Love and Other Disasters

For me, Sonic Syndicate has always been a somewhat generic metalcore band with some scarce melodeath feel to it. Their previous work before Love and Other Disasters, Only Inhuman, was a good album. There were some potential hits and some fillers, but it was, in the end, average. The main problem being the production. Every instrument sounded rough, and the guitars mixed with the bass and the drum kick. It was a mess. However, that mess was going to get cleaned up in 2008, when they released Love And Other Disasters. I was sceptic when I first heard about Love and Other Disasters. Only Inhuman already featured keyboards in some extent, and my fear of Love and Other Disasters being some Blood Stain Child knock-off grew. I thought that the electronic and industrial influences would take over, and that over production would be all over the place. I was wrong.

I tend to divide the songs in two categories: the ones that are amazing, and the ones that are fillers, or just boring. So I’m separating the songs into these compartments as the review progresses.

The first song, Encaged, is a would be a great song. It is very energetic and shows off the band members and their skill in a not “in your face” way. The biggest problem with this song is that it drags on too long. After the second chorus, it just meanders through nothing, just before repeating the bridge, the chorus, and then meander again until is over. Apart from the last two songs this is the longest, and would be even better if they cut one or two minutes of it. The second song is a filler. From beginning to end, the song stays the same. It is a fast paced product, although it is way repetitive, and the main riff is unimaginative. As an example of an amazing song, Damage Control is a good one. Probably the best of the bunch, it has a creative riff that always gets me, a powerful chorus, and one Hell of an ending.

The member Who shines the most in this album is Richard Sjunnesson, the vocalist with the harsh voice. He is insane! Not only does he write these perfect lyrics, but scream in an aggressive manner and also in a powerful way. Red Eyed Friend verse sounds fierce and thrashy while its outro sounds so full of emotion. I can feel the struggle that Richard is conveying through his vocals while he sings “my red eyed friend I miss you so”. Roland, the other vocalist also delivers a good performance. Though he was never an astounding singer, he can manage to put some emotion in his voice. His range is not the widest, but Richard comes in to support him. Richard's brothers, the guitarrists, are Robin and Roger. They can pull of some interesting riffs (Affliction, Damage Control), and some boring ones (Hellgate: Worcester, My Escape). Both guitars sound perfect as if they belong with the vocals, and both elements mix with each other. The drummer, John Bengtsson, is another one that shines in this band. When it is fast, he can play fast as shit, and when it is slow, he pulls of some beats that amaze me to this day. His Double-bass is flawless, and feel very justified, and it is the last step that binds these instruments together. The bassist, Karin Axelsson, is the only band member that I can not judge, because I can not hear her bass! I don’t know if my ears have problems, but metal these days forget that the bass is most necessary, and for that, check minus.

The aforementioned keyboards are not everywhere. They appear very little on this CD, and, just as the human screams, are where they should be. One can argue that they are there only to build atmosphere, but I feel that they complement the songs, especially Affliction. The greatest improvement overall is the production. The sound quality is way better than past releases, making the music that much better. Though it is not the best sound quality (for example Amon Amarth latest works), it is way better when comparing to earlier works.

Taking everything into consideration, the album lacks two important aspects. The first problem is the bass. I don’t know if Karin is shy, or they forgot to add the bass line in production, but I want to hear that bass! To make a song “headbangable”, the bass is more than important! The second aspect is Richard’s voice. There are two songs that do not feature his voice: My Escape (which is boring) and Contradiction (which is pointless). If there were more Richard, this would be even better. I can’t get enough of this guy! If you like metalcore, or just something to thrash around, I recommend this. The structure of the songs might be repetitive, but it has a lot of variety.

Highlights: Jack of Diamonds, Fallout, Damage Control, Red Eyed Friend, and Affliction.

Originally written for my blog: http://darkwaveunderneath.blogspot.com.br/