Sinith Hall

A ‘new generation of shred’ is emerging in St. Louis metal, according to Sinith Hall’s MySpace page.

After hearing the progressive metal band’s new CD, Synesthetic Perceptions, it’s hard to argue with them.

The quintet has only been playing together for about a year, so the debut CD is an impressive achievement. They’ll throw a release party Saturday at the Firebird. (NOTE: Early show, 5-8 p.m.)

The aggressive set is for metal fans, for sure, but Sinith Hall brings light to the darkness with occasional piano and violin accents.

Sinith Hall features double vocal and guitar attacks. Tom McCarty’s sinister, Cookie Monster growl dominates but is backed by Eric Wiesler’s inviting, David Gahan-like stylings.

The guitar and drum work is pretty stunning. I don’t know if they can pull off their ludicrous speed tempos and fills live, but it will be fun to watch them try.

The high production quality on the disc should make professional producers nervous, as the band did all of the work on their own.

I caught up with bassist Ricky Matsko earlier today.

RC: What does the name mean?

RM: Sinith is short for a neurological condition called Synesthesia.

RC: How has the metal scene here been doing lately?

RM: There’s a good amount of talent here. We used to not be very fond of it, but very recently it’s starting to show us more. Metal bands are getting more respect and support from local promoters. Bands like The Vanguard Party are doing great things. I have to say, Lye by Mistake out of St. Charles are hands down the most talented guys I’ve heard in a long time.

RC: What is your niche?

RM: Our compositions are top notch and I think we did ourselves justice with the CD. We had a violinist (Jon Brighton) who has also played with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He’ll be there on Saturday. It’s been an honor to work with such great musicians all around. The release show will be the first time we incorporate orchestral samples and light shows. We’re bringing some elements you don’t usually see on local level.

RC: Which one of your songs best represents your band right now?

RM: “Santosha,” the closing track on the CD, covers our range the best and is always a crowd-pleaser. It features solid guitar playing then breaks down into a fun, jazzy ending. Playing it always makes me feel like we’ve accomplished something!

RC: How would your parents describe your music?

RM: We’ve gotten good support from our parents. I’m sure it’s not their number one thing to listen to, but they can appreciate it and give their two cents on it.

Sinith Hall CD-Release show with Shotgun/Bayonet, The Vanguard Party, Granite Cloud and Traitor’s Circle

5 pm Sat., The Firebird, $8

www.myspace.com/sinith_hall - Matt Fernandes

St. Louis based Sinith Hall presented me with a welcome conundrum. Their debut work, Synesthetic Perceptions, is a strange, and inviting, mixture of metal bedfellows. The over-arching motif is progressive metal thanks to their dynamic song arrangements. But the elements that conspire to make those arrangements are an odd mixture: modest bits of thrash, strong melodic metal tones, gritty and garish death metal vocals and, to add some perplexity, near neo-classical guitar work. The last tickled my ears and gave my musical mind a spin. The whole death metal and death metal vocal thing is so oppressively generic these days, and not that there aren't guitar solos in melodic death metal, but having true fret virtuosity is inspiring. Other bands do it, but certainly not as well as Sinith Hall.

Faithful Dangerdog readers will already know that I can do without the crusty cookie monster death metal vocals, and they would be correct. Nevertheless, the music on Synesthetic Perceptions is so genuinely creative and moving that I often 'blanked" those vocals out. The Writer, Desert Sands, The Season, and the nearly immaculate Santosha are wonderful compositions filled with twists, turns, and thrills bound by sterling guitar work. Synesthetic Perceptions is convincing and entertaining.

Few young bands can hit the mark, with ingenuity and energy, the first time out, but Sinith Hall has done so. They're on to something good with their debut Synesthetic Perceptions, and you should pick up on it. Very recommended! - Craig Hartranft

Well, I’m a little bit stumped as to what I should write about this album so I’ll just start and see where we end up. I remember hearing samples of a couple of songs on SINITH HALL’S myspace page and being interested to hear what else they had to offer. Once I actually got the CD however, I couldn’t recall those samples at all, so I went into the album with no preconceived ideas on what to expect. This in itself was probably one of the reasons I enjoyed the album so much, it keeps on surprising you. From the cinematic intro all the way to the closing track, there is always something new happening. The base sound is your typical Melodic Death Metal sound, but mixed with a lot of progressive and dare I say, even experimental passages. There is a fair reliance on keyboards throughout a decent chunk of this album, but they never seem to be intrusive, just there enough to notice. There is an even mix of clean and harsh vocals and a guest vocal spot from ANNA HITCHCOCK. I’m not familiar with her name, but she sure does a good job of breaking the album up. There is a couple of instrumental based songs on the album which highlight the strong songwriting and musical ability of the band and even a spoken word passage toward the earlier part of the album that is very haunting and I can only suggest to you to hear it with headphones on.
The other thing that struck me about this release was its professionalism. The music was recorded and master by the band themselves and they have done all the work of putting it together and promoting it. So the sonic quality may not me quite up there with the majors, but for a self-funded, self-produced album SYNESTHETIC PERCEPTIONS is definitely pro enough to deserve your attention.
If you like Death Metal that brings something different to the table, you should give these guys a shot, also much to like for prog fans too. - http://rockinreview.blogspot.com/