SENTENTIA – The Center in the Sand

I don’t know if it’s a criticism to say that something Goth-based takes itself too seriously. Waxing melancholy in dark black eyeliner really only plays heavy-handed. You can’t fault Robert Smith for it — hell, you can even love him for it. Probably because for every “woe is me” song of The Cure’s there’s a “Baby Screams” or “Maybe Someday” in place to prove the band can suck up the sniffles and play something you can dance to every once in a while.

Sententia is not bad at all, and their album The Center in the Sand is a tight enough effort. It’s just akin to a Cure album that only has tracks like “Kyoto Song.” It’s the end of the world here in the Sand’s Center. The lyrics are generalized and gloomy, offering no foothold for the average listener. There’s no spinning narrative or statement outside of “you’re running out of time” and “it hurts to destroy what’s close to your own heart,” etc. The music itself is interesting, good progression and composition, but the sound is definitely a backdrop for the vague and contrived murkiness of the words. Which is a bummer (in a bad way) because if they let the music speak more they might assign some weight to some of the words…and cut the rest of them out of the music.

(self-released, no address provided)