With the release of “Semente” Portuguese band Sinistro tries to leave a mark in the chaotic and crowded music scene by delivering a collection of darkened songs that elegantly embrace multiple music styles such as doom and shoegaze.
The opening track “Partida” portrays some fundamental elements of Sinistro’s music vision. It is immediately noticeable that Patricia Andrade’s obscurely seductive voice and alluring lamentations are the star of the show. While the main guitar riffs display the somber heaviness of traditional doom the keyboard arrangements offer atmospheric layers that often recall trip hop style and maintain an everlasting feeling of painful melancholy.
“Corpo Presente” has the vibe of a smoky tiny room with an ominous moody thick fabric filled with eclectic almost dissonant jazzy style keyboards surrounded by melodic gloomy guitars. Andrade’s vocals always add a dreamy sorrowfulness that never loses its inner sensual intensity.
The title track has a gloomy slower tempo that allows Andrade’s lustful voice to hypnotize and lure the audience into a highly atmospheric electronic maze crafted in Portishead style.
“Reliquia” evokes a shoegaze style dreamland where calm soothing melodies build an ethereal feeling of longing. Through the emotionally cinematic ensemble of bleak crunchy guitars, luminous arpeggios in crescendo and harmonious keyboard layers, Andrade’s graceful vocals hold a wistful power that effortlessly dominates the entire song.
Sinistro is showing a great potential to conquer a unique niche in the current scene and the understated sensually savage beauty of “Semente”, a loveable soundtrack for lonely rainy nights, will certainly attract a wide audience.