even tell it's been altered honest outside of it being a little crisper or sharper. Personally, this is a great album, and I'm glad it's included in the set, but outside that, it's not one of the label's strong reissues, especially given there's no bonus material either, leaving it to feel like the original album thrown in to expand the set. However, to have the band's complete discography up to this release in one large set? It's well worth having this one as part of it.
-> Read the review of The Silent Howling here.
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| DAY TEN: Prophecies Denied |
The final disc to be included in this box set is nothing more then a repackaged version of the Prophecies Denied DVD. But, while this reissue doesn't necessarily have anything new to it, it's still great to have and really completes this box set. The live concert is fantastic and has a strong modern production quality, but still manages to stay raw and give off an early nineties/late eighties visual feast common to Metal around the time the band started. Of course, the bonus features are mostly just padding to make the DVD look more full then it is, but it's still worth checking out either way.
-> Read the review of Prophecies Denied here.
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Well, there you have it. It's been a long road with this box set, but I've tackled all ten discs for a total of ten days. Obviously, if you look at the updated lists on the site, this release has been a very time consuming one, especially with this article, and I honestly did not expect to spend so much time with this box set, but in the end I did, and I loved damn near every second of it. You can near read reviews of all ten discs in the set, as well as some additional reviews from the source material that makes up Demo-Nica and Hate & Bastard Saints. It was fantastic sitting down and hearing the evolution of Sinister through this box set, and I am very happy, as well as honored, to be able to add this to my collection, as well as have been able to give you such an indepth look into the music of the CDs, as well as give you a breakdown of the reissue materials themselves, though I find there's nothing much to talk about when it comes to material reissued. Hopefully these reviews and this feature will help you in deciding whether or not this box set is worth picking up, but if you're a fan of the band, hardcore or casual, this is something that should definitely peak your interest regardless of what I have to say.
So, I wish to say a big thank you to Metal Mind Productions for this review copy of the Altered Since Birth box set, and all the readers who took the time out to read the reviews of all ten discs, and the other Sinister reviews that have gone live. I would also like to take the time in this feature to mention that, in time of doing this article, I have touched base with Massacre Records, Sinister's latest home, and not only has the label put me on their promotional list, but they are also sending a copy of the band's latest album for review, which will find the entire discography being reviewed in one way or another here on Apoch's Metal Review. In addition, I have shot some questions over to Sinister themselves.
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