Andy Synn, Author at NO CLEAN SINGING

Andy Synn

THE SYNN REPORT (PART 132): WOWOD

Mar 312021

(For the March 2021 edition of THE SYNN REPORT Andy Synn discusses the discography of Russia’s Wowod, whose most recent album came out back in January.)

Recommended for fans of: Rorcal, Isis, Downfall of Gaia

For this month’s edition of The Synn Report (I know, how has another month gone by so fast) we’re heading to Russia… St. Petersburg, to be exact… to touch base with a band I only recently discovered but whom I’ve been dying to write about ever since.

Over the course of three albums (the most recent of which was released back in January) Wowod have developed an impressively visceral and exceptionally weighty sound which could best be described as a simultaneously abrasive yet atmospheric amalgam of Post-Metal, Post-Black Metal, and Crust, built around a core of humongous, heaving riffs, harsh, howling vocals, and dark, desperate melodies and accented with erratic eruptions of seething tremolo, scathing blastbeats, and the occasional diversion into ominous, brooding ambience.

It’s a sound that’s capable of both brutal intensity and intense beauty, as heavy as it is hypnotic, by turns stunningly dense and surprisingly delicate, and one I’m sure a lot of our readers are going to love.

A DIRTY HALF DOZEN – AVERSED / CREEPING FEAR / DANTALIAN / KANONENFIEBER / PUTRESCINE / WODE

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Mar 292021

(Our man Andy Synn has been busy recently, but not too busy to help catch us up with a bevy of new (or new-ish) albums from the first quarter of 2021)

We’re now at the end of March and I can officially say that the stream of new releases, re-releases, and surprise releases, has finally gotten the better of me and I have fallen well behind on my “to review” list.

Sacrifices will, inevitably, have to be made, and some things I intended to write about will either have to wait until an opening appears in my schedule somewhere down the line or, in the worst case scenario, have to be content with appearing in one of my year-end round-ups.

But I’m not going to give in to the inevitable without a fight, which is why, in a desperate effort to provide some interesting coverage, commentary, and – in some cases – criticism about a bunch of records (some dating back to January, some only just about to hit the streets) I’ve decided to pen a few thoughts about six different albums – three Death Metal, three Black Metal – which I’ve been meaning to write about for quite some time.

So, without further ado…

THE BEAST OF NOD – MULTIVERSAL

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 1 Response »

Mar 252021

(Andy Synn ventures forth once more into the multiverse of madness to experience the kaleidoscopic thrills and spills of The Beast of Nod, whose new album is out tomorrow in all known dimensions)

One thing I absolutely hate, with the burning passion of a thousand exploding suns, is parody bands.

They’re (almost) never funny, nowhere near as clever as they think they are, and generally just rely on lazy, lowest-common-denominator tropes to get by. Hell, even the best of them barely rise above the level of “children’s entertainers with guitars” a lot of the time.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against bands having fun (as I hope to demonstrate with this review), nor am I ignorant of the fact that, well, Metal (particularly the more OTT and “extreme” forms we all know and love so well) is, frankly… a little bit ridiculous.

I mean, c’mon, a significant number of bands spend most of their time trying out “out-gore” one another with ever more biologically implausible (and borderline indecipherable) lyrics, while another extremely large contingent likes to rant about the evils of organised religion while dressed up like undead wizards!

With that in mind, then, there’s definitely something to be said for bands who, while still taking their craft seriously, are fully aware of the genre’s inherent absurdity (but, then, isn’t all life absurd, really, when you get right down to it?) and don’t try and shy away from it or act like they’re ashamed of it but, instead, choose to openly embrace it in all its shameless, everything-turned-up-to-eleven excess.

And if there was ever a band who exemplified the preposterous potential of Metal, not as a weakness but as a virtue, then it’s those shameless sci-fi Tech-Death troubadours who call themselves The Beast of Nod.

NANGA PARBAT – DOWNFALL AND TORMENT

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Mar 242021

(Andy Synn continues to seek out the best new bands and boldly go above and beyond with the new record from Nanga Parbat)

It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that discovering, and falling in love with, a brand new band is one of life’s great joys.

This is especially true when that band absolutely knock it out of the park with their first try.

Such is the case with Downfall and Torment, the debut album from Italian Progressive Death maestros Nanga Parbat.

KLEXOS – APOCRYPHAL PARABOLAM

Album Reviews 1 Response »

Mar 232021

(Andy Synn takes time out of his busy schedule to catch up with an album he’s been dying to write about for some time, namely the debut album from Disso-Tech upstarts Klexos)

So here’s the thing… originality is overrated.

Don’t get me wrong, when something does come along which truly moves the needle, shifts the paradigm, or [insert zeitgeist-y term here], I’m usually right up there with everyone else, marvelling at how brilliant it is and wondering how no-one thought to do… whatever it is… before.

But originality isn’t, or shouldn’t be, everything – being original doesn’t necessarily make you good, for one thing – and the way it’s often fetishised has led me to encounter some very odd people/statements online over the years (for example, did you know that since Gorguts exist that any band who plays in 4/4 or uses standard song structures no longer counts as “real” Death Metal?).

Let’s face it, we’re all, ultimately, the sum of our experiences, our influences, and our environment. This is especially the case if you’re a musician, because who you are as an artist is largely shaped by the music which inspires you. Not just in the way it colours and dictates your listening preferences, but in how it actively alters how you listen to and understand – and, in turn, create – music.

Which I suppose is a long-winded way of getting to the point and saying that while Apocryphal Parabolam, the debut album from Lexington, Kentucky’s Klexos may not be a wholly original affair, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still have a certain spark of something – call it inspiration, call it individuality – which makes it well worth listening to.

HATALOM – OCCHIOLISM

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 182021

(Andy Synn returns to the fray after a hectic week with a review of the upcoming new album from Hatalom)

With so many albums, EPs, and other releases coming out, in an almost unending flood of new music (not that I’m complaining, mind you) it can be easy to lose track of what’s going on. And with so many bands forming, reforming, going on hiatus, and making a comeback, it’s also hard to know everyone’s status and when (if ever) to expect new material.

Thankfully, as a part-time, semi-professional writer/reviewer/critic (delete as appropriate) I’m generally able to keep one eye open, and one ear to the ground (though not necessarily at the same time) for news and updates about artists we’ve covered here before, which is why I’ve been carefully tracking the writing, recording, and release schedule of Occhiolism, the debut full-length from Canadian Tech-Death crew Hatalom, ever since its nascent existence was first made public.

And with the album set to hit the streets (and the net) tomorrow, now is probably a good time to check out my review of their first EP, Of Sorrow and Human Dust, from 2018, as not only does it provide a useful primer as to what, in general terms, to expect from the band, but it also provides some key context for all the ways in which the band have developed since… something which I’ll say more about after the jump.

DVNE – ETEMEN ÆNKA

RANDOM FUCKING MUSIC 6 Responses »

Mar 152021

(Andy Synn returns to the golden path to praise the new album from Dvne, out this Friday via Metal Blade)

As anyone who’s been following this site for more than a few years will be able to tell you, I absolutely love Asheran, the 2017 album from Scottish Post/Prog Metal prodigies Dvne.

Not only is it one of my favourite albums of all time, but it’s also one I legitimately consider to be among the best full-length records of the last decade (and I know quite a lot of our readers agree).

So when I found out that the band were not only working on a follow-up but had been snatched up by Metal Blade at the same time… well, as you can imagine my excitement levels went through the roof.

And now that the moment of its release is (almost) upon us, there’s just three questions about Etemen Ænka which need answering.

Is it as good as (or even better than, if that’s possible) Asheran?
Will it help the band reach a whole new audience and get them the attention and acclaim they deserve?
Could it possibly, maybe, one day supplant its predecessor in my affections?

Well, the answers to those questions are, in order, “yes”, “I hope so”, and “only time will tell”…

WESENWILLE – II: A MATERIAL GOD

Album Reviews No Responses »

Mar 122021

(Andy Synn opts to finish off the week with a last-minute review of the brand new album from Wesenwille, out now on Les Acteurs De L’Ombre Productions.)

I doubt it’s going to be much of a shock or a revelation when I say that, historically, much of Black Metal’s (f)ire and fury has been fuelled by disaffection and dissatisfaction with the modern world.

Whether it’s materialism, consumerism, capitalism… pick your poison really… many practitioners of “the black arts” seem to consider themselves above and beyond such mundane matters, which is probably one reason (among many) why so much Black Metal seeks to recapture or rediscover the glories of the pagan past… regardless of whether those glory days ever actually truly existed.

On the flip-side, however, there are still those artists who, rather than simply rejecting the trials and trappings of modernity out of hand, choose instead to embrace and channel the alienation and estrangement of our empty existence into their music, exploring the urban concrete jungle of now rather than the great vast forest of then.

And A Material God, the second album from Dutch duo Wesenwille, is the latest attempt to provide a fitting soundtrack to our everyday experiences of existential dread and post-industrial ennui.

AUTARKH – FORM IN MOTION

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Mar 102021

(Here’s Andy Synn‘s review of the debut album from Autarkh, set for release this Friday via Season of Mist.)

Metal’s relationship with electronic music – in all its various forms – is a long and fractious one.

For every artist who wholeheartedly embraces the fusion between the two genres there are a thousand more simply going through the motions, adding a few half-hearted glitch effects and booming sub-drops in a desperate attempt to be “down with the kids” or because they think (incorrectly) that it will somehow make them sound “futuristic” and otherwise make up their complete lack of vision (I think we all know who I’m talking about).

Still, the number of successful hybrids (from Godflesh to Fear Factory to Author & Punisher) can’t be dismissed, and Black Metal in particular has a remarkable history of combining pulsing electronic beats and pounding industrial rhythms with ear-scraping riffs and throat-scarring shrieks.

Into this tangled tradition steps Autarkh, the new project from former Dodecahedron guitarist/composer Michel Nienhuis, whose debut album aims to build on that group’s short but impressive legacy – with all the untapped potential and weight of expectations that implies – while also further blurring the lines between the organic and the metallic, the animal and the artificial.

And while Form In Motion is neither the direct sequel to Kwintessens that some might have (erroneously) expected, nor the paradigm shift that it perhaps could/should have been, it is certainly one of the most unique and unorthodox albums I’ve heard so far this year, with a distinct voice and vibe all its own.

STORTREGN – IMPERMANENCE

Album Reviews 2 Responses »

Mar 092021

(Today we present Andy Synn‘s review of the new album by Switzerland’s Stortregn, set for release this Friday via The Artisan Era.)

As some of you may be aware, I recently did a full, four album deep-dive into the discography of Melodic Black/Death Metaller’s Stortregn.

The benefits of this are two-fold. First off, it enabled me to re-acquaint myself with the band prior to the release of their new record. And, secondly, it means that I don’t have to waste time during this intro delving into the band’s origins and evolution – anyone who wants to do that should go check out the previous article from January – and can instead focus on the here and now.

This is particularly fortunate because their fifth album marks something of a turning point for the Geneva-based quintet, now signed to The Artisan Era, as they pivot even further towards a sound even more distinctly informed by the Melodic and Technical shades of the Death Metal spectrum.

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