Artist: Sycronomica
Title: Sycroscope
Type: Album
Label: Silverwolf Productions / SPV

Sycronomica’s third album in their thirteen year existence is a nice little foray into the world of melodic black metal, promising to deliver ‘atmosphere’, ‘epic sound’, ‘progressive and technically demanding black metal’ and ‘melodic structures, complex riffs and extreme vocals’. However, what such an expanse of descriptions ultimately equates to is a sound that is ninety-five percent Dimmu Borgir and five percent power metal. Not that this is a bad thing necessarily - these Germans could potentially win over most Dimmu fans, harking back to the slightly earlier works of ‘Enthrone Darkness Triumphant’, and at times, ‘Stormblast’ (which, perhaps more than a coincidence, is when Sycronomica formed…).

Apart from the daft black and spiky promo shots, which could even out-cheese Dimmu themselves, the cold guitar tremolo of black-meets-heavy metal and pumping synths could definitely be mistaken for the Norsemen, whilst Oliver Walther’s snarls definitely come across a little Shagrath-y, although some death metal-like grunts do their best to come off a little more sinister and heavy. And before you ask, there are some clean vocals, which are similar to Dimmu in their operatic over-the-top nature. Michael Bayer’s blast beats, although never overused, are your standard in-your-face melodic black metal fare, well-produced and faster than a whippet, trying to compete with the likes of Keep of Kalessin and Septic Flesh.

The real moments which stand out on this album are the subtle touches, which are easy to overlook. We have the occasional soft flourish and tempo change, which highlight the band’s strong song-writing skills. Somewhat surprising is a song which borders more on extreme power than black metal, entitled ‘The Call’, which brings about a slightly more epic and diverse vibe to the album. Some of the piano parts in closer ‘Geleit Ins Moor’ is reminiscent of the greatness of ‘Stormblast’, which adds a sad, almost reflective edge to the band’s sound.

Wearing their influences on their black leather sleeves, Sycronomica have put out one of Dimmu Borgir’s best albums for years. There are enough hints of originality which show some potential, but these are few and far between. Nevertheless, this is still a mile from being unlistenable, and who knows, given the right promotion, the black-clad hordes could eat this one up.

http://www.sycronomica.de
http://www.myspace.com/sycronomica

James Young

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