Review Summary: Abrasive black metal pulsating with gorgeous melodies.
Shade Empire's "Sinthetic" is somewhat like a foreboding of what was to come on "Omega Arcane". Cool tremolo riffs are awash with magnificent synth's and extremely raspy, mid-range black metal style vocals, which are complimented by some truly stellar clean vocals, namely off the track "Human Sculpture". The album as a whole is well structured, catchy, and epic, although it has some flaws that are completely obliterated on the bands magnum opus. The album can feel somewhat clunky due to some initially jarring vocals, which are extremely discordant and "breathy" sounding. Simply put, Shade Empire's vocalist simply doesn't sound like he's hit the nail on the head yet of how to do harsh vocals without running out of breath. This aside, Sinthetic offers a completely different atmosphere from "Omega Arcane' and is still worth the listen.
There is a very prominent futuristic approach to "Sinthetic", mainly due to some rather bouncy, spacey synthesizers that make you feel like you're aboard the Deathstar. This can be somewhat divisive if you're not a huge fan of space themes, especially because their is something just mildly cheesy about the way Shade Empire goes about it here. This is probably because to a certain extent the synthesizers really dominate the album. This isn't too say the musicianship isn't tight all around, because there are some really enjoyable riffs and the drumming never exactly falters, however it isn't really constantly stand out either. For the most part, they are standard, albeit rather catchy.
This biggest strength this record has to offer is its theme. Shade Empire has always had a rather destructive, end of the world type of theme to their lyrics and Sinthetic does nothing to disprove that. This would probably elude some people due to Shade Empires ability to mask this dark theme with very uplifting, bright and peppy choruses, like off the aforementioned "Human Sculpture". This is where the positive qualities of the vocalists harsh vocals really shine through. In spite of the rather noticeable discordance, there is a very urgent sound to his voice that creates this bold, monstrous presence. This is especially noticeable on his more mid range growls, such as off the beginning of "Conjuration".
Shade Empire is abrasive as hell off of "Sinthetic", yet there are enough gorgeous qualities in their sound to balance this. Bright, invigorated synthesizers and faint choirs dot an otherwise dark and desolate landscape, making for a truly spectacular symphonic black metal record. While the band had yet to bloom into their shell, this album is brimming with potential, which as anyone who is already a fan would know, they have more then fulfilled their potential.
