Sinistro’s previous album Semente made a strong impression, merging together elements of doom with cinematic post rock and trip hop to create a sound that stood out in the genre. Two years later the Portuguese group has returned with Sangue Cássia, which takes the base of its predecessor and expands further outwards in both scope and track length. It takes a little bit longer to get going and some of the more adventurous genre explorations don’t come until the halfway point, but Sinistro has still delivered a worthy follow-up and another album that’s capable of putting listeners under its spell.
Where Semente eased into things slowly, this time around the band chooses to start things off on the expansive side with “Cosmos Controle”. Starting off with the longest track your album has to offer is always a gutsy move, but it allows the instrumentalists to showcase both sides of their sound perfectly. For those who are newcomers to Sinistro, what this means is there is interplay between crushing instrumentation that brings doom, post metal, and sludge to mind alongside eerier melodies that have a cinematic feel to them. Admittedly the first couple of songs don’t stray too far from the writing style that the group showcased previously, but the hooks are still strong enough to keep you interested. As you make your way further into Sangue Cássia is where the differences start to become clearer, as the instrumental tone channels trip hop, desert rock, and other ambient rock styles. Some of these Sinistro hinted at before, but they’ve been taken to another level and the dark yet playful atmosphere on display is truly enticing. “Vento Sul” in particular is a highlight, with its guitar leads and bass lines bringing vivid imagery of a windswept landscape to mind.
Patrícia Andrade’s vocals are once again one of the main factors that are likely to draw listeners to Sinistro’s material. That’s not to say that there aren’t plenty of powerful riffs and haunting melodies throughout, but when you have a singer with this much of a presence it makes a significant difference. Andrade’s voice soars over each song with an ethereal feel, channeling equal amounts of power and melancholy. There’s a significant amount of emotion in each and every word, and while some of the playfulness to the performance that was present on Semente is present here the overall tone is a bit more serious. It’s the type of pitch that grabs you from the very start and sticks with you even after you’ve turned the album off, and it’s great to see that Sinistro continues to make the most out of such a stunning voice.
Sangue Cássia pushes the group’s established sound towards further exploration of the trip hop, post rock, and other melodic elements hinted at previously. It does take some time to branch out and a few of the other longer moments drag ever so slightly, but there’s still a wealth of breathtaking hooks and vocal work to keep listeners coming back. I still like Semente a slight bit more, but it’s great to see Sinistro continue to push themselves and create doom and post metal that’s pretty different from what everyone else is doing. Sangue Cássia is out now on Season of Mist.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
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