Sinister Realm-World Of Evil

Shadow Kingdom Records
2013

 
It was back in 2011 when we last heard from Pennsylvania-based Sinister Realm . It was the group's 2nd full-length release, "The Crystal Eye",  that drew me into their world and besides reviewing the disc, which you can link to below, I ended up interviewing the group. While I gave high marks to the album and it's retro metal style it ended up being hit or miss with fans and critics. One sticking point of contention was vocalist Alex Kristof. Many felt he was too one-dimensional for his own good. It's been awhile since I pulled out my CD copy of the album, but from what I'm hearing on "World Of Evil" he seems more then up to the challenge of leading this traditional heavy metal band. More to the point album number three, which still falls within the Black Sabbath/Dio meets Judas Priest/Iron Maiden landscape, actually shows a band that has only grown more confident in their skills as well as a group that has fine-tuned the craft of writing memorable metal. For fans of the aforementioned groups then this is an album that should be well-appreciated.  If you're worried though about another copy-cat retro metal outfit recycling well-known and even more well-loved riffs then put your mind at ease. Sinister Realm seems less like a carbon-copy on this 8-track album and more like a group that has come into it's own. From the vocals, which are really more then fine to these ears, to the guitars, which have all the markings of classic heavy metal and 80's metal,  it's all rather more original in nature and definitely more mature. There's not too much more to it then that. Simply put if you like classic heavy metal and/or traditional heavy metal (especially the big names like Black Sabbath and Judas Priest) then chances are pretty good that you'll find a lot to love about album number three from Sinister Realm.

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