Sinistro - Vértice

Band:	Sinistro
Album:	Vértice
Style:	Post-metal
Release date:	October 04, 2024
A review by:	RaduP

01. Amargura
02. Elegia
03. Pontas Soltas
04. O Equivocado
05. Perfeita Encenação
06. Templo das Lágrimas

Even with a new singer at the helm, Sinistro prove that doom metal can be seductive.

The first steps that you take doing something are ones that can often be imbued into your memory much easier, so it’s no surprise that I remembered Sinistro, the band whose album served as my sixth review for the website since becoming an official reviewer. In the review I asked “a doom metal album can be crushing, haunting, desolate, melancholic or harrowing, but can it be seductive?” before giving Sangue Cássia as the perfect example of that. For a pretty long time I’ve waited for a follow-up, and instead I received the news that singer Patrícia Andrade, the one element that made the music as enchanting as it was, left the project. So I just assumed that was to be the end of it. Then Sinistro returned with a new singer. Well, well, well.

It’s safe to say that I was very skeptical of the band’s returned. What made Sangue Cássia as special as it was came specifically in the form of how the immersive post/doom/gothic sound merged with Patrícia Andrade’s Fado vocals. Take one term out of that equation and it’s likely to get imbalanced. It almost didn’t matter who the new singer would be, they would have to fight an uphill battle to fill those shoes. At the same time, Sinistro are a great band, one that already showed their strengths as an band with the instrumental Sinistro, and as one half of the aforementioned equation. Even with that very understandable skepticism, I was beyond excited to hear them again.

A new singer (and a new bassist, though that’s less instantly noticeable) later, in the form of Priscila Da Costa of Judasz & Nahimana fame, and Vértice is both a similar beast to Sangue Cássia, and a very different one. On one hand it is a natural continuation to that sound, blending the doom sound with sultry vocals in the Portuguese language. On the other hand, Priscila and Patrícia have quite different voices and tones, and whereas Patrícia had a tone that fit more with the Fado style, Priscila’s vocals blend more seamlessly with doom metal, which is a double edged sword because it makes Vértice a sturdier and proper sounding record while losing a bit of the surprise of the blend of sounds that Sangue Cássia and Semente had.

Besides that, the comparisons don’t do much disservice to Priscila, whose vocals dominate the soundscape and whose seamless integration with the rest of the sound makes it all feel grandiose and enchanting. And, as a result of Priscila’s vocals going well with the doom part of the sound, it seems like the band also focuses more on that part, diminishing the more atmospheric rock / trip-hop parts of the sound, keeping enough to create the needed soft / heavy dynamics. There’s a lot of heavy lifting done by the production that goes into making the huge parts sound colossal, meaning that even with a more focused approach, the core of what Sinistro are doing works so well. Perhaps “seductive” might not be the go-to term anymore, but “enchanting”, “elegant”, “sultry” all still work.

Out of my skepticism and my excitement, it was the latter that persevered the more I listened to Vértice. Losing a huge element in their sound was a huge bump, but one that, with some adapting, Sinistro overcame to deliver some superb and persistently unique doom.