'Eden Fire'

(Pivotal Rockordings)











MARK: 84/100




 

Like I said before many times very young bands may need to ripe and therefore releasing undecent debuts or already be ready and in this case the results are stunning; it happened with Death Angel about 20 years ago, then more frequently especially in the world of Nu-metal or alternative metal, and it has happened again with these Swedes, whose age ranges from 17 to 22. The reason? It's that in Sweden music is considered an important subject at school and viewed as culture and the opportunities to play and grow one's name up are many, no matter what genre it is and the State really help emerging bands financially. One of the 10,000 reasons why quality life in Sweden and the rest of Scandinavia is better than in the remaining world's 200 countries.
That said, Sonic Syndicate have already released 3 EP's and the debut includes 7 songs from two of them and 3 new tracks; the old compositions were re-worked and re-recorded at the popular Studio Mega studios (Crown, Lake of Tears, Beseech), and the result is a powerful sound, where only the sound of the charleston is a bit artificial and poor, whereas the kick-drums, the voices and the bass are a bit higher mixed than the rest; just a little fault within a great and adrenalinic record.

The sonic assault is kicked off by the three new ones, compounding the first of three segments of the concept which isn't unfortunately matched by the lyric printing if not online: "Jailbreak" reminds me of the latest In Flames, especially during the refrain, but the rest is more wicked, symphonic or screamo and alternative, so we can say without fear of being belied that the sound of the 6 young musicians is more composite. "Enhance My Nightmare" stands out thanks to a killer duet with penetrating male vocals and gentle female ones in the vein of Nightwish; it's a very groovy song and the more suitable as a single, with a melancholic break and a cutthroating finalé, even though they chose the previous song for a clip around the net.
A bit Dimmu Borgir and very Modern metal according to the personality of Sonic Syndicate, "History Repeats Itself" shows the power of evil reigning supreme.
The Swedish 6-piece led by the three brothers goes on its opus with the second darker segment with "Zion Must Fall", which includes marvellous and majestic riffs and also a superb entwining angry male rants and screams/keyboards. Probably the highest moment in all of the record...
After the crushing, malefic and keyboards-ruled "Misanthropic Coil", it's time for the melodic Power and Nu-metal of "Lament of Innocence", where main singer Richard Sjunnesson proves his abilities to modulate at the more disparate tunes without ever cutting a sorry figure. Another song that remains impressed on one's memory is "Prelude To Extinction": wicked and brutal vocals galore alternated with other whispered ones, memorable sideral and disquieting keyboards. Its A-1 refrain makes that song as KOOOl as a fuck with a girl, her twin and their mother at the same time!
The third fragment seems more guitar-oriented and therefore more suitable to those with more metal in their hearts: "Soulstone Splinter" swims among Dimmu Borgir, Deathstars, Darkane and Dark Tranquillity shores, followed by "Crowned In Despair"; after listening to the vocals and the drum patterns I'm sure you'll agree with defining it the more violent song ever composed by the Sjunnesson crew.
A chance to relax for a while is given by the technological opening keys lines of "Crowned In Despair", where the back-up vocals of the newcomer, bassist Karin, appear for the second and last time to enrich the melancholic guitar plots. Awesome stuff, there's no doubt.
Finally, "Where the Black Lotus Grows", an excellent conclusion concocting twisted mid-tempos and thick guitar plots: think of Paradise Lost, In Flames and Crematory incesting and you'll get to the point.

An effort more towards a more original stylistic trademark and the six artists will achieve unbelievable composition peaks. Meanwhile, be aware we heartilly recommended them to all those who like powerful and sharped Modern metal.

MARKUS GANZHERRLICH - 20th March 2006















Line-up on this record:
Richard Sjunnesson, v.
Roger Sjunnesson, g.
Robin Sjunnesson, g.
Andreas Mårtensson, k.
Karin Axelsson, b., and back-up v.
Kristoffer Bäcklund, d. and back-up v.



Contacts:
E-mail:
sonicsyndicate@hotmail.com
Official sites:
www.sonicsyndicate.com
http://www.myspace.com/sonicsyndicate

Demo-/Disco-graphy:
-Fall from Heaven (EP- 2003)
-Black Lotus (EP - 2003)
-Extinction (EP - 2004)
-Eden Fire (LP/CD - 2005)