The Alliance

Cypecore is band that mixes groove metal, industrial metal and melodic death metal. The vocals are mostly performed in a harsh melodic death metal style with a few isolated shouts and clean vocal passages. Distorted vocal effects also shine through here and there and add even more diversity. The guitar riffs are very rhythmic but simplistic recalling industrial metal trademarks. Bass guitar and especially drums are surprisingly versatile and offer unchained fast-paced passages as well as more technically skilled sections and a few slower and groovier vibes. Even though the band doesn't feature a keyboard player, occasional sound effects can be heard that give the record a futuristic touch. The production fits genre standards but is maybe a little bit too loud and straight-forward.

While The Alliance is an enjoyable record, many songs sound somewhat exchangeable and the band often fails to distinguish itself from similar groups as the album recalls French band Dagoba in particular but also Fear Factory for instance. This isn't a bad thing if you like this type of music but the German quintet simply hasn't exploited its full potential yet as it hasn't quite found its own style.

One thing that needs to be pointed out is that a few tracks are quite catchy and energetic such as the angry opening anthem and title track ''The Alliance'' or the more melancholic ''Dissatisfactory'' with its floating sound effects and gloomy breaks. Cypecore knows how to write shot and memorable tracks. I like the band's longer and more complex tunes even more. The diversified ''Aeons'' with its siren sounds develops a quite haunting atmosphere and grows a lot after multiple spins which is the case for several tracks on this album. The atmospheric epic ''Remembrance'' which is surprisingly long for a track of this genre with a running time above seven minutes proves that Cypecore knows how to craft atmospheric, complex and almost progressive soundscapes that evoke an intriguing dystopian atmosphere. This is probably the best song on The Alliance.

In the end, Cypecore offers a very good album mixing groove metal, industrial metal and melodic death metal with dystopian soundscapes. Especially the sound samples and keyboard vibes give the record an atmospheric touch. The versatile drum play also stands out positively. If Cypecore reinforces its unique strengths and shifts away from sounding too similar to Dagoba or Fear Factory, the German quintet could potentially conquer the genre throne in the near future. One has to keep an eye on this promising modern metal band that convinces with its atmospheric soundscapes and clever song writing.

The first time I heard Cypecore was back in 2014 after having been introduced to Fear of Domination. Both were industrial-tinged melodeath bands, but while FoD instantly grabbed hold of me Cypecore didn't have the staying power to make me come back. This was prior to the sublime album Identity which I heard for the first time near the end of last year, an album which simply blows its predecessors away. I've only been waiting on The Alliance for a handful of months but it is easily one of the albums I had highest expectations for in 2018, and it is far from a letdown. I have little doubt that I'll be listening to this just as frequently as Identity for the foreseeable future.

The album's highlight is easily Tobias Derer's magnificent drumming. There aren't many bands or albums where you can say that, but Tobias produces one of the most captivating performances that I've ever heard from one end of the LP to the other. The blasts are frequent but in technical on-off pulses, the fills are rhythmic and groovy, striking just the right balance between flair and necessity without becoming needlessly flashy. It's a shame that he's no longer with Cypecore as he does a great job of complimenting the thundering industrial riffs that bludgeon away somewhere in the background, a solid and consistent backbone to support the rest of the band. While the riffs don't stray very far from the chugging, djent-esque hammering they're responsible for the massive power that Cypecore possess, particularly on the high-speed tracks like 'The Alliance' which is an intense headbanging and fist-raising war-cry.

It's not all one huge barrage on the listener however, as the little intricacies are what make The Alliance such an enthralling listen. The keyboard is particularly responsible, just injecting a touch of melody to the mix that offsets beautifully with the more brutal and monotone nature of the rhythm guitars. 'Leviathan' might be one of the best examples of this, as while the keys are only briefly front and centre they repeat a fairly basic yet melodic sequence somewhere in the background. It's just enough to make the song one of the most noticeably melodic on the album, and it combines fantastically with Dominic Christoph's clean-ish vocals. Dominic himself is majorly responsible for adding a touch of melody to the composition, and although his vocals are always gritty and usually retain some characteristics of harsh vocals he does possess a talent for contorting his voice to suit the music. I have to say he's probably the main reason that everything comes together so well, as rather than using the band as a platform to showcase his own talents he's the element that blends the harsh and melodic into the fascinating hybrid that Cypecore are.

All in all The Alliance picks up exactly where Identity left off, and once again I'm left simply wanting more. The album is not flawless; the intro and outro are largely unnecessary, a couple of tracks as a whole are rather forgettable and the run-times do occasionally border on too long. With rippers like 'The Alliance', 'Dreamsmasher', 'Reject the Stream' and 'Leviathan' however you can't go wrong giving this album a spin.

Last we checked in on Germany's Cypecore, they had impressed me thoroughly with 2016's Identity, which had songs I can immediately recall like "Saint of Zion" and "Drive," a compliment I could never even come close to making for the band's first two albums. The addition of Dominic Christoph seemed to pay off, as the band could experiment more with the vocals. Now with The Alliance, Cypecore are moving to a more riff-centric format again, but the entire experience seems somewhat streamlined, despite the fact that this is not a short album by any means. You are getting the same muddy, diffused genre cross-section of modern melodeath, groove and ephemeral industrial swaddling. The latter comes through mostly in the use of electronics, but the riffs do feel a bit more jagged and pulsing.

The production is certainly to blame for much of this, and I'm not complaining at all in this regard. The Alliance sounds fucking monolithic, perfectly suited for the apocalyptic subject matter at hand. The riffs have a very harsh, djenty tone to them now, and Derer's drums are masterfully mixed into the remaining whole, giving the band more of a percussive backbone to lean on. It's a shame that Derer has since vacated the drum throne, because his groove-inflected beats remind me a lot of Franky Costanza from Dagoba. And honestly, that is the closest vibe that I get here - the choppy, barking vocals and grooving gait of the guitars on the title track or the cleaner intervals of "Dreamsmasher;" yep, Cypecore sound just like Dagoba here.

That isn't a bad thing, either. Even if the songwriting takes few risks, there are a plenty of moments of concentrated technicality and speed, and the album's atmosphere is drenched with futuristic ichor throughout. Although I do wish that the band didn't tease so much with the synths, which typically open songs and then only intermittently return. Even with a superior riff set, it can grow tiring with six, seven minute songs. There also aren't any truly rousing refrains, even though Christoph does deliver cleaner choruses on many of the songs. Maybe it wouldn't totally fit this time around, but I missed that.

The Alliance is certainly worthy, and at least on par with Identity, although for slightly different reasons. Cypecore still deliver a somewhat-samey experience, which earns a lot of points for style and presentation - even if the music itself tends to sort of blur together. The growing pedigree of the musicians involved carries it. The Alliance is a decent effort, and reason to still give a shit.