Sonic Syndicate - Love and Other Disasters
(Nuclear Blast, 2008)

From my admittedly limited experience, extreme crossbreed bands hardly ever work. I mean, it's fine when we're dealing with two comparatively similar styles of music like thrash and death metal, but when we stretch beyond such boundaries...need I finish? Sonic Syndicate, now there's an excellent example of a band who draw their inspiration from two entirely different sources; metalcore and melo-death metal hold the foundations for this young Swedish sextet. It wouldn't be right to label these two sub-genres as extremes of one another, the styles share many characteristics – the pair would possibly be considered the most melodious genres in metal, but to see them work together and create listenable music is quite another thing. Sonic Syndicate have released two albums prior to this one, the first of which on it's own has managed to kick up an enormous following and the consolation of another fantastic release last year has landed them on a monstrous tour bill with In Flames and Gojira! Now they're back, hoping to impress with their third instalment 'Love and Other Disasters'. Lets just cross our fingers and hope that the music isn't as emo as the title!

Only one thing comes to mind as I boot up the first track, 'Encaged'. In Flames. The resemblance is undeniable. As I wiz through the album, briefly sampling each track, my observations are confirmed. That said, the record is not so much of a replica that it becomes impossible to listen to as an individual piece of work. I don't even mean it as a criticism! I just think that it's well worth noting the similitude of the two bands in order to give a complete picture of the music. The album roars to its feet with a corker of an opener. A Devildriver-esque riff sets a perfect impression for the remainder of the track; an impression well maintained. The inevitable melody, bolstered by orchestrations which wouldn't look out of place in Children of Bodom's earlier albums, reeks of imagination and individuality. While in general the rather screechy clean singing mixed with shouty In Flames style vocals wouldn't suit my preferences, I have to admit that they are used to perfection in this record and the hard-hit ting drumbeats act as a shepherd to collect the combination of sounds together forming an outstanding track. The same can be said of the next track, the one after, the one after that...and so on. Even the slow ballad, 'contradiction', can't bring down the level of intensity which I have experienced throughout the listening of this album. Surprising since I have always thought of metalcore as the sad butt of the metal world, I usually prefer my music heavier...there is just a certain complexity to this album which I can't help but enjoy.

Overall...there aren't many problems with this album; maybe a few repetitive songs and perhaps a little too much inspiration gained from their fellow Swede rockers 'In Flames', but other than that I would conclude that this is a rock-hard piece of work from these youngsters, a band that have already stormed onto the metal scene but may find themselves with a headline arena tour sooner than they could have hoped! I can recommend to all fans of Metalcore, the broader-minded fans of melo-death, and everyone in between! Maybe the real hardcore death/black metal fans should give this one a miss, but who knows, you might find something you like in it!

- 8.5 -

Lewis Klein