Review Summary: Saudade doom from a promising band.
Most people associate the term “mood music” with relaxing, calming and soothing compositions, specially created to reflect certain senses of peacefulness and tranquillity. But what if you’re in a bad mood and all you want to do is scream, flip tables and curse the world? Or perhaps you want to hear music that sounds like a dark, ominous cinematic experience, perfect for nights of solitude. In answer to the former, I’d recommend Napalm Death. As for the latter, an upcoming doom band from Portugal named Sinistro.
Sinsitro’s sophomore album, “Semente”, is incredibly flexible and each of the seven songs reveals a specific identity during in the album’s gracious dynamic. Not only is Sinistro’s approach at delivering their post metal vivid, it’s also multifaceted. There’s a thick tone to the guitars that dishes out the repetitively crushing blows, particularly in ‘Partida’, and a grandiose ambience in ‘Corpo Presente’ materialises when every member aligns in a cacophonous way. In contrast, within the same tracks, and dotted around the album, there are a number of juxtaposing sounds that create the eerie atmosphere Sinistro shroud themselves in. Trip hop is found in ‘A Visita’ to bring about a curious, spacey and alienated aspect, while fragile and timbre guitars sound almost industrial in the title track. However, the most versatile feature of “Semente” comes in the shape of its vocalist, Patricia Andrade.
Andrade is the brightest star in Sinistro. Her voice is mellifluously seductive throughout “Semente” which makes it seem like the lumbering instrumentalism merely acts as a strong foundation for her to stand on. Her sultry singing takes precedence in ’Rel*quia’ where she dons a sorrowful tenor that glides effortlessly atop the fragile guitars, finally releasing her full capabilities with heart-wrenching cooing towards the climax of the requiem. However, beneath this enchanting façade dwells a sinister persona, full of yearning, longing and ominous intent. In ‘Fragmento’ her singing is menacingly composed. With a slight shift in pitch, she transforms from this alluring temptress into a foreboding character, adopting this calm and collected attitude to enhance the song’s dark, dominative riffs for the final 5 minutes. And on a related note, if you ever get the chance to see them live, all eyes will be fixated on her interesting interpretive dancing. It’s like observing a broken ballerina, and it totally matches the crooked music that the band broadcasts on stage.
The band crafted this album to sound like it’s intended to be played as background music, or simply absorbed as ‘mood music’. Yet this statement seems rather contradictory considering the fact that each member displays prominence in their performances. In fact, there’s this invisible feeling of restraint that “Semente” emits where you only feel temporarily captured under Sinistro’s spell. At 44 minutes, it’s easily digestible for a doom record, although whether it’s the feelings of yearning that Sinsitro illustrate or the fact that every song follows the same rule: sinister and eerie but also light-hearted, you feel a craving for there to be more involvement. Nevertheless, Sinsitro has created a compelling Doom meets Trip-Hop on the way to Post-Rock store album that will undoubtedly earn them numerous followers for fans of My Dying Bride and Alcest.
