Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

BLACKBRAID – BLACKBRAID I

Aug 222022

(The highly-anticipated debut album from Native American Black Metal artist Blackbraid is set for release this Friday, and our very own Andy Synn has some deep thoughts to share about it)

Hype… whether it’s the organic, grass-roots, free-range variety, or the artificial, astro-turfed, paid-for by your parents, kind… is a major part of today’s media landscape, whether we like it or not.

It’s not always a bad thing, by any means, but it sometimes becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy where, once a narrative about a band is established by an author or an outlet (or, increasingly, someone with sufficient twitter influence), that becomes the only story that gets any traction.

Case in point, Blackbraid I is not – as some have claimed, and even more have amplified – the “best Black Metal album of the year”, but it is a very good, occasionally unabashedly great, example of how Black Metal can serve as the perfect medium for anyone with a strong enough vision to express themselves.

BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE – CHILDREN OF THE GREAT EXTINCTION

Album Reviews 9 Responses »

Aug 162022

(Andy Synn has not forgotten Becoming the Archetype… but will his faith be rewarded?)

Be careful what you wish for… that’s what they say, right?

And, let me tell you, I’ve been wishing and hoping for a new album from Becoming the Archetype ever since the group (at the time a very different entity from the one they started as) disbanded nearly ten years ago.

Well, now it’s finally here, reuniting the core trio of Seth Hecox, Jason Wisdom, and Brent Duckett, for the first time in over a decade, and it’s fallen to me to tell you all about it. And I’m not sure I’m ready.

But I’m going to try my best.

THE HALO EFFECT – DAYS OF THE LOST

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 112022

(Andy Synn gets to grips with the debut album from Melodeath “supergroup” The Halo Effect)

Let’s face it, a lot of people aren’t going to be able to resist pitting the upcoming albums from In Flames and The Halo Effect against one another.

And while that’s understandable to an extent – after all, most (arguably all, if you count Mikael Stanne’s early stint filling in on vocals) of The Halo Effect actually used to be in In Flames – any attempt to position them in direct competition to one another completely misses the point of why this band exists in the first place.

Let’s face it, while the current incarnation of In Flames are essentially a franchise unto themselves – with all the external and internal pressures to produce “hits” which that entails – The Halo Effect is, for all intents and purposes, just five old friends getting together to jam out some tunes that hew a little closer to their roots (though how closely is certainly up for debate).

But while this means that the pressures and expectations surrounding the release of Days of the Lost may not be quite as overbearing, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any expectations riding on it at all… and it’s up to Iwers, Engelin, Svensson, Strömblad, and Stanne to prove that they’ve got more to offer here than just a fleeting hit of feel-good nostalgia.

ETHER COVEN – THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE HAMMER AND THE NAIL

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Aug 092022

(Andy Synn gets filthy and furious with the new album from Floridian sludge-slingers Ether Coven)

What makes a band “big” these days?

Is it album sales? Streaming numbers? Social media reach?

Maybe, you might think, it’s being on a “big” label… but if that’s the case then why are Ether Coven, currently signed to Century Media/Good Fight, such a relatively unknown and firmly underground phenomenon?

The answer, of course, is that the band’s music is so unflinchingly ugly, so unforgivingly abrasive (yet tempered with moments of bleak, brooding beauty) that, no matter who they signed with, they were always going to be something of an acquired taste.

But while Ether Coven might not be “big” in the conventional sense of the word, there’s no denying that The Relationship Between the Hammer and the Nail is anything less than an absolutely massive album.

BEST OF BRITISH: BASTIONS / GRAVE LINES / IMPERIUM

Album Reviews No Responses »

Aug 042022

(Andy Synn presents three more fine examples of bombastic British belligerence)

Like I said yesterday… I’m more than a little swamped – both mentally and physically – right now, so I’m not going to waste what little time I have on a long preamble.

Instead I’m just going to urge you all to give each of these three albums – two from last month and one scheduled for release at the beginning of September – a shot. You might just discover something you like!

THINGS YOU MAY HAVE MISSED (BUT SHOULDN’T)

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Aug 022022

(Andy Synn takes a look at four albums from last month you may have missed)

Due to stress and pressure from my work/life outside of the site (yes, it’s true, I do have a life beyond NCS) I’ve not been able to write as much as I wanted to in July.

Hell, to be quite honest with you I’ve been on the cusp of burnout for the last couple of months, so trying to collect my thoughts together into something resembling a cohesive article has been much more difficult than usual.

Music, however, remains both a passion and a panacea for the pain, and without it I think I’d be in a much worse place.

So let’s celebrate the healing power of music – and the fact that, hopefully, things look like they’re starting to settle down for me – with four albums which you may have overlooked last month.

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 148): BEHOLD! THE MONOLITH

THE SYNN REPORT 1 Response »

Jul 292022

Recommended for fans of: High On Fire, Conan, Mastodon

The story of California riffmongers Behold! The Monolith is one of both tragedy and triumph

Tragedy… because, after releasing two well-received and well-rounded albums of increasingly proggy, doom-laden, sludgery, the band’s long-time bassist/vocalist Kevin McDade was killed in a car accident in 2013.

Triumph… because, after making the decision to carry on, the band roared back with another two fantastic records, the most recent of which was released just a few weeks ago.

BEST OF BRITISH: ASHENSPIRE / THE EVER LIVING / ITHACA

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Jul 212022

(Andy Synn provides another insight into the rich diversity and vitality of the UK scene)

Living in the UK, but being very much on the fringes of the UK “scene” – I’d say we were the black sheep but that presupposes we were ever part of the flock in the first place! – is an odd situation to be in.

On the one hand it feels like, no matter how many of these columns I write, and no matter how many shows we play, I’m always going to be an outsider.

On the other, however, it’s oddly freeing… I don’t have to worry about upsetting people (and, trust me on this, some people can’t take even the mildest criticism) and can write about who and what I want, from big names to relative unknowns, without anyone accusing me of having any sort of hidden agenda or ulterior motive.

So when I tell you that all three of these albums – one from last week, one from this week, and one scheduled for next week – are all worth your time you should be confident that I’m not just blowing smoke… I really mean it.

PANZERFAUST – THE SUNS OF PERDITION, CHAPTER III: THE ASTRAL DRAIN

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Jul 192022

(Andy Synn presents some thoughts on the new album from Canada’s Panzerfaust, which premiered in full here today.)

There comes a time, in every band’s career (ok, not every band’s career) where they produce an album which seems purposefully designed to piss off large sections of their fanbase.

Sometimes it’s because that album is a ridiculous misfire that would have been better off released under a different name entirely (or, even better, not at all).

Other times it’s a misunderstood masterpiece whose true value will only be appreciated in the years to come.

The Astral Drain is destined to become one of these albums.

But which will it be?

IMPERIAL TRIUMPHANT – SPIRIT OF ECSTASY

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Jul 182022

(Andy Synn says… grab your laudanum and snuff, it’s time for some glorious musical depravity)

All that glitters is not golden… or so they say. And Imperial Triumphant have spent the last several years peeling back the gilded veneer of New York city to reveal the rotten apple beneath.

Along the way they’ve continued to push the boundaries of Black Metal – both sonically and structurally – to the point where it’s debatable if the term even applies to their music any more.

Of course, the issue with constantly pushing boundaries like this is that you rarely have time to stop and take stock of who and where you are, with the result being that the idea of external progress often trumps the possibility of internal growth.

Which brings us to Spirit of Ecstasy, an album which – unexpectedly – finds Imperial Triumphant looking more inwards than forwards, seemingly more at home, more at ease, more comfortable, in their own shining skin then ever before.

But “comfortable” doesn’t mean “complacent” by any means. Because a band with nothing left to prove is also a band with nothing left to lose…

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