Only Inhuman

Having thoroughly enjoyed "Eden Fire", I was excited that "Only Human", Sonic Syndicate's sophomore effort, would deliver an even better dose of Melodeath goodness. Sadly, this is not the case. The album ends up producing one or two mediocre tracks and eight or nine mediocre copies of those first two. The first track is catchy, leading off with a solid mix of melodic minor guitar/keyboard, tight rhythm, and screaming vocals. However, it quickly devolves into something much less original with the addition of the second, "normal" vocals. As the song progresses, you can hear the band struggling to maintain a connection to their roots, but inevitably being drawn into a more unremarkable sound.

In fact, that's the story of the whole album. Track after track, agressive, punchy instrumentation, harsh vocals, and imaginitive composition compete with more "accessible", mainstream instrumentation, mid-range vocals, and bland, repetitive progressions. At times it gets so bad that the band sounds like Linkin Park would, were they to recruit a growling vocalist and a real drummer.

There are some good portions, particularly those tracks already pointed out by the first review. However, in the end the album leaves much to be desired. If you don't what you hear, check our their first album. If you do, check out their first album anyway - but you may not want to listen to this one anymore.