Sinamore – Seven Sins a Second

Release date: November 2007; Label: Napalm Records
By: Elvira Visser

  In 1998 in a town in Finland, childhood friends Mikko Heikkila, Jarno Uski and
  Miika Hostikka founded Sinamore. Then finally in 2002, Tommi Muhli joined the
  band and they recorded their first demo “My Grace” under a different
  name; Halflife. More demo’s followed and in 2006 they signed with Napalm Records
  and delivered their debut album “A New Day”. End 2007 Sinamore released
  their second CD “Seven Sins A Second”.

  The albums “Seven Sins A Second” starts a bit weird, you hear some
  guitar picking and then it seems to start, but it all sounds very weird. Like
  it is half there…I was thinking that something was wrong with the CD just
  for a second. Then it made me realise that it is just a very cool intro to the
  CD (or “Outro” as they call it), it gets you ready. The second song
  kicks in immediately.

  Being a Finnish band, you might instantly expect a dramatic melancholic tone
  to it and Sinamore sure lives up to that. Sad, emotional and bittersweet. Sometimes
  the sound reminds me of the melancholic catchiness of “Poisonblack”
  and “Entwine”, this then might not be the best album when it comes
  to originality. At some points the music seems to step aside from the depressing
  gothic sound and the sound of the guitars becomes heavier and the drums seem
  to revive, tempo increases. Examples of this are “Better Alone” and
  “The Burning Frame”. This creates a varied album with 10 melancholic
  and sorrowful melodies.

  “Silence So Loud” has some guitar picking that reminds me of raindrops
  on your window on a cold and dark winter day. The atmosphere is right. Mikko
  Heikkila’s voice is easy to listen to and he does not try to sing as depressed
  as some gothic singers seem to do. “Frozen Mile” has something else
  that you might expect from gothic bands, a female choir. “Unbreakable Calm”
  and “Eyes of May” remind me of “A Perfect Circle” with the
  way of sad and emotional slow singing. At “Unbreakable Calm” Mikko
  starts to scream to be later accompanied by a female vocalist. This happens
  at the end of the track, although she lingers a bit on the background. She could
  have been more present. A very pleasant song with a nice twist that came unexpectedly.
  The last song “Eyes of May” has that same sad atmosphere and it brings
  you back to that dark rainy winter day.

  Although this album is not very unique, I would not toss it in the bin. When
  you have this CD as background music it is quite relaxing and when you’re ready
  to shake things up a bit, play with the volume. If you like melancholic sad
  music with solid drumming and catchy choruses you will like Sinamore.

Links:

Sinamore MySpace
Sinamore Official