Review by Adam M on March 16, 2017.

Sinister performs a very old school take on death metal, but with a new twist. Their style evokes classics like Entombed and Dismember, yet parallels the new music landscape as well by showing their Vital Remains influence at the forefront.

The overall mix not the strongest, but allows the punishing death metal to effect its purpose. The mid-paced grooves of the band are addicting and help cement the songs in the person’s head. The tempo the band performs at suits their wares and is very effective for a death metal excursion. The similarities in the band are of an older day of death metal. There is the usual evil approach that the likes of Vital Remains perfected and is capitalized on here. The songs feel very nefarious sounding overall. The similarities to Entombed and Dismember are more in the mid-paced grooves of the song and not their overall presence. The entirety of the music is indeed compelling and brings a new death metal conqueror to the fold. The problem here is that the music isn’t particularly innovative and doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the fold. This lets the music drag a bit and never reach its full potential. Still, the music performances are solid. The guitars buzz along at a nice pace and complement the music perfectly. The drumming is a stone pillar beneath the songs that gives them the support and backdrop they need.

If this band can move beyond their influences into their own field of play and innovate more greatly, I suspect promising things for the future. As it stands, there is a lot of classic death metal to worship on this platter. It has the ability to dig back into memory and bring out some memorable moments. Syncretism is a solid piece of death metal handiwork.

Rating: 7.7 out of 10

Review by Jack on October 16, 2002.

For such an aptly named band, how could one possibly conceive Frost to play anything but the cold, dark and heathenous black metal that Darkthrone and Burzum are famous for? Well if you guessed that “Cursed Again” is the sort of album that you would enjoy if you were a bit partial to Khold’s “Phantom” and Darkthrone’s “Plaguewielder” then you are pretty much on the money.

This is an album steeped in the icy ridden peaks of dark humanity and is void of any vibrant emotions closely associated with power metal. Frost’s many demos were called "Filthy Black Shit", and this is completely and perfect reflection of the music they play; not to mean ‘shit’ as in a derogatory term, but more useful in likening ‘shit’ to ‘stuff’. So one should read "Filthy Black Shit" as ‘Filthy Black Stuff’ for the purposes of this paragraph.

Raw drums constantly playing ‘something’ bpm backed by undecipherable vocals atop murky guitars forms the basis for “Cursed Again”. Fans of the bands Anaal Nathrakh, Aborym and Mistress will find solace that Irrumator mans the skins for Frost.

In essence my critique of “Cursed Again” is that this is the sort of album that will find instant appeals for the ‘true black metal fans’, but what is most applauding about this record is that Frost, I feel will be able to successfully deliver this brand of black metal to new metal markets. If you couldn’t abide the shit awful production of Darkthrone, but thought they had some good musical vision, then perhaps Frost is the ticket for you.

Bottom Line: Dark, frosty black metal from Frost. If you like it grim and foreboding then “Cursed Again” is an album for you. If you have an inclination towards checking out the ‘true black metal’, this is one of the best starts you could make.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 6.5
Atmosphere: 7.5
Production: 7
Originality: 7
Overall: 7

Rating: 7 out of 10