SACRED SIN - PORTUGAL

SACRED SIN - ANGUISH.. I HARVEST - GRIMMDISTRIBUTION  
This is such a baffling re-release. Why? Simply stated the band and music have a dearth of interesting music or the ability to sustain the few decent riffs and rhythms they throw at the listener. In other words, this should not have been released in the first place originally in 1999, let alone be picked up, re-packaged, tagged with rehearsal material and shipped out again in 2019. The music is typical Portuguese. It is embarrassingly weak, inconsistent, laden with synthesizers and the vocals are subpar... not just subpar, but also sub-mixed and barely audible (well depends which track is on), which is fine as they are nothing to write home about. Look at the cover. It looks like they aborted the zygote in the nick of time.
Sacred Sin is likely classifiable as black/death metal, but the music is a mishmash of ideas and often not the band's own. Riffs from different albums by different bands can be heard all over this. The wimpy keyboards wash over simplistic riffs that cover the weaker vocals. It is regretful as the band can be heavy and fast with the guitars and bass - no one can hear the drums, so never mind it - but this Sadus-meets-Sadist-meets-Nocturnus stuff is well below average. There are so many better bands out there that one has to ask himself, 'why listen to this?' Astral sounds like the theme music to a TV crime serial for a minute before switching to Dream Theater the next. The best track Ghoul Plagued Darkness has a touch of Sodom in it and a cool guitar solo, but the synthesisers remind us these guys are wussy Portuguese idiots. Profane has a neat touch of Morbid Angel and is brutal, but wait... that’s not the good Morbid Angel. It is the stupid Morbid Angel i.e. Nocturnus. Feathers Black has stronger riffs and likely copying Samael. The Shining Trapezoid follows and is repetitious as the riff is used over and over. Enraptured begins the bonus track section of the CD, which is a rehearsal demo from 1997, and has the shedding guitarist try his hand at Classical music. It is all too thin and treble to mean anything. Likely the word ‘bonus’ is the wrong choice here anyway. You have guessed it by now of course, but the sound quality here is even worse than the album's proper tracks.
Anguish... I Harvest is probably an appropriate title for this disc and only of interest either to trivia fans to play a game of 'where did I hear that riff first?' or anyone who originally bought this album, enjoyed it (friends and family) and wants to get the additional material now. They even have a baby crying somewhere on the album in order to annoy the listener even more. The CD will not make a return appearance at Metallian Towers. – Ali “The Metallian”