Creative Killings

Creative Killings is Sinister's first album featuring the band's new singer, Rachel Heyzer (formerly of Occult). Despite what some might think, her vocals are actually very in tune with the death metal style circa 2001. And although the band has been accused of hiring her strictly for publicity reasons (there are very few females in the genre), she is probably Sinister's best vocalist up to this point. The band sounds great on this album, chugging along with songs that combine the best elements of its previous releases (i.e., great riffs and savage playing) with a production style that had not been tried before. Sounding like Rick Rubin's work on Slayer's Divine Intervention, the clearer sound and tighter drums really emphasize the solid music found here. The album does suffer a little from going long, a problem that most of the albums in the genre are guilty of. Luckily, the music changes up just enough to keep it from dragging the album down too far, making for an engaging listen. Fans of death metal should know that this is one of Sinister's best releases; the group has definitely made a lot of progress and singer Heyzer is not just a publicity magnet.