For the longest time, the old school has had a death grip upon the underground in such a form that is simply intense in damn near every given form. We’ve seen legions upon legions of acts come around trying to offer their glory to what those lessons taught many of its past and current acolytes with success understandably varying from one act to another. As such, it can be in the most unassuming places that one can find glory that adheres to those classic teachings while still managing to bring a little bit more into such a mix. With their very first effort, Dreaming Death is such an example.

A common issue that’s to be found with any band trying to do right by the old school is the simple but devastating trap of not doing anything interesting with your sound. That’s something that many struggle to deliver as it can be outright effortless or even unintentional to simply copy your influences and make something that feels uninspired even if you’re trying your best to do otherwise. You can still put forth something that doesn’t reinvent the wheel whatsoever and find excellence so long as you go about it the right way such as what Dreaming Death does throughout the five tracks of their debut effort, “Sinister Minister”. A somewhat unassuming effort at a first glance, what’s to be found within this effort is nothing short of what has always kept us coming back to slimy, writhing death metal such as this that can only rise from the darkest of crypts where the undeath reigns wholly supreme. Dripping with menace and overflowing with the thrashy terror that made the original decade of death metal such a different beast from what we have today, Dreaming Death channels many of the same flavors and touches upon the exact notions that many try to bring to the table throughout the underground. Setting themselves apart from the competition with a real understanding for the genre with more than a few bouts of intoxicating melody between the ripping solos and murderous riffs, this is a breed of the underground we don’t often get to bear witness to anymore even as throngs do their best to do so.

Death metal like this is why the old school approach has persisted for so long. A work that wholly takes into account its influences while constantly making room for its own flavors and personality to come into the mix, “Sinister Minister” has the DNA of a band that can really make an impression upon its listeners beyond what it already accomplishes in these five tracks. Unyielding in no uncertain terms and madness inflicted upon undeath of a particularly devilish variety, Dreaming Death already makes itself known as an act to be respected and watched from here on out.

LISTEN to “Sinister Minister” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Dreaming Death on Facebook here.