Andy Synn Archives - Page 143 of 160

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 71: CODE

Apr 112016

(In the 71st edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the discography of Code.)

Recommended for fans of: Borknagar, Ihsahn, Leprous

For whatever reason I’ve decided to stick close to home again for this edition of The Synn Report, following up the beefy Death Metal of Dyscarnate with the category defying, blackened-prog vibes of the legendary Code.

Though originally a joint venture between members from Norway and the UK, with strong ties to such groups as Ulver, Dodheimsgard, Indesinence, Season’s End, etc, the current incarnation of the band is an entirely British affair.

However, despite the many changes in the band’s line-up, and the ever-changing, ever-evolving nature of their sound, there remains an undeniable and intangible thread of identity and continuity within their music, running all the way from the very first track of their debut, Nouveau Gloaming, to the final climactic notes of last year’s phenomenal and shamelessly progressive mut. Continue reading »

DEATH FORTRESS: “DEATHLESS MARCH OF THE UNYIELDING”

Album Reviews 10 Responses »

Apr 072016

(In this post Andy Synn reviews the new album by New Jersey’s Death Fortress.)

Eons ago… in the cold, dark days of 2014… I stumbled across a certain album. An album absolutely overflowing with raw, visceral power and truly venomous, electrifying energy. That album was Among the Ranks of the Unconquerable, by verbose Black Metal marauders Death Fortress, and it quickly rose in the ranks to become one of my favourite Black Metal albums of the last decade.

I’ll admit though, I was a little late to the party, and the album had been out for some time before I finally got around to reviewing it. This time, however, I’ve been much more on the ball, as the band’s new album, Deathless March of the Unyielding, was only just released earlier this week.

So I guess the big question is, how does it stack up to its predecessor, an album about which I comprehensively struggled to find anything to criticise? Continue reading »

IHSAHN: “ARKTIS.”

Album Reviews 6 Responses »

Apr 052016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Ihsahn.)

A certain friend of mine (who will remain nameless) has an almost pathological obsession with pointing out the various points of intersection and cross-pollination between Metal and Pop music, to the extent where it sometimes feels he’s seeing what he wants to see, and not necessarily what’s actually there. Still, he must be having a field day with Ihsahn’s new album Arktis., as it’s easily the most gleamingly melodic, intimately accessible… and, yes, poppy, album that the ever-adversarial artiste has put his name to thus far.

Despite this distinction, however, it’s also possible to see this album as something of a return to form following the somewhat uneven nature of both Eremita and Das Seelenbrechen, both albums which the man himself characterised as being more of a musical diversion than a continuation of the main creative thrust of his solo work.

Though both albums definitely had their charms (and, in hindsight, Eremita quite clearly served as a testing-ground for some of the more overtly poppy ideas and influences which permeate this release – you only need to look at Prog-Pop anthem “Frail” for evidence of that) it’s clear in a number of ways – from the structuring of the songs to the return to the established naming convention (The Adversary, Angl, After, Artkis.) – that album number six is a step back onto the right path. Continue reading »

SYRINX: “BLACK SPRING”

Album Reviews 4 Responses »

Apr 012016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Syrinx from Limoges, France.)

The start of every new year brings another opportunity for new musical discoveries. At least, that’s how I’ve always felt about things. In fact I think it was probably almost exactly twelve months ago (give or take) that I last said something to that effect. You know what they say, plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…

Fittingly enough, today’s discovery comes courtesy of France’s own Syrinx, whose all-killer, no-filler new album, Black Spring, delivers a ten-thousand megaton blast of post-Gojira, post-Decapitated Death Metal, balancing punishing, piston-powered riffage and bunker-busting drum work with a subtle progressive flow and liquid-metal fluidity that helps make it stand out head and shoulders above the rest. Continue reading »

GORGUTS / PSYCROPTIC / DYSRHYTHMIA / NERO DI MARTE – LIVE AT SOUND CONTROL, MANCHESTER, 28/03/16

Concert Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 302016

(Andy Synn reports on a show he witnessed earlier this week in Manchester, England, with performances by Gorguts, Psycroptic, Dysrhythmia, and Nero Di Marte. And Andy also shares with us some videos he shot during the show.)

When it comes to running gigs (and I speak from experience not only of booking shows, but running them, and playing them… sometimes all three in the same evening) there’s a wide variety of things that can go wrong. Some of them can be fixed with only a minimum of hassle. Others… cause larger problems. For example, and this is just off the top of my head here, a six-hour ferry delay…

Yes, that’s what happened on Monday, meaning that I arrived at the venue for 6 o’clock (when my ticket stated doors were set) only to find that they’d now been pushed back until 7. Fortunately, I eventually bumped into a couple of mates (Hi Jon! Hi Chris!), which certainly made the whole experience a lot more palatable. UN-fortunately the stated door time came and went, with nary a whisper of anyone being let into the building. Something strange was afoot.

It was gone half 7 when, out of nowhere, the tour bus and trailer suddenly pulled round the corner, unleashing a flurry of activity as band and crew members scrambled to unload the necessary gear and merch and rush it into the venue to set up, with only a quick mention in passing that – with a little luck – the first band was going to be onstage within the hour.

At this point Chris and I retired to a nearby pub to join his Spires bandmates in playing the waiting game in slightly more comfortable surroundings, crossing our fingers that at least some of the lost time would be made up and that none of the bands were going to be dropped from the bill… Continue reading »

MANTAR: “ODE TO THE FLAME”

Album Reviews 3 Responses »

Mar 252016

(Andy Synn reviews the new album by Germany’s Mantar, coming next month from Nuclear Blast.)

When I say that Ode to the Flame, the second album by German blackened sludgemeisters Mantar, is one badass motherfucker, you’d best believe that I mean it.

Fuelled by rage and empowered by the divine spirit of “the riff”, practically every aspect of it – from its punishing, stone-cold grooves, snarling, punked-up hooks, and monstrously heavy guitar sound – is a huge step up from the band’s debut, with Messrs. Hanno (vocals/guitars) and Erinc (drums/vocals) upping their game on pretty much every level.

Bristling with barely restrained aggression, and gifted with a brash, belligerent swagger and a malicious streak a mile wide, it’s also the first album in a long, long time, to fill that twisted, Nachtmystium-shaped hole in my heart, though its tar-soaked and sludge-encrusted underbelly and downright surly demeanour mean that the final product offers up a much different experience than Judd and co’s self-loathing anthems. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: REMEMBER THAT YOU WILL DIE — S/T

Album Reviews, SHORT BUT SWEET 1 Response »

Mar 232016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Remember That You Will Die, whose members come from Australia and The Netherlands.)

When a band decides to call itself Remember That You Will Die, it’s a pretty safe bet that things aren’t going to be all sunshine and roses, and right from the sombre opening bars of “Despoilation” it becomes eminently clear that this intercontinental collective of nihilists and ne’er-do-wells view life only in shades of the darkest, dourest grey.

The band’s intriguing brand of Black Metal dwells somewhere on the more atmospheric end of the spectrum, marrying stinging blasts of venomous fury with distinct elements of “Post”-ish misery and some subtle experimental/progressive touches, drawing parallels with the dearly-departed and much-missed Altar of Plagues, albeit with a rhyme and rhythm all their own. Continue reading »

THE SYNN REPORT, PART 70: DYSCARNATE

THE SYNN REPORT 3 Responses »

Mar 212016

Dyscarnate 2016

(In this 70th edition of THE SYNN REPORT, Andy Synn reviews the releases to date of UK-based Dyscarnate.)

Recommended for fans of: Immolation, Hate, Misery Index

I’ll probably catch some serious flack for saying this, but sometimes it seems like the UK scene has an unfortunate tendency, consciously or otherwise, to celebrate mass-appeal and mediocrity over inspiration and artistic integrity — often mixed in with a weird strain of pseudo-nationalist sentiment that demands your unequivocal, unthinking support for “True British Heavy Metal”… and insinuates that you’re a traitor or a poser if you fail to do so.

Despite the fact that the country is currently bubbling with fantastic, unique bands (particularly in the Doom and Black Metal genres) easily the equal of anything the rest of the world can produce, there’s still a large section of the scene who seem happy to just settle for what’s comfortable and familiar, be it the next in a seemingly endless line of interchangeable, lowest-common-denominator Thrash/Groove acts, or yet another generic, domestic-brand version of whatever’s currently trendy in the good old US of A.

And yet despite this, or maybe even because of it, it still pleases me whenever I get the chance to showcase a UK band capable of going above and beyond the call of duty. A band kicking ass and taking names entirely on their own terms. A band like Dyscarnate. Continue reading »

DER WEG EINER FREIHEIT / HARAKIRI FOR THE SKY / THE GREAT OLD ONES – LIVE AT THE BLACK HEART, LONDON, MAR 12, 2016

Concert Reviews 4 Responses »

Mar 172016

(We present Andy Synn’s review of the performances in London on March 12 by Der Weg Einer Freiheit, Harakiri For the Sky, and The Great Old Ones — with videos recorded by Mr. Synn himself.)

Look at that line-up. Just look at it. That is one hell of a triple-header, if I do say so myself.

As a matter of fact, two of those bands, Der Weg Einer Freiheit and The Great Old Ones, were (separately) responsible for two of the best gigs I went to last year, whilst Harakiri For The Sky are one of those bands I’ve been itching to see live for years now, though the timing has just never quite worked out. So to say I was a little excited when this show was announced would be something of an understatement. Continue reading »

SHORT BUT SWEET: MESARTHIM — “PILLARS”

Album Reviews 5 Responses »

Mar 162016

(Andy Synn reviews the new EP by Australia’s Mesarthim.)

Space is… really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. And being so big, so infinitely, unendingly big, it’s really no surprise how much it continues to fascinate, captivate, and inspire humanity in its many artistic endeavours.

And yes, while at times it can seem like the sheer infinity of time and space is on the verge of filling up with dime-a-dozen Tech Death bands, they certainly don’t have a monopoly on all things cosmic, as there’s a whole host of acts operating within the (dyson) sphere of Black Metal who take their primary inspiration from the endless wonder and grandeur of the great beyond.

This is particularly evident of course on the Atmospheric/Ambient side of the genre, with acts like Darkspace, Mare Cogitum, and Progenie Terrestre Pura rejecting the darkness of the brimstone abyss in favour of the vastness of the shining void, although even bands like Agalloch and Enslaved (to name but two) have done more than their fair share of stargazing over the years.

Australian astronometallers Mesarthim are one of the latest, and brightest, stars to join this ebon constellation of bands, with the release of their debut album Isolate in July of last year. And now they’re back once again with their new EP, Pillars. Continue reading »

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