Sinisthra – “Last of the Stories of Long Past “Glories
Not exactly a happy bunch, this one. OK, well, some bands are melancholic, but this is more melancholic. The vocals are moody, a little desperate, crooning-centered and a bit dark. The moody vocals bring to mind music of all kinds that shares this type of mood, like The Smiths/Morrisey, The Cure, Danzig, Alice in Chains, Stillborn, Entwine, Sentenced, Fall of the Leafe, etc. You know, that kind of mood. However, this music is pretty mellow and it’s not really all that metal, but more like guitar-ish rock, with lots of we-got-the-blues sort of feeling, not so much in the guitars, but definitely in the vocals. I hate to say it this way: they sound very Finnish; winter music. There are some keyboards, but not too much, mostly for background that gives way to the vocals and guitars. It’s not good to generalize too much, but I do think fans of the Finnish melancholic sound will be interested. How good is this album? I think it succeeds musically, for sure. I listened to this only five or so times because, frankly, I find this too depressing (but that’s exactly why some people listen to it, isn’t it?). The music is not slow. It’s moody and croony and grey and has plenty of upbeat moments, but the overall blue mood is, achieved through the vocals, is pretty pervasive overall. Good album, but not for fans of music that “rocks.”