SINAMORE

It soon becomes apparent that once you have heard "Follow into the Cry", the first track on SINAMORE's "A New Day", you have in most respects heard the entire album. No, it is not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you're a fan of H.I.M. or latter-day SENTENCED (to a degree),and a host of other melancholic, gothy rock acts.

By the time you've reached the halfway point, the formula of Miika Heikkilä's mournful singing (which is not bad, by the way),a driving, mid-tempo rock beat, and an every-day-is-a-rainy-day aesthetic become a little too obvious. The mood rarely changes, which is to be expected, but neither does the delivery. Sure, changeups do occur, but the band remains squarely in its comfort zone. And maybe that's the way you like it. Slight changes of pace (figuratively),such as an aggressive style of vocal during sections of "Drama for Two" or the build from light-picking and soothing bass lines to quicker tempo chug 'n' thud on "Fallen" do provide nice breaks in the action. And yeah, I dig the rocking SENTENCED fare of "Follow into the Cry" and "Crimson Leaf" too, even though neither matches the same level of passion and conviction of SINAMORE's Finnish (and now defunct) brethren. The melodic twin lead work on songs like "Misery Carnival" and the title track (with its cold piano intro) is rather pleasant as well.

"A New Day" is one of those albums that will probably satisfy fans that like a steady beat, dark melody, and ice-in-the-veins delivery, but may not do much to convert the uninitiated. Most of "A New Day" is at least average for the genre and none of it is significantly lacking. None of it is significantly moving either. This one is just OK.