Review by Denis on May 9, 2003.

Starting in 1998, Sinister welcomed their first day as a death metal band. Signed to Nuclear Blast in 1991, the first of quite a few albums came out in 1992. Having a new record deal and CD in 2001, Sinister got a new singer: Rachel; but one thing remained: their faithfulness to what they do best; death metal.

Sinister delivers a death metal syringe that sticks to its original basics: heavy, raw, and brutal with the usual lethal weapons. Their music could be described as head banging, hectic and fast brutality. Don't let the first song 'Relic of Possession' throws you off by its ambient and acoustic melodic darkness because it's only an introduction to a very beastie and meaty death metal. Don't think either that the fact that the lead vocalist is named Rachel, will give a sweet or romantic feel to the compositions, because her voice is as deep and rough as any guy on the market. What you get is simply called good death metal done by excellent musicians. But simple music it is not. Fast, in constant evolution yes. Slow, doomier passages are also found on songs like 'Bleeding Towards the Wendigo' and 'Reviving the Dead.' Besides the usual great riffs, you'll get to hear some very weird ones on 'Early Gothic Horror.' For me the best song is the closing number 'Storm in my Mind.' Just the great solo of the intro is a real jaw dropper but they also added a frequent mode shifting in the progressive structure and a very scary vocal part, to close the opus.

Bottom Line: An intricate and devastating primal Death metal recording.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Originality: 7
Production: 8.5
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7.8 out of 10

Review by Krys on December 7, 2001.

Most of you are probably very familiar with one of the Holland’s most brutal death metal formation - Sinister. For some fans they are a cult band, one of the best of its kind. For others, it’s always a little short of getting to the top of the class and, with a little disappointment, I have to say that “Creative Killings” won’t help us break out from this deadlock one way or another.

In one sentence, their latest epic is a very, I repeat, very solid death metal album but something is missing here to make it great. To further explain my point, consider the fact that throughout the whole 36 minutes of fast and brutal music only one track, the title track, stuck in my head (can sing it in the shower).

I’m not saying that the rest of it was bad, but I have the feeling that there is too much of a good thing here. I never thought I would say something like that; I must be overworked! Each song has its moments, great riffs, drumming or interesting arrangements but in the end it all seems to melt together without leaving a lasting impression. If I listen to each song separately most of the time they just blow my mind off but as a whole, shoot me and I still won’t be able to tell you which track is which. All tracks seem to be written using a standard, good old template that doesn’t allow for any experiments or innovations and that’s probably the biggest flaw of this release.

Or maybe I’m concentrating too much on their new vocalist, Rachel; a female that can overshadow a good percentage of today’s growlers on death metal scene. Holy shit, you have to hear this to believe it. Where is she getting it from? And if that wasn’t enough I can see most of the male crowd holding their ‘jewels’ during the concert while having filthy thoughts rather than listening to the music. If she’s a death angel, I’m ready to go.

Bottom Line: Pure in-your-face death metal that will satisfy most of the fans of this genre. I’m just not sure if it’ll bring any new ones.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 8
Atmosphere: 7
Production: 8
Originality: 6
Overall: 7

Rating: 7.2 out of 10

Review by Allan on November 12, 2002.

The Swedish metal scene as of the past few years has been swamped with melodic death metal clones. They’re everywhere, and it seems as if it’s the only thing that Sweden has the ability to churn out. Despite the fact that Sweden is quickly digging itself into a hole, there are still respectable acts doing their own thing. That’s where Pandemonium and their new album "Insomnia" make their entrance.

Pandemonium’s sound it’s somewhat unique. I’m not saying that what they’re doing hasn’t been done before, but it hasn’t developed into a style that can easily replicated or called generic. The core of Pandemonium’s sound is early Swedish melodic metal, surrounded by both progressive and death metal.

While listening to Pandemonium you’ll notice that they hold a bit more than just the basics. Along with the influences, they also offer you keyboards and three vocalists. These different elements in Pandemonium’s music have been influenced by progressive music, as one can clearly tell by the Andromeda-esque keyboard style, clean vocals, and song structure.

The keyboards aren’t limited to only joyful sounding melodies. Many times the keyboards create a haunting backdrop for the music. At times they’ll also make their way to the foreground and take the lead, or serve as a transitional piece between songs. The vocalist approach is also a particularly nice feature of Pandemonium’s music. Pandemonium has three different vocalists: clean, black, and death - each of them decent at their respective style. At times Pandemonium also do vocal layering between the different styles, which together sound excellent. My only gripe about the vocals is that due to the production, the clean vocals are really low in the mix. They’re audible but they struggle to be heard amongst the instrumentation.

What Pandemonium should concentrate on at this point is developing their composition abilities further. They’re good, and the songs are able to keep the listeners attention fixated on the music, but some of the segments and transitions could have been developed further. Pandemonium could also work on tying the themes of their songs in more tightly, seeing as sometimes the different sections don’t exactly work extremely well together.

Bottom Line: If you love melodic metal but have grown tired from the lack of innovation, Pandemonium can offer you a new take on the sound while bringing in new elements instead of sticking to the basics.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 7
Musicianship: 7
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 6
Overall: 7.5

Rating: 7 out of 10