Andy Synn

PANOPTICON – THE RIME OF MEMORY

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Oct 252023
 

(Andy Synn offers some early insight into The Rime of Memory, set for release on 29 November)

It could be argued that I am, perhaps, the wrong person to be reviewing the new album from Panopticon (aka multi-instrumental marvel Austin Lunn), as my history with the band is somewhat mixed.

Like many of you, I fell in love with the seminal Kentucky the moment I first heard it but, unfortunately, I was far less taken with both Roads to the North and Autumn Eternal which – while both good albums in their own right (the latter especially) – just didn’t seem to speak to me in quite the same way.

However, just as I was beginning to accept that our connection was perhaps only a fleeting one, they released the ambitious and expansive double-album, The Scars of Man…, which swiftly rekindled my love for their forlon, folk-inspired sound, and then followed this up with the absolutely masterful …And Again Into the Light, which may well be the best album of their career.

Then again, perhaps this means that I might actually be the best choice to review The Rime of Memory, as I’m less likely than most to descend into unwarranted hyperbole and hero-worship and more willing to offer a mix of both praise and criticism, to whatever extent is warranted?

I suppose there’s only one way to find out.

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WITCHING – INCENDIUM

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Oct 232023
 

(Andy Synn hopes to ignite your interest in the new album from Philadelphia’s Witching, set for release this Friday)

It was just over three years ago that we hosted the premiere of Witching‘s first album, Vernal, describing it as:

“…a subtly proggy, occasionally doomy, but above all emotionally intense, form of Sludge reminiscent of both latter-day Ludicra and early Mastodon.”

And while that description still holds true for their debut, there’s no question that album #2 is an altogether more aggressive and incendiary piece of work.

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BEST OF BRITISH: TIDES OF SULFUR / TORPOR / TRIVAX

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Oct 192023
 

(Andy Synn presents another collection of British artists/albums he thinks you should check out)

Good afternoon kids (and kids of all ages).

Are you ready to learn?

Well, today’s edition of the “Best of British” is brought to you by the letter “T” and the number “3”.

So shut up and start paying attention. There will be a test.

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DREAMWELL – IN MY SADDEST DREAMS, I AM BESIDE YOU

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Oct 182023
 

(Andy Synn encourages you to give Dreamwell‘s new album – out this Friday – a chance)

Before you go any further, I encourage you all to go read what I wrote about Dreamwell‘s previous album, which was one of my favourite records of 2021.

Finished?

Well, now let me tell you why – as good as Modern Grotesque was – In My Saddest Dreams… is even better.

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SULPHUR AEON – SEVEN CROWNS & SEVEN SEALS

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Oct 172023
 

(Andy Synn catches up with NCS favourites Sulphur Aeon following the release of their fourth album)

I doubt there’ll be many people willing to argue against the statement that Sulphur Aeon have long-since proven themselves to be one of the best bands in Death Metal – hell, in Metal in general – operating today.

After making an impressive impact with their 2012 debut, Swallowed by the Ocean’s Tide, they then blew practically everyone away with the inhuman intensity of 2015’s Gateway to the Antisphere, only to then turn around and knock people’s socks off all over again with the more epic and melodic strains of The Scythe of Cosmic Chaos in 2018.

So to say that the band have set themselves a very high bar would be an understatement, and I want to make it clear that when I tell you that Seven Crowns & Seven Seals isn’t quite the quantum leap that …Scythe… was from Gateway… (or Gateway… was from Swallowed…) that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It simply means that Sulphur Aeon are finally settling into their own strange and sinister skin.

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CROW BLACK SKY – SIDEREAL LIGHT, VOL. TWO

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Oct 122023
 

(Andy Synn offers his thoughts on the new album from South Africa’s Crow Black Sky)

While the whole “two year album cycle” thing is fine for some bands (though I’d say it’s more common amongst bands signed to more prominent labels) not every artist works, or should work, to the same schedule.

Case in point, Cape Town’s Crow Black Sky released their first album back in 2010, but then waited eight more years before releasing the follow-up, Sidereal Light, Vol. One.

In hindsight you almost wonder why the band didn’t change their name in the intervening period (though I can understand why not, since Crow Black Sky is an excellent name) as Volume One represented a significant shift in sound for the group, moving them towards a “cosmic” Black Metal sound that was as rich in atmosphere as it was in aggression… and all the better for it.

And now, after five long years, we finally get to hear where this path has taken them with the recent release of Sidereal Light, Vol. Two.

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THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

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Oct 092023
 

(Andy Synn highlights four albums from last month you need to listen to)

There’s two things you need to know about this column.

  1. It’s usually done sooner than this but, since I didn’t get back into the country until Wednesday last week, I didn’t have chance to write everything up until now.
  2. I normally try and present a pretty varied grab-bag of albums and artists in each article… but this time I’ve dedicated it solely to some of the nastiest, gnarliest, and most unfriendly sounds from September.

So, with all that in mind, let’s see what this latest edition of “Things You May Have Missed” has to offer, shall we?

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THE SYNN REPORT (PART 163): SVALBARD

 THE SYNN REPORT  1 Response »
Oct 062023
 

Recommended for fans of: Alcest, Oathbreaker, So Hideous

First off, I have to apologise for the lateness of this particular edition of The Synn Report – I simply didn’t have time to write very much while I was overseas last week.

However, considering that Svalbard are releasing their fourth – and arguably finest – album today, it seemed like an opportune time to take a deep-dive into their discography (and, potentially, reassess some of the words I’ve written about them previously).

There’s no question that the Bristol-born quarter have proved somewhat divisive at times – their punky fusion of Post-Metal, Post-Hardcore, and Post-Black often causing consternation amongst the “purists”, while their poignant, painfully honest lyrics have sometimes been accused of being a little too on the nose – but the raw energy, and equally raw emotion, underpinning everything they do is something that simply cannot be denied.

So if you’re a looking for a band who wear their collective heart on their sleeve, but also don’t pull their punches – musically or lyrically – then Svalbard should be just what you’ve been searching for.

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MERCENARY – SOUNDTRACK FOR THE END TIMES

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Sep 272023
 

(Andy Synn catches up with a band who we haven’t checked in with in quite a while)

Change, as they say, is the one universal constant. But that doesn’t mean that change is always good. Or, at least, it’s not always perceived (or received) that way.

Case in point, following the departure of the Sandagger brothers in 2009 Mercenary were – rightly or wrongly – criticised for, ahem, metamorphosing from the distinctive Prog/Power/Death Metal hybrid they used to be into a more groove-focussed, Metalcore-ish “Nu-Melodeath” act in the vein of bands like Caliban, Deadlock, etc.

Much of the blame was placed, unfairly, on bassist (and now primary vocalist) René Pedersen – mostly, it seemed, because his singing style was supposedly less “epic” and more “emo” than his predecessor – even though the core guitar duo of Jakob Mølbjerg and Martin Buus (who have, at the time of writing this, now been playing together for over twenty years!) remained unchanged.

But the truth of the matter is that there was no one person responsible for the band’s downturn in fortunes, it’s simply that, for a while, they didn’t seem to know quite who they were, or who they wanted to be, any more.

But on their new album Mercenary sound more like… well, Mercenary… than they have in years!

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