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