On October 4, SINISTRO re-emerged from the pandemic and post-pandemic chaos with their first full-length studio album in five years, “Vértice.” Returning fans will note a few lineup changes—two to be exact—with the introduction of Pedro Do Vale (bass) and Priscila Da Costa (vocals). The Portuguese Post-metal band is known for their Doom-tinged, soundtrackesque music. Some people might abbreviate it to ‘Post-metal.’ Whatever you want to call it, it is both compelling and mesmerizing, immersing the listener in an expansive soundscape.

“Vértice” loosely translates to ‘vertex’ in English, or the highest point of a configuration, be it a mountain or a skyline or an emotional landscape. And thematically, the album seems to focus more on that last one—e.g. the peak of deep human experiences. The lyrics could be easily lifted and dropped into a post-modern book of poems. The music, of course, harmonizes with those lyrics, underscoring the emotive inflections and filling in with sonic colors the contours and contrasts. One listen and you get the whole ‘soundtrackesque’ assertion.

The most striking elements of SINISTRO are the vocals of Priscila Da Costa and the lush, melancholic compositions that just go on and on, shifting through a variety of movements, punched up and then subdued, twisted and then ironed smooth, descending and ascending. Each track—and there are only six of them on this 51 minute and 43 second album—is like an EP unto itself.   

Standout tracks are the opener, “Amargura” (trans: bitterness) which paints a tragic and bruised depiction of disillusioned love; “Elegia,” a dark, thick track that oscillates between Doom and ethereal; and “Templo Das Lágrimas” (trans: temple tears), a dark moving lament about a bunch of sad shit—maybe love, maybe life, maybe both.

Okay, so SINISTRO’s “Vértice” isn’t the most uplifting album on the planet, but sometimes to get over your melancholy, you need to get immersed in it . . . or at least express it and feel it as it ebbs out of you. That’s what “Vértice” is like, one big therapeutic purge. But beyond that, this is also a highly well-crafted piece of artistry. The songwriting is superb and the music, and vocal, execution is par excellence.