Fostering their own take on doomy and gloomy, Sinistro have been garnering more and more support with each passing release. Dark, sullen, and full of mood, it’s also hard not to discuss vocalist Patricia Andrade’s impact on the band’s sound. Their third full-length, Sangue Cassia, sits just as strongly as their last release, Semente, and is equally deserving of some accolades.
Sinistro’s dark merger of doom, post-metal, and sludge continues to be just as sophisticated and bleak as anything they’ve done in the past. One doesn’t normally toss in terms like sophistication with metal (at least the more bludgeoning forms), but it’s hard not to listen to an album like Sangue Cassia and not imagine it being played in the back of some artsy club. Perhaps it’s the entirely non-metallic vocal approach of Andrade that gives it that particular vibe – she contrasts the band’s mammoth riffing with a lighter presence that brings Sinistro into their own territory. A territory that’s mostly owned (as with much of post-metal) by atmosphere. It’s easy to sit down and let the music just move through you as once continuous piece. Not that peaks and valleys don’t exist within it (the massive riffs of “Cravo Carne” come to mind as particularly standout), but heavy and mostly plodding riffing benefits from drawing you into the music and really feeling its presence. It’s like a melancholic soundtrack at times, enhanced by sinister riffs and beautiful vocal work.
Esoteric, murky, and occasionally even whimsical, Sinistro continue to build on their sound in exciting ways with Sangue Cassia. Rare is the band that can settle into a defined style and still be able to call it their own, but Sinistro have no problem living up to that assessment.