UMUR
"Diabolical Summoning" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Dutch death metal act Sinister. The album was released through Nuclear Blast Records in 1993. Since the release of the band´s debut full-length studio album "Cross the Styx (1992)" original guitarist/bassist Ron van de Polder has left and has been replaced by bassist Bart van Wallenberg. "Diabolical Summoning" is often mentioned as the peak of Sinister´s discography. A promotion video was filmed for the track "Leviathan".
Stylistically we´re dealing with a techncially well played and rather brutal type of death metal. It´s US influenced and it´s bands like Deicide, early Cannibal Corpse, and when the band are most technical Suffocation, that I´m reminded of. The sound production, which is courtesy of Colin Richardson, somewhat reminds me of the first couple of Gorguts albums. It´s a typical early nineties US sounding death metal production and I was actually a bit surprised to learn, that "Diabolical Summoning" was recorded at TNT Studios in Gelsenkirchen, Germany and not at Morrisound Studios in Florida, USA.
The band is well playing and Mike van Mastrigt is quite the impressive growler. He is placed high in the mix and sounds really brutal yet intelligible enough not to sound monotone. Drummer Aad Kloosterwaard also deserves a mention for his skillful playing. The tracks are all of a relatively high quality, but because of the lack of melodic elements and sparse catchy hooks, it´s probably not an easy album to get into or remember unless you are a seasoned death metal listener. The tracks vary pace quite a lot and employ both heavy brutal grooves as well as fast-paced aggressive sections.
"Diabolical Summoning" is definitely a recommendable early nineties death metal album if you enjoy the more brutal take on the genre. Personally I find most of the tracks lacking in memorability and therefore I can´t give more than a 3.5 star (70%) rating even though it is an overall great album.