Only Inhuman

It’s always a shame when a band becomes known for the wrong thing. This is particularly true of Sonic Syndicate, who, while having a distinctive style, can’t seem to get publicity other than in the way of having an attractive bassist. Which also goes to show you how male dominated metal unfortunately is. Still, SS over come this and their sound, while not always original is refreshing.

Then again, perhaps refreshing is not the best word. SS play metalcore, through and through. But they play it the way it was intended, just like A Love for Enemies, as a blend of hardcore and post-hardcore with metal (in this case, melodic death metal). The gimmicks are there; catchy vocals, big choruses, and synthesizers. They even have streamlined riffs. But what they don’t have is what makes this album enjoyable: breakdowns.

It’s not that I hate breakdowns, but modern metalcore like Demon Hunter, the Devil Wears Prada, and Suicide Silence spam it relentlessly until it loses all power and brutality. You want a real metal breakdown? Abandoned by Amon Amarth is the way to go. But SS avoid this conflict entirely by substituting these blank spots with melodic, airy vocals and slow drum beats. It makes the album relaxing at points and the harder moments become that much more engaging.

The riffs also make a huge difference. They are incredibly catchy (Blue Eyed Fiend), play with rhythm (Only Inhuman), and show flashes of technicality here and there (Psychic Suicide). When the guitars take a backseat is where these guitarists shine though. They have created a plethora of simple, melodic, and varying rhythm guitar parts which provide songs with a very strong bottom line and give the tracks a solid groove and neck snapping potential.

However, SS can also turn up the maturity when it comes to guitar instrumentals, and certainly grace your ears with a variety of leads, such as on Blue Eyed Fiend, Callous, and Flashback. The bonus track Freelancer also displays the ability of the guitarists in a different light, so it becomes clear that these kids aren’t lacking talent, but they are simply writing the songs they want too and having fun. And that, in the face of all you purists out there, is what music should be about. And this album is fun.

Unfortunately, this album also lacks bass of any kind. The rhythm section in general is weaker, with the drums following a pretty textbook metalcore style of mirroring the guitars with the double bass pedals and emphasis on certain notes. While this is nice in short bursts, by the end of album, and for the majority of the album, the man on the skins doesn’t pull any punches and does his part. To a certain degree he detracts from the album by keeping the tempo on pretty much all of the songs (with exceptions like Flashback and Enclave).

So as you can gather from the title, I was slightly confused going through the booklet on this album to discover that they don’t have a full time keyboard player, and yet they utilize synthesizers more frequently than other metalcore bands. Still, SS’s session player adds a great deal of depth to tracks like Enclave, Only Inhuman, and Aftermath. The keys sound kind of techno-ish and frequently add a lot of flousirshes, but with a lacking bass their presence accounts for a more solid overall sound. However, the keyboards serve to add to the music, and fail to generate anything memorable despite a strong emphasis on them in the mix.

On the bright side of song structure though, Sonic Syndicate do a nice job of mixing things up on the album, so even if some songs blend together, they are spaced out well. Slower emotional songs like Enclave, Denied, and Flashback bring the vocals to attention (and the first of these listed is actually a very enjoyable ballad) are interspersed amidst rockers like Double Agent 616, Only Inhuman, and Psychic Suicide. And then there is the weird All About Us, which I try to ignore. The songs generally follow a verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus setup, but frequently the verses are different and there are varying pre-choruses and the bridges usually add a good deal to the music by playing a variation on the established theme.

Another selling point with Sonic Syndicate is the dual vocalists, for those of us whose attention span is so short that we get bored with one vocalist (please note this is sarcastic; if you are this kind of person, metal in general is not for you). SS does this in traditional metalcore fashion, with one handling clean vocals and the other taking the reins of harsh vocals. The clean vocalist, Roland, also contributes harsh vocals in a number of places. However, listening to this record you could never tell that, as his scream is almost identical in the way it sounds to his partners. This does kind of become a road block because it limits their range within harsh territory.

That being said, the vocals on Only Inhuman are fantastic, and the vocals are the undisputed center of the music. They are certainly not brutal, but the pair both offer up vocal hook after vocal hook, and every song has some memorable vocal line. The catchiest cuts seen here are driven by vocals, with guitars simply embellishing on them. They are incredibly heartfelt, with tracks like Aftermath and Flashback bringing a definitive emotional impact. The clean vocals are very relaxing but he can also up the intensity with them, and the screaming shows a similar level of dexterity with the voice to be able to switch between brooding quietly and outbursts of pure anger.

The lyrics don’t really bring a whole lot to the table, and actually tend more towards the relationship centered word smithing of metalcore. It is no coincidence that the most emotional songs like Blue Eyed Fiend, Aftermath, Only Inhuman, and Flashback are the best songs on the album; they provide moderately intellectual lyrics and are well delivered too. Others like Unknown Entity, Psychic Suicide, and Callous fail to make that same connection with weaker lyrics while still being very good songs outside of that.

Up to this point I have only briefly mentioned it, but this song is deserving of its own section. Flashback is simply a magnificent example of what metalcore has to offer without the gimmicks and draws heavily on one of my favorite subgenres, melodic death metal. The song has grim and yet very catchy keyboard melodies, the most engaging, symbolic, and deep lyrics on the album delivered with such passion and heart that you know what they are feeling, and not in the mushy gushy way, because the song poses interesting philosophical questions even amidst the chorus. The guitars are devastating with the strongest riffs on the album and are relentless, but let off just enough on the bridge to allow for a beautiful guitar lead and airy vocal line that almost brings me to tears. Flashback is the best this album can offer, and it is the one true face melter on this album and kicks your teeth in and makes you feel apologetic and repentant for it. Brilliant.

The one problem that the song has is that everything else kind of pales in comparison, and everything else becomes secondary (at least they had the decency to save the best for last). Still, it is a strong album holistically, and I know that this has been spinning in my player and stuck in my head much longer than I expected it to. I recommend this for anyone looking for a nice melodic album that doesn’t get sucked up into too many of the pitfalls of modern metal (the tour edition is worth it if you can). Best songs (from good to amazing): Only Inhuman, Denied, Aftermath, Blue Eyed Fiend, and Flashback.