Sonic Syndicate - Only Inhuman
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Published May 18 2007
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*=Staff's pick
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Aftermath
Blue Eyed Fiend
Psychic Suicide*
Double Agent 616
Enclave
Denied*
Callous
Only Inhuman*
All About Us
Unknown Entity
Flashback
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Genre |
Melodic Death Metal |
Richard S./Roland J.
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Vocals
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Tracks |
11 |
Roger Sjunnesson
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Guitar
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Runningtime |
42 Min. |
Robin Sjunesson
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Guitar
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Label |
Nuclear
Blast |
Karin Axelsson
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Bass
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Release |
18 May 2007 |
John Bengtsson
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Drums
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Country |
Sweden |
-
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Keyboard
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Similar artists |
Soilwork,
Blinded Colony |
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When Nuclear Blast arranged a so called "band-contest"
last year, they had to go through over 1,500 contestants before they
found their winners: Sonic Syndicate, a young and fresh metal band from
the small town of Falkenberg on the Swedish west coast. The band had
already released their debut album Eden Fire on a smaller American label
the previous year, but was now offered a deal with the German giants.
It's a bit like the famous Idol-concept, although we can assume that
Sonic Syndicate have had more time than a few weeks to record their
second album. In spite of this, Only Inhuman feels a bit rushed.
It's no wonder that Nuclear Blast saw potential in Sonic
Syndicate. Their sound is clearly adapted for airplay on radio and TV,
with the oh-so-popular concept of harsh growls mixed with clean vocals,
here performed by two go-ahead vocalists - Richard Sjunnesson and Roland
Johansson. From personal experience I can certify that they are an energetic
live-act worth seeing, so why is this album disappointing? The major
malfunction with Only Inhuman is that the songs are so hard to distinguish
from each other, which makes this listening-session rather tiresome
after a couple of minutes. It's like the band didn't take the time to
flesh out every track with its own character, and instead went for a
safe bet. The highly distinctive touch that was found on Eden Fire -
and songs like Enhance My Nightmare and Soulstone Splinter in particular
- are nowhere to be found. And why isn't the bassist Karin Axelsson
allowed to do background vocals anymore? Also, the production (done
by Scar Symmetry's Jonas Kjellgren) may be well made, but it's also
rather impersonal.
There ARE great moments here, which prove that Sonic Syndicate
hasn't completely lost their touch. The chorus of Psychic Suicide hits
like a homerun, while the title track has great riffs and a melody that
is difficult to get rid of. The single-ballad Enclave is rather pretty
as well, even though it is little more than a poorer version of In Flames'
Come Clarity. Somewhat curiously there is a cover of the Russian pop-duo
Tatu's hit All About Us nestled in among the other tracks, which is
an interesting choice and breaks the monotone cycle for at least three
minutes. Even if the original is about a hundred times better.
Only Inhuman is definitely not a bad album and can be
nice to listen to for a little while at a time. But compared to the
promising Eden Fire, the lack of personality on Only Inhuman is disturbing.
I still have a little faith left in Sonic Syndicate (they're only human,
after all), but would rather see that either Avatar or Blinded Colony
carried on the legacy of Swedish melodic death.
Performance
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Originality
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Production
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Vocals
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Songwriting
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Summary
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