Cinnamun Beloved - The Weird Moment
CD Info
2012
Don'tPayMusic
11 Tracks
English Lyrics
I think we all realize that most of the music in this genre comes from Western Europe. But if all you’re listening to is Nightwish, Within Temptation and Epica you’re missing a lot. There’s great music coming from Eastern Europe and a surprising amount coming from Latin America, both Central and South America. I’ve covered my share, especially from South America, probably because my Spanish is better than my Ukrainian or Russian, to say nothing of Dutch. And Cinnamun Beloved doesn’t disappoint. They’re from Buenos Aires, Argentina and they do a brand of Gothic metal that fits right in with the best from Western Europe, or anywhere else for that matter. I should point out a couple things up front. First, I was turned on to this band by Laura Vargas from the band Sacramento, in Chile, thanks Laura. Secondly, you can obtain this music here And, if you like the best from Western Europe, you can be assured this is music you will enjoy. And at a price that’s hard to ignore. As in Free.
The band doesn’t have a long history and this release was a rather rapidly produced product, surprising given the excellence of that product. And that explains a lot of things, given the name of the band and the title of the product. I spent some time talking to guitar player Rodrigo Gudina and he explained things. The first question addressed the CD title, his response: “that was Sabrina's title... the album was made almost by accident, was not too planned, so for her to write the songs and the way to put together the band was a little "weird"... that's her explanation”. So, that’s where the Weird Moment comes from. Sabrina is, of course, the vocalist who also does a lot of the front end work. And, according to Rodrigo, the same abstraction provided much of the lyrical content: “but I must tell you, that in the lyrics you will not find much sense... she did a kind of collage of different images and feelings... the same as the album title and band name”. Well, that may be the case, but, believe me, the lyrics are a strong point, they go in some very interesting directions and provide some psychologically challenging concepts.
However, the strength of the CD is the music, which is truly outstanding. Again, Sabrina is credited with much of this development; she’s not just the vocalist. And, it seems that music is a large part of her family, her sister Carla is a well-known opera soprano in Argentina. And the music reflects that formal, classical approach. There are soaring symphonic components, there are choral elements and there are some strong metal sounds that support the vocal which is, itself, classical at times, and interesting always. It’s a little hard to classify however. There are clearly a few Gothic components, but there are visitations to other realms, electronic for instance on Never Asleep while others focus on melodic metal with that ever present symphonic component that keeps a classical focus on so much of the music. Clearly, this music wasn’t produced by amateurs and the band is composed of musicians with significant history in the Argentinean metal arena. I don’t have much on the rest of the production effort, but you won’t be disappointed there either, this music flows without a hitch. And, the diversification of sounds is another strength; we cover a relatively broad range of styles here even though there is no death metal component. This is more along the lines of a classical style, heavy on the melodic, sometimes light on the pounding metal although there are clearly strong guitar/drum lines on most tracks.
The CD begins with a bang; Nothing There begins with an overpowering symphonic sound, augmented by background vocals that lead to the primary vocal line. Sabrina sings with a variety of styles. On some you clearly get an Amy Lee comparison, which isn’t exactly a bad thing. And this is one of those times. But we get a more complex musical arrangement here than what we typically expect with the Amy Lee sounds which tend to be more traditional metal for the most part. We get some metal here as well but it’s the classical background that tends to drive this track, and it’s as good a lead off to a CD as I’ve heard in a long time.
CB doesn’t do a lot of soft, melodic material on this production; however, when they do it’s worth spending the time to listen. Leaving Myself is a dreamy ballad, at least for most of the track. You don’t get a lot of this but its nice here, and, again, that crushing symphonic towards the end brings you back to where the band spends most of its time. And we return to that more traditional sound with the following track Through the Wind which provides components you don’t always get in this sort of music. There’s the metal, in all its Gothic glory, there’s the classical, but you also get a really interesting vocal line that includes both a blistering metal vocal that is contrasted with a spoken word, all over a throbbing dance floor beat. Killer.
That spoken word appears in other tracks. Never Asleep uses this technique to communicate an emotional state that matches the lyrical component:
I try to find my way / I’m suffocating again
I’m drowning / I’m trying to find the reasons
To believe in what I’ve been
Feel the needs in my heart / That never fall apart
Clearly, one of the highlights of the CD is Secret Paths. This one is a duet with guest vocalist Diego Valdez and it is the rocker of the production. The track begins with some electronic sounds and then descends into a pounding, throbbing symphonic track from hell. Sabrina seems to have saved her best for this one, and she needs it. Diego is a screaming daemon from South American nether worlds and the two do one of the strongest duets this style of music has produced. The guitars show us a side of South America we don’t often encounter, wish there was a little more of it, this is worth the price of admission.
One of the most interesting titles is the previously mentioned Through the Wind. There are two of them, a little different interpretation from one to the next. If you’re just listening to the CD you might not recognize that they’re the same thing. You get a different production element with each version. Hard to determine which is better although when you listen closely there is some similarity. I prefer the “Band Version” which seems to be the harder of the two. You get it all here, this is Symphonic Gothic to drive the soul. You get everything you could ask for, vocal, instrumental, full symphonic, metal, lyrical, the entire package. And that message is Gothic:
Comfort my soul Before I realize Thousand thoughts within my force Into this whole remembrance
For a first effort, this is little short of a masterpiece. It may not reflect a lot of what we get from South America, it’s a little more Western European in flavor. But there’s little to complain about. I’d be more than willing to give it a 10 but it’s lacking one singular component. Necesita al menos una canción en español. Other than that, pretty much as good as it gets.
9.5 / 10
