Review Summary: There is nothing creative on this cd. Well, I shouldn't say that because these guys were "innovative" enough to combine the most boring melo-death riffs with the most boring metalcore breakdowns and the most laughable teen-angst lyrics ever.
Let me start off by saying this; The only redeeming factor this band has is a hot bassist. That's it, the only good thing thing I could come up with. To find why this album is so terrible read on.
Through a first listen of this cd one might notice the extreme use of a keyboard. Now keyboards aren't bad in melo-death bands such as this ( Dark Tranquility pulls this off perfectly), but this keyboard literally sounds like they took a 10 second sample from a song from Dark Tranquility's Character and copy and pasted it to death. Every song's keyboard line sounds exactly the same and I DARE you to find a distinct difference.
Sonic Syndicate also must really like In Flame's newer stuff because, again, the guitar riffs sound exactly the same from both. Oh sure, there's the occasional uninspired breakdown to really mix things up, but in the end, what's the point? Each of these songs are 3-5 minutes of the same thing.
1. Keyboard starts song alone
2.Guitars/bass chug in sporadically
3. Drums enter and Guitar/bass strum same three chords
4.vocals
5.Manufactured chorus
6.repeat 3-5
7.Breakdown/solo
8.Chorus with harmonized vocals
It's the same thing every song. No surprises. The very few solos on this cd are absolutely terrible. Solos in Melo-death bands aren't really necessary, so if you put one in you should have something faster than eighth notes. The solos seriously are just eight notes or the chord progression higher up on the scale. It's just so laughable that they would even put them in there.
Another problem on this cd is the band themselves. They are playing melo-death, yet they dress like My Chemical Romance wanna-be's. What the *** are they trying to prove? Their whole image is just embarrassing. They have two vocalists that do nothing but vocals. Now, I suppose this would make sense if one did harsh vocals and the other did clean, but that's my point. The two vocalists actually do both styles and they both sound exactly the same. There is no point in having both except maybe to have more styles of clothing shamelessly advertised in a photo shoot.
The first single released, Denied, is probably the best song on this cd. That is not saying much at all though. It still follows my 8-step song production and, like every other song on the cd, is incredibly forgettable.
If you are into lyrics then this cd is even worse. EVERY SONG is about being pissed off at an ex-girlfriend. The lyrics are actually so bad I laughed out loud when I read them. I *** you not this is a chorus to a song on this cd:
ALONE AGAIN IN MY BROKEN DREAMS
WHAT IS LOVE IF NOT A PSYCHIC SUICIDE
ALONE AGAIN IN MY RESTLESS DREAMS
LOVE IS NOTHING BUT A PSYCHIC SUICIDE
Yeah, it's that bad.
This cd proves that melo-death is a dying genre. With Dark Tranquility doing an admirable job at keeping the sound fresh and Amon Amarth constantly and consistently releasing great albums, one should ask themselves, "Seriously, do we need another band like this?'
There is nothing creative on this cd. Well, I shouldn't say that because these guys were "innovative" enough to combine the most boring melo-death riffs with the most boring metalcore breakdowns and the most laughable teen-angst lyrics ever. Nothing on this cd is redeeming,nothing. Go listen to Dark Tranquility and you'll be much happier than if you listened to this.
