I’ve been eating a lot of Frosted Flakes’s cereal recently. In other news, it is now the eve before Finland-dwellers Sinisthra will unleash their debut album, “Last of the Stories of Long Past Glories,” on Arise Records. I must say that the beginning of each opus reasonably surprised me. However, I struggled to get through each song without pointing out a catastrophic flaw. Whether it’s Joutsen’s vox that weaken the presentation or standard riffs that sometimes riddle the onslaught, Sinisthra are definitely not impervious to warranted criticism(s)…and can’t be considered as such.

“Coming up Roses” leads off, and hits hard at impact. Even though the riff is “troubled,” it doesn’t cease to be inviting and after ten seconds – unfortunately – the vocals enter, subsequently quelling the enjoyment I derived. Like I iterated in the opening paragraph, “Last of the Stores of Long Past Glories” is full of little annoyances such as the aforementioned. But, most everything about “Coming up Roses” is nice. I even heard a chord progression that summoned Zao’s “The Funeral of God,” which is arguably never a bad thing. The gothic metallers surge on through ill-named “Ice Cube Sun” and the forgettable tune known as “Fearless under the Falling Sky.” With regards to the latter, it’s just average in every way, shape, and form. Thus it’s not the best exemplification of what Sinisthra have to offer the listener. I actually think the rise and fall of “To the One Far Away” is cool, though. Virta tosses in a nice effect by hitting the bell of his ride cymbal in appropriate intervals. Nuances, such as the former, will most assuredly garner acclaim.

Conversely, “Unrevealed” commences in a serene manner, and proceeds to utilize a guitar lead. Afterwards vox and keyboards intertwine for the bulk of the verses, while the song’s pace and quality picks up at the 1:30 minute mark. The guys really remind me of another band at that point, but I simply can’t name the comparison for some inexplicable reason other than momentary forgetfulness. Along the same lines, “My Sweet Nothing” begins as soft as can be, and remains so for its seven minutes in the limelight. “Fucking Fragile,” as the song title may hint, starts raucously. There are some formidable riffs floating around here and there, but overall I wasn’t too impressed with any of the cleanup tracks on the disc. Though, “Completely Incomplete” shows a sludge-esque side to the band that wasn’t approached before, and is perhaps a more fitting end to “Last of the Stories of Long Past Glories” than the last few tracks.

Ultimately, Sinisthra have succeeded insomuch that they provided a debut that’s mildly enjoyable. You’ll have no problems stomaching this, but I also assert that “Last of the Stories of Long Past Glories” is an indication of what the group needs to work on to become better. This album is a good start in its own right. However, there’ve been too many fantastic releases this year to pay attention to Sinisthra’s debut. I’ll watch for them in the future, but right now I’m going to go eat more Frosted Flakes.

[This review was first published on the now defunct scandinavianmetal.info webzine]