Mixing the moody melodicism of The Cure with the amplified crunch of heavy metal, Sinnergod’s second album has brought a bit of northern gloom to TBFM towers this month. This self-titled effort is a confident and well executed affair that’s brimming over with atmosphere and could only be more Gothic if it made mist billow out of the speakers. That said, it’s also got some significant muscle behind it and while Sinnergod have plenty for the old romantics to enjoy in-between trips to Whitby, they’re not afraid to rock out when the need calls.
Not that you’d know from the opening ‘Dead Of Night.’ A distinctly eighties flavoured introduction, it’s a terrific song with loads of melodic keyboard parts and a nicely memorable chorus, but it’s more suited for attending a masquerade ball with the Goblin King than kicking off a mosh pit. Disciples of Robert Smith will love it but the metalheads won’t get on board until the industrial stomp of ‘Burn.’ This one is a loud and abrasive bit of macho posturing and swaggers with all the confidence of a man in a Crow t-shirt who’s on his way to shag the vicar’s wife.
‘I Never Had A Gun’ echoes Nirvana’s ‘Come As You Are’ with more fist-pumping but they hit their stride on ‘1000 Sins.’ One of the rockier numbers on offer, this is the first of a wicked hat trick of songs that make up the centre of the album. Followed by ‘The Watched’ and the excellent ‘Joshua’s Day,’ these three tracks show a band at their peak moving from a big ballsy anthem into a moving, introspective ballad and following that up with an epic that could have been lifted from a vampire film soundtrack. A good vampire film though, not one of the modern ones that are obsessed with mascara and moping. The downside is that the remaining songs don’t reach the high standard set here but they still have their moments and there are gems to be found.
It’s a shame though that they decided to finish off with their worst track as ‘We Don’t Have Anything’ is a big let-down. Noticeably faster and heavier than the others, it wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the clichéd and childish lyrics that bring to mind toys flying out of prams. Never rhyme “brain” with “insane” guys, trust us on this. That closing mishap aside Sinnergod have done a sterling job with their sophomore release.
It makes a refreshing change to hear something other than death metal, bargain bin thrash or fist swinging hardcore emerge from the UK music scene and by straddling the gap between Goth and metal, they could be onto a winner. Imagine Soilwork wearing black waistcoats and you should get the idea.
Released 9th September 2016
A confident and well executed affair that’s brimming over with atmosphere
