In light of that album's impact, it's possibly slightly unfair to label _The Silent Howling_ as a total disappointment, and whatever the new record lacks, it's certainly not short on ideas. In fact, you can practically taste the blood, sweat and tears that went into producing this disc. The trouble is that like so many others who've tried to recapture past glories, there's a sense on Sinister's eighth full-length that they simply tried too hard. The result is a decidedly un-diabolical collection of tracks that boast all the hallmarks of a noteworthy death metal release, but save for an exceptionally ambitious centrepiece in the title track, largely fails to capture the venom that some of its earlier predecessors spewed forth by the pint.