Dangerdog Music Reviews :: © 1999 - 2025 Craig S Hartranft :: All Rights Reserved
No part of this this website, including design and music reviews,
may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
CELEBRATING 18 YEARS!
- New Music Reviews
- |
- Archives
- |
- News
- |
- Submissions
- |
- About
- |
- |
New Music Reviews, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock, Progressive Metal, AOR, Alternative Rock, Alternative Metal
Recent Reviews
March 2025
- W.E.T.: Apex
- Alliance: Before Our Eyes
- Ginevra: Beyond Tomorrow
- Phil X & The Drills:
Pow! Right In The Kisser - IQ: Dominion
- Heart Line: Falling Heaven
- Gotthard: Stereo Crush
- Defender: Dying To Live
- Streetlight: Night Vision
February 2025
- Robin McAuley: Soulbound
- Perfect Plan: Heart Of A Lion
- Craig Brooks: Desolation Freeway
- Mantric Momentum: Alienized
- Pattern-Seeking Animals: Friend Of All Creatures
- Crazy Lixx: Thrill Of The Bite
- Ginger Evil: The Way It Burns
- Dream Theater: Parasomnia
- Tyran: Tyran's Oath
- Saber: Lost In Flames
January 2025
- Wildness: Avenger
- The Ferrymen: Iron Will
- Labyrinth: In The Vanishing Echoes Of Goodbye
- Bonfire: Higher Ground
- The Big Deal: Electrified
- Landfall: Wide Open Sky
December 2024
- After Lapse: Pathways
- Illusion Force: Halfana
- Powell-Payne: Voilá
November 2024
- Sunstorm: Restless Fight
- Storace: Crossfire
- Voodoo Circle: Hail To The King
- Lionville: Supernatural
- Starchaser: Into The Great Unkown
- Empires Of Eden: Guardians Of Time
- Lonerider: Down In The Dust
- Seventh Crystal: Entity
- Neal Morse & The Resonance: No Hill For A Climber
- Beardfish: Songs For Beating Hearts
- Impellitteri: War Machine
- Brothers Of Metal: Fimbulvinter
Symphorce: Unrestricted
Symphorce: Unrestricted
Melodic Power/Prog Metal
5.0/5.0
AFM Records
www.myspace.com/symphorcepower
www.afm-records.de
By Craig Hartranft, 10.18.2010
While Symphorce's heavy metal path has been one of uneven acceptance and acclaim, founder Andy Franck (also Brainstorm) and longtime co-conspirator guitarist Cedric 'Cede' Dupont have pressed on. With their seventh album Unrestricted, Symphorce may catapult themselves into greater visibility. Unrestricted is quite possibly their best and most accessible album to date.
Symphorce, by Franck's vision, has always been long on the power and melodic side of heavy metal, with rich doses of the progressive. All this remains, but on Unrestricted it's enveloped in what one can only describe as a profoundly 'catchy' groove. Until It's Over, Sorrow in Our Hearts, Do You Ever Wonder, and near radio-friendly The Waking Hour are a bewitching blend of heaviness and melody founded in rich vocal arrangements, uncommon guitar work, and diverse arrangements. Yet, Symphorce can still be forceful, leaning to the pure power heavy metal side, with The Last Decision. Engaging clever (but not weird) synths and guitar synths, creative vocal arrangements, and unconventional and unexpected arrangements for power metal make Unrestricted compelling and even more 'modern' sounding.
With their seventh album Unrestricted, Symphorce delivers their best, most accessible and entertaining, album to date. This album offers a different twist on Symphorce's well-known melodic power metal. Unrestricted certainly lives up to its name. Strongly recommended.
Note: All Amazon advertising in this review first benefits the artist, then Craig Hartranft also receives a residual. Click, and thanks for your support.
In Short
With their seventh album Unrestricted, Symphorce delivers their best, most accessible and entertaining, album to date. Unrestricted offers a different twist on Symphorce's well-known melodic power metal.
Find A Review
Alphabetical Index
New & Notable
Here's a fun fact about Swiss legends, Gotthard: their last 16 releases, excepting their debut album, went to number one in their home country, making them one of Switzerland's most successful acts and ... [ Read More ]