Sinister Device - Torture Chamber

Today, we're venturing into the debut album 'Torture Chamber' by Sinister Device, the solo project of Nathan Reiner from Third Realm based out of Buffalo, New York. Unlike his main Gothic-sounding band, we see Nathan trying to work in more of a harsh n'evil sound that consists of ten EBM tracks. Dark, menacing atmospheres bleeding underneath heavily distorted beats pave way for the tortured screams of Nathan Reiner that picks up where Third Realm's 2009 hit album 'Love is the Devil' left off.

Sinister Device is a cool name that makes the most of the Aggrotech idea conceived by Nathan. Listening to this album, your expectation based on the name alone will not leave you disappointed.

The cover graphics and layout have strong metal influences, but don't do justice to the evil-songs that you'll listen to; the design of the album could have been be treated better.

The first track has the unusual name of "Pseudologia Fantastica" (pathological lying e.d.). In the song, Nathan has decided to leave the melody of the verses a little poor, which has not been a good choice as it leaves the instrumental line empty, making the voice perhaps too present.

The fifth song is called "Do Or Die" and is very interesting. It has a decisive rhythm that involves great riffs of guitars and synths. It's distorted, making the song danceable, and you can hear an awesome harsh/metal style in the voice and track too, but in some places it is too dirty, with an effect a bit too noisy and muddy.

Some songs don't have enough dancefloor style and sometimes the choice of sounds is not so good, but are still pleasant to listen to. In other parts we can hear the goth influence of Third Realm; don't get confused, Sinister Device is a cool project with a concept that comes straight from hell. He should give more catchy melodies to the songs, with basslines that are more interesting; strings accompaniment and hard kicks are not enough, but rather make it all too heavy and pedantic at times.

Though this is his first production, the sound quality is not bad and has a great influence from bands like Suicide Commando, Psyclon Nine, and X-Fusion. Feb 06 2014