Sinister

Fourteen albums into a career that began in Schiedam in 1988, Sinister have kept their death metal focus intact. The only member present throughout is Aad Kloosterwaard, whose drumming and later vocals have anchored the band through many line-up changes. Their sound sits squarely in the heavy core of the genre, and that consistency is what defines them.

The most recent of those albums, Deformation of the Holy Realm, arrived in 2020. Earlier, the band played Wacken Open Air in August 2003, then went quiet until 2005. On their return, Aad Kloosterwaard had moved from drums to vocals, and the line-up has been rebuilt around him since, with Walter Bokito Tjwa on guitar, Simon Skrlec on drums and Aleša Kloosterwaard on bass. By October 2023 the fifteenth album was finished and in the studio for mixing and mastering, with a release date still to be confirmed.