Symphonic Metal Swashbucklers, Sangriento, Continue Their Ornate Saga With “Blood Moon”

The adventurous Sangriento saga continues with *Blood Moon* (Credit: Courtesy of Sangriento)

Sangriento sets the scene. Picture the fictional imaginative realm of Isia, a post-apocalyptic world where technology’s on the fritz and blood magic festers. There is ongoing strife between clashing factions – the Elites, Zarkons and Architects – that are complex Chess pieces in a game overseen by a ruthless empress. A questionable Blood Moon ritual is required to restart civilisation. And at the vanguard of this whole saga we have Jade, a conflicted protagonist and heroine who seeks to revive her brother – but at what cost?

If you thought all this sounded like the premise of a fantasy anime or sci-fi AAA game, then it means Sangriento have you under their spell. Storytelling tends to be a subjective word loosely thrown around by musicians, but for this symphonic metal quintet, they’ve crafted an entire odyssey from their songs. Since teasing the first single “Destiny” from their sophomore Blood Moon album – and their preceding Blood Pact album back in 2019 – Sangriento have shown an ardent proclivity for palatial narratives, proportionately matching the immensity of their rock-fuelled sound and quixotic creative vision.

Sangriento shows are something to behold (Credit: Peegion Photography)

Chasing the tail of ambition can feel like riding a wild beast and abandoning conventional norms. For Sangriento, that meant ditching the mass-market formula of releasing singles and committing to the album’s assembly, even if that meant adding years to the mix. “This storytelling process did make album writing more challenging,” shares the band on the arduous process for Blood Moon. “In this age of streaming, it’s a lot more rare for bands to put out full albums. However, because of how our writing process worked, that meant that we had to finalise the entire album at once before recording.”

But because the band embraced the essence of time, they had the freedom to build a profoundly coherent tale. “We identified three broad archetypes of songs: symphonic metal for high-fantasy magic worldbuilding, progressive electronic/synth for cyber technology, and groove-based rock for interpersonal interactions between main characters. We could do interesting things like referencing a song within another song, like the use of character leitmotifs in movie soundtracks.”

“We decided to lean heavily into our musical theatre influence and focus on the storytelling.” (Credit: Peegion Photography)

‘Soundtrack’ is exactly how the Blood Moon experience feels like, and it isn’t meek about making you feel like you’re on a thrill park ride. Album opener “Empire” is a strident first attack; extravagant and ornate with a swashbuckling demeanour as ferocious as a tempest of the seven seas. “Taking cues from folk metal legends like Alestorm or Wind Rose, we put a twist on pirate metal and brought in huge choir sounds to evoke the spirit of adventure across the boundless desert landscapes that feature heavily in our story,” Sangriento proudly adds.

The climactic “Blood Moon” title track is another behemoth – possessing a shapeshifting anatomy carved with blast beats, operatic vocal trails, and even classical sounds like the harpsichord and organ. “We decided to lean heavily into our musical theatre influence and focus on the storytelling, with [vocalist] Candice even going as far as to use different vocal placements on each verse to signify the character’s internal battle. We also made some deliberate choices with the rhythm section instrumentation, such as using an acoustic bass sound for a classical chamber performance vibe to accompany Candice’s theatrical performance, and choosing different drum and cymbal tones to complement the more symphonic versus the more electronic-influenced tracks.”

Sangriento pull out new tricks on their sophomore record (Credit: Boplay Photos)

For a band that’s been together for so long, albeit with lineup changes along the way, growth has been a key part of their collective journey and it shows in the lead-up to Blood Moon’s release. The incorporation of electronic influences is one part of that evolution, evident in tracks like “Dispossession” and “Rise” with twisted time signatures and extensive synthwork; the latter even transforming Candice’s malleable voice into a Vocaloid.

“In general, we were a lot bolder this time in experimenting with sounds and styles that some would not consider smooth or comfortable. In fact, we deliberately went the opposite of ‘easy listening’. Over the strange COVID years, there were quite drastic changes in our personal lives, which somehow reflects the difference between the familiar heroic coming-of-age fantasy in Blood Pact, versus the turmoil and uncertainty of Blood Moon. It feels like this album blurs the line between art and artiste.”

On a more personal note, the art in Blood Moon pushed the band’s five talented musicians in disparate ways. Keyboardist Rayne took classes in cinematic arrangement to learn how to score music for the inherent storytelling in Blood Moon. Vocalist Candice – a self-professed ‘nerd’ who plays a DPS role in World of Warcraft – stretched her vocal range on the album and experimented with grittier deliveries (which you can hear in “What Dreams May Come”). And for guitarist Han and bassist Nic, the album is a full circle moment that’s a culmination of a decade jamming symphonic metal together. As for drummer Christal, she played a more influential role in the fruition of Blood Moon’s lore.

Christal is the band’s drummer and comic book artist (Credit: Boplay Photos)

Beyond being the band’s beatslayer, Christal is also Sangriento’s resident comic book artist. Like their previous debut album, Blood Moon – the second part of a trilogy – is accompanied with a comic book that visualises the mythology and world-building of the album. “I have no idea whose idea the comic was, but when Nic approached me to join the band back in 2017, one selling point for me was that the band wanted to write a concept album centering around a storyline,” Christal says. “That struck me as something unique that I hadn’t seen any local bands interested in doing at all. Personally, I’m definitely a sucker for a good story and comic as well as a sci-fi/fantasy fan for sure.”

It's heartfelt marketing stunts like these that make Sangriento a cut above the rest, complementing the theatrical bravado that’s intrinsic in their handiwork. Think a 66-page comic book’s wild enough? How about adding a whole choir to the mix? In these tracks, you’ll hear grandiose JRPG choirs capable of summoning a magical deity, bringing a sense of divinity that balances the vehemence of the rock arrangements. “Bringing the choir into the studio was logistically challenging and we are grateful to the sound team and the singers for all their hard work on this. A living, breathing choir brings a power that synth voices simply cannot match – “Echelon”, for example, just keeps building into a grand crescendo and the outro hits hard.” Ostentatious choir aside, the music video for “Echelon” even had the band learning choreography from a legitimate swordfighting academy to forge the fantasy further.

With such extra-mile efforts like these, a band like Sangriento is truly a rare breed in the local scene. But when you look at it closer, you’ll find them in a somewhat isolated position given the niche nature of their sound – and they’re fully aware of it. “It’s hard to imagine niche genres like symphonic metal becoming mainstream. While we definitely would appreciate better access to opportunities, I think we see this band as a way to express and experiment, rather than a path to commercial success. One thing that we’re missing, though, is the opportunity to bounce ideas with a close-knit community. When there is a scene with many bands of a similar genre, they inspire each other and riff off each others’ work – but it often feels like we’re working alone without other musicians to build together.”

Sangriento have found their community despite having a niche sound (Credit: Soh Poh Soo Donald)

Yet in spite of this inadvertent segmentation, Sangriento have recently found solace in other like-minded artists who share their fondness for larger-than-life performances and presentation. It’s fitting then to hear that Sangriento have become chummy with the goth rave community, in particular with the antics of Blacklight Tribe, signalling a serendipitous union between subcultures. “Spending time with the goth rave community has been great – a huge shoutout to Shao from BlackLight Tribe, who has been working tirelessly to create a vibrant and healthy scene for alternative music! While the musicians in that scene aren’t exactly playing similar genres as us, it has been wonderful hanging out with them and being inspired by the music they put out.”

It’s not just a concert; it’s theatre (Credit: Peegion Photography)

In fact, it’s through this BlackLight Tribe connection where Sangriento became affiliated with darksynth guitarist and producer VYLT, who’s playing for their Blood Moon album launch show together with melodic metalcore band We The Villains. Sangriento’s live shows are known for perpetuating their outlandish identity, and it’s a methodology that they’re proud to exhibit whether it’s through their gothic costumes or extreme stage presence. “All this comes back to the idea of being larger-than-life! We’re not just a group of people playing music. When you watch a Sangriento show, it’s about being brought into this world that we’ve created. It helps that Candice works in theatre, bringing her wealth of knowledge to bear, and the rest of the band also made various visual art forms into serious hobbies. That helps us put together visuals and aesthetics to help convey our story better.”

So if you’re not sipping the hype from the Sangriento ether yet, perhaps it’s time you became engrossed in a new story. And we’re not just talking about the fantastical trilogy that they’ve concocted, but the story of a homegrown symphonic metal band making a difference in the music scene. When it comes to the pages of their legacy, the ink is far from dry.

Sangriento presents Blood Moon album and comic launch, 5 April 2025, 6pm, Aliwal Arts Centre, 28 Aliwal Street, Singapore 199918, get your tickets here. Listen to Blood Moon by Sangriento on Spotify. Follow Sangriento on socials to stay connected. This is a sponsored feature.