I'm really touchy when it comes to Nightwish. I feel like a dieting fatass pressured by his family to shed some weight secretly raiding the fridge at the dead of night, only the cake I'm shoveling into my mouth in disgusting handfuls is actually Nightwish. Surely they have some decent records, but I feel like I need to explain myself whenever I'm caught in the act. Sinheresy is one of the many symphonic power/heavy metal spawns that have manifested since Nightwish's rise to stardom. In fact, Sinheresy originally started out as a Nightwish cover band, so my anxiety levels are skyrocketing with each passing moment. "Paint the World" has some golden passages, although the band's style is limited and occasionally downright vapid. Im not too big on this.Sinheresy, other than settling for the stupidest moniker Ive seen in quite some time, adds little color to the modern branch of symphonic power/heavy metal due to a lack of individualism on the instrumental end. I guess this is one of those projects that teeters between commercial metal and edgier parts that would be deemed '2 xtreme' by the bandwagons recent add-ons. The opening "Last Fall" has an intense melodic riff that wouldn't sound out of place on a Scar Symmetry piece, yet soon after they dive into "The Gambler," which is more of a stop-start rocker with sugary vocal lines and a clear nod towards the mainstream. That's kind of how "Paint the World" works. Either way, they take a lot from Nightwish. It's making my palms clammy just thinking about it.
The two-pronged vocalist situation is the most prominent feature of Sinheresy's efforts. Cecilia Petrini, the female half, is clearly the better piece of the pair; her powerful voice reminds me of Tarja Turunen or Simone Simons, which isn't much of a shocker given the style of "Paint the World." Stefano Sain delivers the male chimes, and although his performance is satisfactory, it doesn't have the same impact as Petrinis. Sain has a gritty presence, but one that is clearly restrained and seldom versatile, working better in certain parts (like the tuff-guy chugging throughout "Made for Sin") than the whole picture. He brings a semblance of fedora-wearing bromance to "Paint the World" that I can't say I'm wild about. Then again, songs like "Made for Sin" are manufactured with that in mind, so I'm sure someone wearing a Tap-Out shirt will go bananas.
This is quite an average experience at the end of the day. I mean, some superb slices are present, especially the title track, which is one of those ten-out-of-ten gems, but there's always something lurking in the diarrhea pits to balance out the album's excellent moments. "Paint the World" is very safe and sheltered, rarely moving beyond the fence that contains Sinheresy. It's an acceptable piece if you enjoy Nightwish, though I feel the record is catered to the mainstream aura and not the casual metal fan looking for destructive riffs or substantial songwriting. Sinheresy's target audience will enjoy "Paint the World," but this is definitely something to avoid if the symphonic heavy/power metal idea with commercialism in mind has little value in your eyes.