Red Iron’s review of The Broad And Beaten Way by Sinisthra (Rockshots Records, 2020). Credits: intro music by CONTRA; intro voice by Veronica Oritz Rodriguez; background track “Chasing Shadows” by Alex Lee.
“Hey everyone - this is Red Iron for The Great Metal Debate, to give you a taste of the new Sinisthra album, titled The Broad And Beaten Way, that will be out on May 15th from Rockshots Records. Rockshots has given us about a hundred rock and metal albums since 2016, and this is the first album we’ve heard from Sinisthra since 2005.
All of the same players are back at it including Tomi Joutson, who has been the voice of Amorphis in that intervening 15 years, and guitarist Markku Makinen whose once again the primary songwriter. If you heard 2005s Last Of The Stories Of Long Past Glories you won’t be too surprised by the band’s recent effort. This album starts off rockin’ and then remains fairly mellow, punctuated by some big moments. The introspective and reflective lyrics are delivered by clean vocals and, as the album title suggests, find their roots in the epic poem Paradise Lost. Eve sins, Adam sins, they bind themselves together, there’s a party with the Devil… you know the drill.
My thoughts on the album overall: the drums keep everything moving, generally behind heavy and mellow guitars, and the vocals are solid - mostly melodic storytelling. The production is well-layered, with the cleans clean and the crunches gritty. Nothing is too brutal throughout, and the vocals surprisingly clean with no growls or gutturals. I wish I was more of a lyric listener because it seems like some cool imagery being set up throughout. My favorite track is at the beginning of the album, “Eterne”, mostly just because it is the most direct of the songs. Other tracks commit to the process of making music, and the storytelling in this song just suits my wish to rock out a little bit and have fun. It’s short, sweet, and heavy; the tone is touched on a bit more on the album, but here the mellow is the centerpiece. I’m honest glad this isn’t the single because it’s not very representative of the album, while the second track is. There’s some rock that metalheads and prog fans can surely get behind. It’s well-produced and well-planned music and storytelling.
At 45 minutes you can loose yourself in this easily. There’s never a low point. The vocals are real; there’s no faking emotion here, and Tomi’s voice never suffers from trying to replicate any certain style. They are a very honest delivery. Probably best to listen to as an album start-to-finish. If one of the five of six tracks came up as I was driving around town and had music on ‘random’, I’d probably skip ‘em to move on to something more upbeat and fun. Still, prog metal fans will definitely dig this. But if you’re looking to thrash, this ain’t it. Live, I’d probably already be pretty bored if I wasn’t already familiar with the songs, but it would be a good vibe to soak up for a while. It would definitely get me ready for a headliner of a different style. I would most enjoy seeing the first two tracks live.
Anyone who listens to modern radio rock can usually access this more complex style as there’s not much off putting in the delivery. If you‘re just looking to vibe for a while throw this on. Fans of the first album will dig it, so if you liked that one 15 years ago you’re safe to check this out. The Broad And Beaten Way is a solid addition to the prog rock/metal genres, with most of its uniqueness likely in its lyrics and production. Glad these guys came back together to treat us with another album. That’s it for me - Red Iron - on this one for The Great Metal Debate. Be seeing you.”