The minute I saw that Rhys Fulber had something to do with this
band, I had to listen to it. Fulber is a master producer, arranger,
and just someone who makes music sound good, whether if it’s his own
work or someone else’s. I won’t write much more about him, but his
work with Fear Factory, Paradise Lost, and Conjure One speak for
themselves.
Sybreed reminds me a little bit like Fear Factory without the
guttural guitars and the lyrics are a bit different. To give you an
idea, while I was listening to the album, the images that would pop
into my head related more to the movie (not the book) “Blade Runner,”
and the book “Neuromancer.” It’s that type of science fiction,
whereas the before mentioned band reminds me “Dark City” and “Terminator.”
Just to let you know that Sybreed, is a whole other band with a whole
other feel to them that I feel is unique. Honestly, I’ve been
waiting for a band like this to come a long for a long time. I feel
that metal needs more bands like this, which reminds them of a movie
or a book they’ve read because it adds depth. Depth, ladies and
gentlemen, goes a hell of a long way, because it goes just beyond
sound, it goes into imagination. Congratulations Sybreed, you did it.
Sybreed utilizes a lot of keyboards into their music, more so than
other bands. I feel like it drives the music completely along with the
singer and the other instruments are kind of in the background. It isn’t
a bad thing, its just observation. The singing, is mostly the
combination of kind of growling, not so much screaming, and singing.
The singing part is good and bad. Good because the singer has a unique
sound, bad because it’s overdone and not as dynamic as I would like
to hear him be. Benjamin, has a higher pitched singing voice, I’m
not talking King Diamond by any means, but it’s higher pitched and a
bit thin and after a while, it gets tiresome to hear. He’s got a
good voice, but I think he should try to sing lower in some other
songs. It could also boil down to how the vocals were mixed too.
The tracks to really listen to, “The Line of Least Resistance,”
“No Wisdom Brings Solace,” “ Challenger,” and “Into The
Blackest Light.” By far m y favourite song on the album is “The
Line of Least Resistance,” it has a great beat to it, great for
driving fast, working out, and a great “half-time” feel to it. I
could see it being a crowd pleaser at shows. It’s also a track where
Benjamin is the most dynamic. The vocals are mixed rather
interestingly, there’s a track of higher pitched and lower pitched,
blended together, either that or there’s pitch correction and I just
can’t tell the difference. The screams sound fantastic as well. Best
song by far.
“Into The Blackest Light,” is more of a straight up, dark
sounding metal song focusing more on images than anything else. The
drumming in this track seem much faster in this track than the others
and the singing, again, sounds very different, we have the singing and
evil sounding screams and growls in it that shape it ever so nicely.
In conclusion, this album is worth buying. I would like to see more
bands like this one. I just kind of wish the clean vocals were
modified, but it’s not a deterrent. The guitars sound heavy and not
too technical, the drumming is fantastic, not terribly technical but
just right, I had to sit and concentrate to listen to the bass, the
electronics were very prominate. But yes, go buy it.
Sybreed: "God
Is An Automaton"
