Rating: 9.6

Country: The Netherlands

Release Date: 2006

Record Label: Nuclear Blast/Candlelight USA

Track list:
1 The Grey Massacre
2 Altruistic Suicide
3 Men Down
4 Afterburner
5 Presage of the Mindless
6 Into Submission
7 The Riot Crossfire
8 Flesh of the Servant

Band Website: Sinister

Sinister - Afterburner

Aad Kloosterwaard: Vocals
Alex Paul: Guitar/Bass
Paul Beltman: Drums

This is the album I hoped I would hear, but assumed I never would. The Sinister “comeback”. The powerful menace, the monolith of aggression, the return of the beast… Sinister's vengeance. The band many of us thought was dead well before it was officially announced…has returned to force upon the legions a dominant, proud album full of vitality not heard in a long, long time, and variety never heard at all!

I'm proud again to call myself a Sinister fan and this album gives me a special feeling deep down inside, I'm so thankful I have an album like this in my collection that makes me smile with the knowledge that yes I DO listen to the most superior music on Earth.…But of course such feelings are largely due to the fact that the previous two albums were so terrible, and so embarrassing, that even I a hardcore Sinister devotee could not seem to stomach or enjoy or take any pride in. Two albums Sinister should have never even been released, at least with the great Sinister name on them!!! I could saturate this review with my negative thoughts and feelings towards the “Rachel era” but I will not. Let it be said what is known: she was never the right voice for Sinister and the music on those two albums was almost as weak and soulless as her “vocals”. It has been said and we shall move forward.

Sonically 'AfterBurner' may very well be the best sounding Sinister recording to date. Clear, yet heavy and thunderous. Every instrument is discernable from the next and never drags itself through mud, yet thankfully is not over polished or synthetic in any way. The drum sound is the best since 'Diabolical Summoning' and I think, with good reasoning it may be the best guitar sound on a Sinister record. A robust soundscape void of any damning flaws, the bass could be higher-but I feel that way for all albums!

“What of the vocals” you ask? Fear not! As we all know, Mike's vocals will always be Sinister's best, after all Mike has/had one of the all time great deathmetal voices. Thankfully though, Aad is as close as we could have ever hoped to get. A voice very similar to Mike's, except perhaps thicker and lower-essentially however, the same. So there you have it-better vocals than Rachel, better vocals than Eric's on 'Aggressive Measures'-right on par with Mike. No faults, no reason to complain!

From the opening minute, I know, I feel, I am overwhelmed-Sinister is back and perhaps better than one could ever fathom. “The Grey Massacre” is a colossal opener and for the first time after 'Diabolical Summoning' the album starts right off with pure DeathMetal rather than an intro. Everything is instantly better; the production, the quality of riffs, the power and rage behind it all. Everything crushes you against a wall and commands total war on all that is weak! This is what Sinister needed to do-just absolutely suffocate our existence with hostile force. An aggressive throw back to earlier times!

“Altruistic Suicide” kicks into total “throw your fucking brain all over the godamned place” mode and continues to break your neck in a variety of angles and directions. An instant Sinister classic crossing the style of 'Hate' with the no frills punishment of 'Aggressive Measure'… just before a KILLER slowed down midpaced “you must simultaneously head bang and mosh” riff/solo piece… SO cool!!! I must mention the solos on these songs are great-all fairly short but each have perfect placement and don't ever seem random or “soloing just because we can”, a nice touch of class and taste!

Next is “Men Down” which is the first of a few near epic length tracks-and already a first in a long career of this band. I enjoy this song-but it pales in comparison to the “other long songs”, which I will praise when I get to them. “Men Down” is the first track to start midpaced and continue that way, it's perhaps the only close link to any album after 'Aggressive Measures'-but is still much better than those! About 4 and a quarter minutes in we hear some grizzled old fellow talking about the horrors of war “when you put your hand into a bunch of goo, that moments before was your best friend's face…” directly after that, great slow, sad riff along with marching drums and a glorious solo, definitely different than anything you've heard on a Sinister but it fits!!!

Next, the title track, back to something similar to 'Hate', with a strong overlaying sense of dark melody and emotion. Probably one of the most “personal” Sinister tracks I have ever heard. All of these songs have so much character behind each of them that separate themselves, yet still link them all together. …Much more than a collection of riffs and blast beats! By this time in the release you know damn well you are listening to one hell of an album! And THEN the chorus kicks in… so much POWER! So much PRIDE! Godamn, it's a great time to be a fan of Sinister! At around 4 minutes, near the end of the track, a fantastic solo followed by the powerful and proud chorus, just beautiful.

Up next, the epic, the glorious epic: “Presage of the Mindless”. Single handedly the most daring, passionate, awe inspiring Sinister song ever recorded. If there is one song on this album that proves Sinister has so much more to say, so much more for us to hear and experience; it is this song. For the most part a mid paced song with an absolutely killer primary riff that you'd have to hear to fully enjoy, but before the 3 minute point we're greeted with deathmetal done somewhat similar to the 'Diabolical Summoning' era. A false climax comes with a short solo and back into the “diabolical” riffing into a second longer solo followed by background harmonics and… baaaaaaack into that AWESOME riff that is the focal point. You need to hear this!!! Oooh, I love this; back into the ol' 'Diabolical Summoning' style-right when you weren't even prepared for it, only to be a SECOND false climax, into that focal point riff…slowly fading into obscurity, Beyond awesome.

Next up, probably the most straight forward cut, and maybe my least favorite just for that reason. “Into Submission” would best be described as the album's “The Cursed Mayhem” or “Mythical Illusions” the song that while may not be up to par with the insta-classics, is still a damn strong song on it's own. Some smooth, groovy riifing, similar to some stuff on Houwitser's last album-though done with a more “sinister” twist.

Following is “The Riot Crossfire” the pit frenzy song!!! A couple of ultra cool solos on this one that make me grin like a total idiot and thrash my head around while bouncing in my seat a bit. A fun track, I'd love to hear this one live and geek out for it-especially when the song gets chaotic! And what killer riffing after 2 minutes or so!!! The kinda stuff that makes you grit your teeth like you're about to ski downhill right into a thorn bush-on purpose. Rrrright back into that oompa mosh riff/beat and it's over! Just before the “epic” closer…

“Flesh of the Servant” , a cut bringing together again the styles of 'Hate' and 'Aggressive Measures', starting with a somewhat groovy hook before bleeding into something much more eerie and even sick (and by that I don't mean “sick and brutal bro” I mean, demented-depraved, maybe even a little unstable!). Some nasty atmosphere created by Sinister around 3 minutes in, a demonic laughter followed by Aad really retching out some evil makes for a killer moment not heard by Sinister in ages. Immediately following is something that I could only refer to as a Nile moment (!!!), if only briefly back into something VERY similar to the style on 'Hate', you'll hear it when you hear it! The song nears it's end with a final grooving-yet dark and morbid riff and the same Hate style portion and then hooks itself back into the first minute's groove riffing. All of this before switching all the way back into a hook heard earlier… Up, down, back, forth, The song that goes everywhere-yet somehow follows a specific direction and idea, nothing short of incredible.

And that's it…And it might be the best Sinister record I've heard since 'Cross the Styx' which will always remain my favorite. But this… Wow, what an incredible and jaw dropping MASTERPIECE!!! Forget the “Rachel era”, just put it all behind you and get this, IMMEDIATELY. This is the album Sinister knew they had to make and while my expectations where high, never-ever did I expect them to be shattered by this glorious “much more than a” return to form. One of the year's true highlights and a mandatory buy for all Sinister fans old, new, and in between!


ALL HAIL THE MIGHTIER THAN EVER SINISTER FOREVER MORE!!!!!!!!

July 20th, 2006