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Sole Syndicate: Last Days Of Eden
Sole Syndicate - Last Days Of Eden Album Art

Sole Syndicate: Last Days Of Eden

Melodic Metal Rock/AOR
3.5/5.0

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Scarlet Records
Words: Craig Hartranft
Added: 18.11.2020 | Released: 20.11.2020

Sole Syndicate hails from Sweden, a band of brothers bound by a love for 80's melodic hard rock and metal. In 2016, The five piece advanced upon the music scene with their debut album, Garden Of Eden. Now, Sole Syndicate returns with their second studio effort, Last Days Of Eden, with lyrical content reflecting our pandemic times of "rising crime and political instability,' so the one-sheet reveals.

Sole Syndicate - Click For Larger Image

Sole Syndicate

Certainly, Sole Syndicate references their musical influences in their current music. Their songs offer a favorable mix of melodic hard rock with some metal edge, featuring sharp, sometimes heavy, twin guitar riffs, with harmony from the same and vocal arrangements, and a sturdy and potent rhythm section for rock groove and some gallop as necessary. Most of the metal edge comes from the guitar lines and spry rhythm section. For his part, lead vocalist Jonas Mansson sings strong and clean, with some range and significant control, though he can be raging also. Following these things, crisp guitar solos rise in most every tune. All these things are sometimes wrapped up in self-evident song melody and harmony with memorable refrains which give the some songs an AOR accessibility. Perhaps, as a summarization, Sole Syndicate's song motif might be described as sharp, heavy, and dense melodic metal rock sometimes garbed in an AOR wrapper.

You'll find this formula self-evident right from the beginning with Wake Up, ... And The Truth Will Set You Apart, and We Fall Apart. These are three of the strongest songs here, making for a sound start. Glory Days follows. Driven by acoustic guitar and voice, the song is a rising ballad which gets heavier, yet which is still tempered by that acoustic guitar. Later that acoustic guitar delivers a fine solo. Again, another exceptional song.

But then things sort of drift sideways (or go downhill depending upon your perspective). We Came To Rock is basically hard and heavy, and sluggish, and long-suffering, though it has a fine guitar solo. Somewhat similar are Brothers and Pain Is Only An Illusion, both hard and heavy, yet faster. In the latter song, Mansson vocals are more raging. This musical pattern essentially continues to the end. So, in the early half you have some AOR-ish melodic metal rock, and in the larger latter half more hard and heavy metal rock. Call it a mixed big of music. I was partial to the former and ambivalent to the latter. Nevertheless, Sole Syndicate's Last Days Of Eden offers listeners some solid, perhaps heavier, melodic metal rock with, at times, some very fine AOR accessibility. Check out the album and support the band. Recommended.




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The Bottom Line

Sole Syndicate's Last Days Of Eden offers listeners some solid, perhaps heavier, melodic metal rock with, at times, some very fine AOR accessibility. Check out the album and support the band. Recommended.

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