The idea around Sinsaenum was created back in 1998 when Frederic Leclercq (guitars/bass/keyboards, DragonForce) wanted to create a death metal band. In 2010 this came closer to happen after he met Stephane Buriez (guitars, Loudblast) and Joey Jordison (drums, ex-Slipknot, ex-Murderdolls). Finally, this project was completed in 2016 with the help of Heimoth (bass, Decrepit Spectre, Seth), Sean Zatorsky (vocals, Daath, ex-Chimaira) and Attila Csihar (vocals, Mayhem, Gravetemple) so it can be easily described as an international supergroup.
After releasing two EPs as an appetizer, their debut album was next in line. The result is a morbid death/black metal record in which you will listen to stuff capable of rendering your neck useless from the headbanging. In general, this album’s music is somewhere between the American and European death metal scene with Sean having the biggest share on the vocals part. The only exception is “Army Of Chaos” with riffing that reminds of Satyricon and features special guests such as Schmier (Destruction), Dr. Mikannibal (Sigh) and Mirai Kawashima (Sigh, Necrophagia). Jens Bogren did the mixing and mastering who is known for participating in numerous metal albums. The only thing that I don’t like is the sound of Joey’s drums because in some occasions they seem overproduced, although he’s done a terrific job and he’s quite the beast behind his kit. Also, the album consists of 21 tracks (23 in the special edition) with 10 of them being small instrumental ones that have the role of intros for the normal ones. It sounds a bit strange, but they are placed excellently in a way that they don’t ruin the flow of the music and function very well in the overall feeling.
The first attempt of Sinsaenum in very satisfying and I believe that it was about time for Joey to participate in a traditional extreme metal band that doesn’t have beatdowns and stupid clean vocals.
