Sinistra Ramp Up For An Album Release with "Symbol"
- BuzzSlayers
- Jul 29
- 3 min read
A single release from Sinistra delivers a unique brand of semi-theatrical progressive rock that manages to hit hard and all the right places but also gives a bit of a flowing undertone that adds vastness to the soundscape of the entire thing, and it still keeps elements of pop sensibility close at hand.
The track is called "Symbol", and it is a very lush and full-bodied single but still has that spaciousness because of the way the rhythm and percussion come through.
First of all, the percussion on this song is absolutely everything. It's not just in the pocket, although it does give you an amazing groove; there are all kinds of added percussive elements throughout the track that really help it build.
It's also the type of song that you can get engulfed in because of all the layers that are given.
There are loads of layers of texture and tone that come together and create this sort of robust but smooth atmosphere.
A lot of the atmospheric and smooth elements come from the vocals during the choruses. It is very melodically driving and has what feels like a three-part harmony that descends.
This was such a cool element of the song because, in combination with the sort of tribal style drums that are happening throughout the track really does give this a cinematic underbelly that comes through with an amazing balance of color and edginess.
There is this nearly perfect dynamic balance between the instrumentation, vocals, and light and dark of this song.
Now, you can clearly hear hints of alternative rock and even classic rock coming through.
There are parts of the song where the guitars and drums give you these bursts of rock, utilizing the vocals to follow along, and it all sort of bounces between the natural rhythm of the song amazingly.
Some keys or synthesizers flow through the background of the song at certain points and add even more depth to everything, which you can hear more clearly during the breakdown section that is towards the second half of the song.
The breakdown or bridge section has this element of heaviness to it that the rest of the song really doesn't. The vocals become more aggressive and edgy, the beat gets a little harder and heavier, and the whole track just portrays this more aggressive approach for that little chunk of time.
During the main verse, there's also this sort of old-school, almost 80s guitar that's bouncing between the drums as well, and this adds a different flair to the song, indicating a bigger pot of influences than you may expect.
That guitar section breaks off into these harmonies and licks that sort of drip away, and I love this aspect of the track because it helps it feel alive and breathing.
The bass guitar line is ridiculous and maybe one of the most important elements in how the song flows so naturally.
That bass guitar is doing this really cool riff, and it's like the entire song was built around it.
Just listening to the percussion and the bass guitar alone would be one hell of a groove, but again, this track layers in all these amazing guitar parts and vocals that add robustness to the song, sounding sonically edgy without going over the top.
This is a track you can tell had a lot of thought behind it. The attention to detail is pretty outstanding. The way the guitars coat the song, the bassline pushes things along, the percussion swallows you up, and the whole thing gives you that heavy-handed sense of theatrical overcoat is all incredibly cool.
This is a bit of an opus of a single and does bend genres a little bit, bringing on those alternative tones with progressive aesthetics and that deepening sense of atmosphere that surrounds you.
The soundscape of this track in general wraps itself around you and keeps you right where it wants to.
This is a single that serves as an amazing escape because it pulls you away from wherever you are and whatever you're doing, and puts you in a different headspace for a little bit.
I love songs like that because when it's over, you have to snap yourself back to reality again.
It's been a while since I've heard a track that sort of took over my brain and mouth the way this one did.
Now, as far as I can tell, this is a glimpse of an upcoming album called levels, which should be released sometime soon.
After listening to this song, I certainly hope there's more of this kind of stuff on the record, which there probably will be.
This song will keep me at bay...for a little while anyway.
Take a deep dive into this one and remember where you heard it first.
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