Siniestro – Vortexx Review

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Music is emotion and extreme music is extreme emotion. Metal music expresses the word in terms that many can’t understand hence so much hatred and misunderstanding about the essence of it. Even so Metal music has the power to change the way one sees life and this sad and pathetic and lonely little planet. The way Siniestro presented their album “Vortexx” made me kind of travel in time and feel the same emotion I used to feel for the first albums I ran into. It was not only the power and the glory, but the mood and the striking energy that the band emits. This album made me smile in a day of such pain and misery that this pathetic world if of. Hard to tell the impact of all I heard in “Vortexx,” but I have to say that it made a little less sad and lonely.

Funny thing is that at first “Vortexx” didn’t attract me much. I thought it would be one more of the same, one more Extreme Metal band that had no important contribution to Metal music besides existing. I was flat wrong. Opening track “One Last Bullet, One Last Rite” brings no news to the ears of the common Metal man even though after listening to the album many times the feeling now gets so different. A quick jump to track two and tittle track “Vortexx” gives the fan a more accurate view of the band. Vocalist Commander has a very peculiar voice and I guess the best approach to it may be Lemmy Kilmister’s. It’s not gutural, but it’s not really harsh. In a nutshell, it’s between both features. This gives him the very chance to diverse his vocals using the harsh all the time even in more balanced and slow themes. This allowed us to a very elegant and delicate moment of third track “Blod eld dd” which could be said as a Death Metal ballad, if this is even possible. The initial piece gives the idea of a folk grip, but then comes the guitars with a very melodic and touching phrasing and the song gets a little rough. When the voice comes everything changes, if I weren’t a big boy – and a metalhead- I’d really burst into tears… The song is touching and melodic. The instrumental is perfect accompanying the voice and the musical intent. Eight minutes of pure delight.

Siniestro had the unsual capability of mixing Extreme Metal music with some melodic and pungent features and the result was a remarkable album. The kind that the fan will never forget. “Vortexx” has still other moments of musical delicacy as the instrumental “Hiisi” the track that made travel back in time with its cozy and familiar sonancy. I wouldn’t say it’s a Melodic Death Metal album due to the tracks aformentioned, but the intent of the band seems to be so. Moreover, there is a blend of Extreme Metal techniques in the album that also make it unique as seen in “Anti Human Commando” and its ten minute overture. Pay attention to the delicate musical closure with “My innermost Sun” and its church organ. If I weren’t a big boy – and a metalhead…

“Vortexx” is an unforgettable album.

Siniestro “Vortexx” was released on May 14th via Black Lodge.

Track Listing:

  1. One Last Bullet, One Last Rite
  2. Vortexx
  3. Blod eld dd
  4. Black Acid
  5. Hiisi
  6. Escape by Death
  7. Den svartaste flamman och re naste hat
  8. Buried in the Bog
  9. Anti Human Commando
  10. My innermost Sun

Watch “One Last Bullet, One Last Rite” official video here: