This is the third album from Portuguese doom/post-metal band Sinistro.

Slow moving and atmospheric, this album contains almost a full hour of ambient doom and post-metal.

The music is heavy and downbeat, full of melancholic moods and bleak horizons.

Although relatively minimalist in delivery, the band still explore various different moods and feelings across the lengthy playing time, providing a nuanced and varied backdrop for their singer to ply her art, (more on her later). This minimalism is a strength of the music rather than a drawback, however, and the band are able to say a lot with only the smallest application of heavy doom riffs, delicate clean guitars, and resplendent post-metal melodies.

By itself, this sparse-yet-rich delivery would have made for an album that was engaging and worth exploring, but when combined with the hauntingly compelling vocals of their singer, it takes things to another level entirely.

Yes, one of the many highlights of the release are the lusciously beautiful vocals of Sinistro’s singer. Her voice is like expensive silk, sprawling across music that may have a dark lustre all of its own, but is very much put in the shade when compared to her emotive, textured performance.

Combined, both music and vocals transcend the individual parts of their own, contributing to something greater and more worthwhile. This is hugely evocative music of both substance and weight. It seems to spill over you with a glacial, sombre intensity, pulling at your mind with tales of sadness and loss, while also providing great solace and beauty in its delivery.

The breadth and range of the music on this album, especially when you take into consideration the contribution from the synths and keyboards, gives everything here a cinematic quality that can almost be tasted. Sangue Cássia is a rich and textured feast of experiences; the band have crafted a highly affecting soundscape of dark, ambient doom.