(6/10) What happened to Sonic Syndicate? Where are their metalcore parts? At least there aren't any on the new album.
But let's start with the beginning. It feels like the guys having to confess something which maybe led to a conscious decision when it’s about the naming of this new longplayer. Things started to change when the band was dropped by their former label which had an unsecure future as a consequence. In such a crisis situation Sonic Syndicate took the decision to move on but with some adjustment of direction. It’s a brave step the guys took which might lead to some confusion amongst fans of the band.
All the mentioned resulted in an album that shows a totally new side of the band. The metalcore elements are gone entirely. Instead the guys fully focus on melodies, hooks and a sometimes sticky sweet expression. Electronic features also get more attention than ever before, something that makes the guys sound like mainstream-oriented pop metal band.
The band makes a ‘confession’ that might be received by some fans as ‘a shame’. This album fortunatelly doesn’t ‘start a war’ , but some fans might think that the band is in free 'falling'. Sonic Syndicate said goodbye to the times when they could say ‘I like it rough’. But they ‘still believe’ in their new direction, something that will ‘crystalize’ during the coming months. Even though ‘life is not a map’ and beside the fact that the new album is a kind of ‘Russian roulette’, the guys did a 'closure’ when it comes to the past. For the future they are ‘halfway down the road’ and time will tell.
I have to admit that the album didn’t left me completely cold. The melodies are that sticky that you can't get them out of your mind that easy anymore. And since the guitars help you to justify partly the fascination, things don't become too bad.
I guess that fans of the band will get the shivers, but not due to a positive surprise. On the other hand that album has the potential to reach at a wider target group of trend-chasing fans that want it hard, modern and sweet, all in one. This album leaves me with mixed feelings and I think at least a name change would have helped everybody.
(6/10)
Tracklist:
- Confessions
- It’s a Shame
- Satrt a War
- Falling
- I Like it Rough
- Still Belive
- Crystalize
- Burn to Live
- Life is Not a Map
- Russian Roulette
- Closure
- Halfway Down the Road
Label: Despotz Records
Genre: Modern Melodic Metal
Release Date EU: October 14th, 2016