UMUR
"Sacramental Carnage" is the second demo recording by Dutch death metal act Sinister. The demo was independently recorded and released in April 1991. It´s the successor to the March 1990 "Perpetual Damnation" demo and it was recorded by the same quartet lineup who recorded the first demo. While the original cassette tape version of the demo is a hard find, the material from the demo has since been included on various compilations and box sets, so it´s relatively easy to find today.
The demo features seven tracks and a total playing time of 27:17 minutes, but only three are new tracks as the four tracks closing the demo are re-recordings of the four tracks from the "Perpetual Damnation" demo. Six of the seven tracks would make it unto Sinister´s debut full-length studio album "Cross the Styx" (January 1992, Nuclear Blast Records), while the left out track "Lacivious Desolation" would resurface and be included on Sinister´s sixth full-length studio album "Savage or Grace" (May 2003, Nuclear Blast Records).
Sinister play a relatively brutal type of old school death metal, influenced greatly by contemporary US artists like Deicide and Cannibal Corpse. The musicianship are on a high level on all posts and the growling vocals are brutal and convincing. While the demo features a relatively raw recording quality, it is overall a well sounding recording, which which could easily have passed for a "regular" studio recording.
There´s a level of professionalism here that you won´t get on many late 80s/early 90s death metal demo releases, and "Sacramental Carnage" is through and through a quality release by Sinister, and it´s no wonder that Nuclear Blast Records signed the band upon listening to this demo. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.