Syndicate Reviews
Taken from:
Metal Judgement.com(E-zine)
Submitted by Musashi on 3/29/00: This is the demo review section but it was also created as a place to review indie/self released material. The Syndicate CD is definitely not a "demo." This CD is ready for release. According to them, their style is "Mind Heavy Groove." I don't know what that means. Of course, the first question that must be asked is "is it metal?" Well, that depends on whether you think of Tool and Queensryche as metal because Syndicate is their illegitimate love child. But from the look and sound, I'm still hesitant to call them metal. Maybe it's the Korn-esque side to their sound? I almost don't want to submit the review, but I like it enough and there is enough guitar shredding to make me feel confident that many of our readers will find it metal enough for their stereos. As an aside, I did everything I could to stack the deck against them. First, I listened to Exuviate. Then I saw the Pepsi commercial during the Oscars with Kiss and that annoying girl that I want to kick in the stomach. Then I put in the Syndicate CD. Looking at the package you immediately can tell that money went into it. Great photo and artwork. As soon as the CD kicks in, again you are confronted by the "cha-ching" of it all. Cryptic records obviously spent some money on this CD. It sounds awesome. Very well produced and mixed. Complete with samples of movie dialogue and cool delay effects. It's not as well produced as the bands that they emulate but it comes dangerously close. It's not like the Syndicate isn't worth it. These guys can play. There are some really great guitar solos on this disc. The riffs are out of the Tool songbook (or as I call it the "Tool shed.") The vocals sound like Geoff Tate meets Dave Mustaine. The lyrics are good. Syndicate are not for the underground. Their sound is K-Rock-ready. The only thing left to ask is whether they have a single. You be the judge. This is a CD worth picking up if you like Tool, Queensryche and Korn. 5/5***** skulls