Sinema – After The Flatline EP

I happened to find myself in a blog post from Open Mind Saturated Brain and at one point Saosin, Fall of Troy and Chiodos are mentioned, I jumped right in. When I clicked play on Bandcamp, I felt that the entire EP not only screams OG 2000’s Myspace era, but also mirrors that of Saosin’s magnum opus titled Translating The Name and I’m absolutely enjoying every minute of it.

Sinema (aka Sw!tch) is a five-piece post-hardcore/emocore/metalcore band recently formed in Denton, Texas. They released their debut EP After The Flatline last November on the label Ephyra. This is their only output so far.

Opener “Stutter” kills with raw production of clean, albeit off-key vocals (don’t expect any Anthony Green in this one), post-hardcore/metalcore instrumentals with moody Midwest Emo inflections and wastes no time in its two minute introduction.

The second track “…and You Already Forgot” seems to soften the tension a bit and is definitely the weakest track of the EP. It is also a different beast compared to the opener, lasting 4:35 minutes and balancing the soft/loud dynamics quite well. It is bordering somewhere between Keyes and Touché Amoré with the vocals and is raw at the same time.

“Hard To Get By” is more melodic, more heartfelt and more lo-fi. The vocals are more distant and reverbed this time around, which definitely puts them in the territory of Leidan, Ai Ferri Corti (without the emo-violence frenzy) and finally I Have Dreams, hinting at their climax at 3:09, which sounds completely similar to that of “Countless Rooftops”. Regardless, they absolutely kill their catharsis in the rest of the track. Overall, this is definitely one of my favorites from this EP.

From here on “Speak Your Mind” ditches the metalcore part completely and goes full Midwest with a hint of Casper Elgin, Algernon Cadwallader and early TWIABP. Just like the second track, it is not so standoff-ish, but it is worth listening to. The 2:11 closer “I Can’t See Through The Mirror” goes straightforward skramz along with Midwest crowd singing for the rest of the track, marking it as one of the stronger tracks on the EP. Screamy, passionate, raw and heartfelt. Totally reminiscent of Hate Me, too.

Sinema’s debut EP has it all. Raw production, heartfelt and moody inflections, and of course Y2K Myspace nostalgia. If you’re into Saosin and every other band around that era, then this is right up your alley.