Rating: 2.5/5
Reviewer: JP
Symphorce have always been a bit on a non-entity for me. I don’t know why. On paper these guys are excellent. I’ve bought virtually every album and enjoyed them all but none of them stick with me. The band seems to lack a bit of personality, in the same way that Circle II Circle do.
UNRESTRICTED is album #7 for the guys and again it is a technically decent record. The album starts with a slow to mid-tempo cut, called ‘The Eternal’ it’s almost a ballad. Bad move. It’s an OK song but should have been about track seven. They pick up the pace but the songs never get really fast or dangerous. Andy Franck possesses the quintessential metal voice but I prefer his work in Brainstorm where he really cuts loose more often. Every song sits comfortably (too comfortably) in that crunchy, slow-burn pocket, each cut sitting in the 3.5 to 4.5 minute range. No real epics, no real ballads, no insane speed, just straight-ahead conventional, safe metal.
Lyrically the band seems a bit down on this one, lots of songs about heartbreak, love and loss. Again, to me the band have never really developed enough song-writing personality or distinction to stand ahead of the pack. The production is good, it has a nice eye-catching album cover but these things are not enough to salvage an average album. It’s a really competitive, busy genre and Symphorce have yet to stand out for me. The sum is not better than the parts as I like Freedom Call (DuPont's band) better and as mentioned I like Andy's work in Brainstorm better and Markus' work in Mystic Prophecy better.
I’m in the minority opinion about Symphorce as Rick and EvilG of this very site love these guys and heap praise on every album. I hope they do a review of UNRESTRICTED to give some alternate perspective.
No comments:
Post a Comment