By DJ Monk
Finnish genre benders Sinisthra first crossed our paths last month, when the video for ‘Eterne’, the lead track from this, their second album, piqued our attention enough to earn it a runners-up slot in our ‘Video Of The Week’ feature. Now, it is perhaps not surprising that, despite this being their sophomore offering, and on a label with which we are very familiar, we had not come across the band before, given the fact that it has been a full 15 years since their debut offering saw the light of day, since when the band’s members have been busy concentrating on other projects, not least vocalist Tomi Joutsen, who should be familiar to our more metallic-minded readers as the erstwhile frontman of countrymen Amorphis.
This second album is something of a loose concept work, taking its title as it does from Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost’, in which “The Broad And Beaten Way” is the bridge that allows the demons of Hell to make their way to Earth: Sinisthra use Milton’s theme of the fall of man to echo their own of moving from leading a chaotic and self-destructive modern-day life to trying to find solid ground and perhaps even some peace of mind.
As alluded to above, opener ‘Eterne’ should already be familiar to regular ÜR readers, having been shortlisted for our ‘Video Of The Week’ award; it is also the most immediate and accessible track on the album, while hinting at what is to come, smattered as it is with classic prog inflections which so far just peek and peer through the density of the band’s formerly more familiar melodeath metal feel. However, it quickly becomes evident that Sinisthra are preparing to tread a proggier path, despite the crunching opening riff to curiously-chosen lead single ‘Closely Guarded Distance’, which goes on to clock it an epic 13+ minutes and takes more twists and turns than Donald Trump does from even the most pre-prepared statements, with the overall effect being that of Fish-era Marillion with the guitars fuzzed out and pushed more to the fore.
Follow-up ‘Halfway To Somewhere Else’ sees them disappear even further into the realms of ethereal, nay ephemeral, prog with a left turn far more radical than the likes of Opeth could have dreamed of taking when they diverted from their original melodeath path. Given the album’s theme, it is not surprising that, as its story progresses, from the expulsion of Adam and Eve from both Eden and their union to Adam’s ultimate acceptance of the futility of his past actions, the overall sense generated is one of pervading melancholia: it’s a feeling accentuated first on ‘Morningfrail’ (are they sure that one’s not about our protagonist having a hangover?) and then more especially on ‘Safe In The Arms Of The Everlasting Now’, in which the well-judged interjections of seriously heavy guitar stabs hint at the impending doom of the final denouement, which is eloquently expressed in the remorseful inevitability of ‘Ephemeral’, which brings the album full circle, reflecting the initial hopefulness expressed at its very beginning and combining that with the resignation which has subsequently developed.
‘The Broad And Beaten Way’ is an interesting album. One which definitely will appeal to old-school prog fans as well as those of the metal’s more recent incarnations of the genre. Having listened to all the way through twice, I doubt it will get many more repeat plays here at ÜRHQ, or bother our end of year charts, but it is nonetheless a worthy offering which, as I say, will be deserving of its place in the prog rock almanac of 2020.
- ‘The Broad And Beaten Way’ is out now. You can get your copy HERE.
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