Syndicate Reviews
Taken from: Intoxicated.clara.net
(E-zine and Print Zine)
SYNDICATE Syndicate CD (Cryptic Recordings) **** (out of 5) Syndicate nearly got full marks on three counts - firstly because they had kindly put a picture of my dog on the cover of their CD, secondly because their drummer looks like Kerry King and finally because their music is damned smart metal. Like I said, they should have got full marks..but they didn't! "Why didn't they ?" I hear you cry! Well, my main (and only) problem was the vocals of Robert which, although impressive and, to be blunt, fucking powerful, were just a little too clean for my liking! I like my singers to roar, to bark, to really bleed their lyrics and Robert didn't. Nothing personal as he is a fine example of a metal singer, just not my type of metal singer. Still, music wise I haven't enjoyed a CD as much as this in a while, the guitars have just the right heaviness to them and the songs are catchy enough to have me nodding along within minutes of opener Empty Stare smashing its ugly head through my speakers. Ballsy stuff! So, if you like quality technical metal with a great power metal vocalist then Syndicate will be right up your street. Write to 3095 El.Cajon Blvd, San Diego, CA 92104, USA, for further information or click here to email the band. (Graham Finney)