Review: Sinai Vessel – ‘Brokenlegged’
Posted: by The Editor
It’s been a long journey for Sinai Vessel in regards to the release of their sophomore LP, Brokenlegged, but I can tell you that it’s well worth the wait. The album is introduced softly by orchestral arrangements floating around alongside guitar until drums wake the listener and vocalist Caleb Cordes declares “here I stand like a tree / nervous on the edge of clearing / limbs afraid to be cut looseleaf”. An apt opener to what I see as an album of rebirth.
In July of 2014, I stood in a shed in North Carolina – my first time seeing & hearing Sinai Vessel. They captured my attention instantly and have held it tightly since. But this album and these songs exist in a different world than the one we stood in that day. Each song exhibits the laborious love poured in by everyone involved.
The first time I listened through I found myself most attached to the third track, ‘Laughlin’. It’s dreamy and slow like a warm memory with some hard interjections of overwhelming power & integrity found in Cordes’ vocals. It flows exquisitely into ‘Down With The Hull’, one of the bands strongest tracks musically & lyrically.
The production of the album occasionally leaves something to be desired, but any live performance delivers what the recordings cannot. However it is certainly still a very enjoyable listen through, and I will come back to this record often. Sinai Vessel will be traversing the US this summer, and it would be in your best interest to see them as much as possible.
8.5/10
You can purchase the album here: https://sinaivessel.bandcamp.com/album/brokenlegged
– Anderson
