With each and every passing month, more and more Rock and Metal bands crawl out of the Scandinavian woodwork, like an endless, uncontrollable plague of woodworm (albeit a very talented one!). So now we come to Sinamore, the latest Gothic Rock/Metal combo to come out of Finland, who have just unleashed their new album upon us. Suffice to say, it maintains the high level of quality control with which their particular part of the world is famed!
Previously known as Half-life, Finland's Sinamore signed to Napalm Records in the summer of 2005, after releasing an acclaimed Demo Follow Into The Cry. With this, their debut album, they walk a musical path which fits somewhere comfortably alongside fellow Scandinavians To/Die/For, Sentenced and Katatonia, melding together dark Metal riffing and melodic Goth sensibilities without sounding overly derivative.
With opening track Follow Into The Cry, the band immediately set out their stall, managing to sound both powerful and thought-provoking. It is a pattern which continues for the duration of the album's ten tracks, with little deviation from the gameplan. In fact, it could be argued that it is this relatively homogeneous approach to the songwriting that detracts from the album's overall impact. It is true that the appearance of guest vocalist Tuomas Saukkon of Before The Dawn, who contributes harsh vocals on Drama For Two, brings some much-needed variety to proceedings.
Overall, there are many positives on this record. While the style is fairly consistent throughout, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Whether they chose to expand on the potential for expansion shown on Drama For Two, only time will tell, but with quality songs like Misery Carnival on show, it's clear that Sinamore are ones to watch out for.