Artist: Sonic Syndicate
Title: We Rule the Night
Type: Album
Label: Nuclear Blast
Won a metal competition, signed to Nuclear Blast, heavily hyped and the epitome of metaaaal. That’s Sonic Syndicate. And yet I still mix them up with Scar Symmetry, not because of the music, but because they’re both from Sweden and their initials are the same. When I received “We Rule the Right”, I remembered who they are. How could I forget Sonic Syndicate? I reviewed their 2007 In Flames soundalike “Only Inhuman”, concluded that it was nothing special, played it again, liked it, played it again and again, bought it, and lent it to a friend who I’ve never seen since. Such is life.
Trivia aside, what we’re promised that “We Rule the Night” will “sooth the soul and blow your brains out”. In other words, there are catchy rock songs with pounding drums, occasional screams and things you would associate with Melodic Metalcore. This tends to mean one of two things, as demonstrated by the first two tracks. “Beauty is the Freak” is lively and pure In Flames, complete with energy and catchiness. “Revolution, Baby” is just a load of clichés. Unfortunately it’s not alone. “My Own Life” and “Miles Apart” can also be thrown into the “boyband” basket. Why? It’s not all like that, fortunately. “Black and Blue” is a decent Meloblast. It’s fast, energetic and growly but not threatening. “Plans are for People” is an enjoyable heavy pop song. The “big hit” track “Burn this City” is a cheery track. It’s fast, energetic and harmless and reminded me of Katrina and the Waves’s “Walking on Sunshine”.
For me the most interesting track on this album was “Turn It Up”. A rampant chorus starts this off. It’s as if the Dave Clark 5 * have entered the 21st century and decided to play metal (* you have to be really old to understand this reference, so if you’re not and don’t or you don’t have an elder brother like me, the Dave Clark 5 had stomping pop hits in the 1960s with such gems as “Glad All Over” and “Bits and Pieces”). It has a lot of unimaginative fancy dan lyrics, no doubt to keep their audiences happy – “the way she walks, the way she talks … whisky and coke …“ but I still liked this piece of lightweight hardcore. There are moments through the album which I didn’t like and sections which I enjoyed but I very much liked the last two tracks. “Break of Day” is a lively Metalcore track with a catchy chorus. The title track “We Rule the Night” is again In Flames-orientated in style but most importantly, the track is made of pure melody and energy. The drum strikes a driving beat, and the movement is punchy and fluid. The rousing “We Rule the Night” would be a good hit single, and it certainly was a good end to the album.
Like “Only Inhuman”, there’s a danger here of writing “We Rule the Night” off as contrived, unoriginal and simplistic when you first hear it. Even now, I’d say there’s an overall lack of cutting edge and some of the tracks are just bland, but there are very good parts too. Perhaps the trick is to take it for what it is, rather than what it’s not. In its brightest moments, it’s fun, lively and sure to get crowds going. Enjoy.
http://www.myspace.com/sonicsyndicate
http://www.nuclearblast.de
