It is back to the history of some of the most gruesome of Death Metal bands in The Netherlands. Nowadays I refer to them as a sort of a surviving crew under the leadership of one persistent and dedicated Metalhead. Yes, that is the Dutch Death dealers, SINISTER, back in the days when their current vocalist, Adrie "Aad" Kloosterwaard, was their man sitting and bashing behind the skins. Recollecting old memories of the band's past, the Polish Metal Mind Productions, which already reissued the earlier relics of the Dutchmen, reissue SINISTER's 1998 album "Aggressive Measures". A change of scenery maybe? Not even close.

As I stick to the notion that nothing has really changed with SINISTER's approach towards Death Metal, at a time when extreme Metal, and Metal in general, again began lifting their heads and slowly mock the Alternative nation, even a lineup change, which affected half of the lineup of four, preserved the band's musical patterns. Eric de Windt, a drummer in origin, replaced the guttural menace Mike Van Mastrigt while Alex Paul took on the bass following the departure of Michel Alderliefsten. If you think about it, you would notice the dominant figure that is Aad Kloosterwaard as SINISTER remained true to the same image and devouring music that represented them back when they started in the late 80's, keeping it strictly straightforward, savage and unrelentingly ghastly.

"Aggressive Measures" isn't what you would necessarily refer to as multifaceted or varied. It is pretty much the same demolishing and classic brutalized Death Metal experience, surging with punchy notes, rather simplistic arrangements, nothing too shabby or even with an attempt to be original. For rhythm guitar fans of old school Death Metal, I believe that you would found yourself here. However, it might get repetitive at times as SINISTER has never really about diversifying their tunes but maintaining the same traditional easiness in a meaty kind of way. "Chained in Reality" might be a rather different chip in the band's songlist, quite groovier than the others, serving a quality guitar solo, and in a way a song structure that is uncanny in comparison to older creations. Of course that there are the traditional SINISTER goodies of the kick in the throat kind al'a "Beyond the Superstition", "Enslave the Weak" and "Emerged with Hate", however even with these songs' prowess and drive, with the applying of decisive riffing that sent me headbanging hard, it is vastly similar to their older tunes from the first three albums. Therefore, if you were looking for a first time innovation out of these guys, guess again, you won't get it here.

It is hard for me to deny the band's commending existence in Death Metal music. Even if a tad repetitive and stubbornly straightforward, "Aggressive Measures" is a solid steel meat grinder of the old Death Metal message and without a doubt it has to be checked out.