SINNERY

SINNERY "Black Bile"

By Dr. Abner Mality

I gave this Israeli band every chance but in the end, I can't give them a straight thumbs up. One thing's for sure, the energy is here in spades and the heaviness to a degree, but it's just the quality of songwriting that lets "Black Bile" down.

SINNERY claim to be straight up thrash, but despite the very SLAYERish cover art, I'd put this more in the realm of LAMB OF GOD and MACHINE HEAD than really heads down oldschool mayhem. There's a METALLICA vibe as well, but more latter day METALLICA. Things start out fairly strong with the rush of "The Burning" and the title track...they definitely play with fire...but the sound becomes very generic as the album goes on. Alon Karnieli's vocals are raw screams that sound like a million other guys, sometimes trying for a death metal grumble, and then on the other end, a sort of awful KORN-style whine. Songs like "Anti-Tribe" and "Sever" are very by the numbers and by the end of the album, "Here Below" and "Holes" start to sound like MACHINE HEAD with a mix of low-key nu-metal and modern groove thrash. It's not horrible, but it's not terribly memorable either.

SINNERY just need to keep at it, try to refine their songwriting and bring something more unique to the game. The basic components of a strong band are there.

EXITUS STRATAGEM RECORDS

SINNERY