Band:	Sonic Syndicate
Album:	Only Inhuman
Style:	Gothenburg metal
Release date:	May 18, 2007
Guest review by:	iaberis

Disc I [CD]
01. Aftermath
02. Blue Eyed Fiend
03. Psychic Suicide
04. Double Agent
05. Enclave
06. Denied
07. Callous
08. Only Inhuman
09. All About Us [t.A.T.u cover]
10. Unknown Entity
11. Flashback
12. Freelancer [Digipack/Japanese/European bonus]
13. My Soul in #000000 [Japanese bonus]

Disc II [DVD] [Tour Edition bonus]
Live In Cologne
01. Aftermath
02. Denied
03. History Repeats Itself
04. Only Inhuman
05. Flashback
06. Enclave
07. Unknown Entity
08. Callous
09. Jailbreak
10. Double Agent 616
11. Psychic Suicide
12. Blue Eyed Fiend
+ Denied [video]
+ Enclave [video]
+ Photogallery

"Only Inhuman" is the second and latest album of the band "Sonic Syndicate". It was released through Nuclear Blast Records, in May 2007, after the band won a big competition, called "Bandcontest" in 2005. If you got into the band with "Eden Fire" then you might be surprised a bit since the band has changed its sound to a more polished and catchy tone.

From the first time I saw the cover art, two bands came to my mind, In Flames and Soilwork. I don't know if it's just my idea, but I think this album cover is a mix of "Stabbing The Drama" from Soilwork and "Come Clarity" from In Flames. And that's exactly how the band sounds. It's a mix of In Flames music with the dual vocals of Soilwork, a mix of the well known Gothenburg sound with the American Alternative rock music.

Sonic Syndicate has two main vocalists now, each singing with his own style; Richard Sjunnesson doing the screaming vocals and Roland Johansson doing the clean vocals, which have gained more space since their first album and now both have equal importance. Each song has both vocal styles, except from "Enclave" which has only clean and could simply be just another (good) alternative rock song. Also, almost all songs have an extensive use of keyboards and in combination with the great riffs, the songs get a catchy feeling, like in "Aftermath" and "Denied". There are of course some filler songs too, that after some hearings can become boring, but that's something usual in all releases today. Another track worth mentioning is "All About Us" which is a t.A.T.u. song and probably the worst cover I've ever heard. I really can't understand how they thought to do something like that...

I'm sure there's lot of people hating this band, both for its sound and the promotion it's getting and accusing them that they're not metal or that are metalcore or even emo, but that's not quite true. The style of some members, may remind the emo fashion, but it's pure Gothenburg metal with just altered vocals. I've been hearing people whining all the time about the lack of originality in many bands today and when this comes, they dash it. I'm sure that this band may not be that original in the music they play and they surely are not the first band that tries that, but their originality stands in their effort to combine these two music genres, so it is most possible to gain fans among these two fields of rock and metal.

There's also something notable in the members of this band. Apart from the three Sjunnesson brothers, there's a pretty girl in the bass position too. Although she's credited for vocals, I'm not so sure if I heard her voice in any song, unlike their previous album. A good idea would be to promote her presence a bit more, since the only other band that comes to my mind with a female bass player is Bolt Thrower...

All in all, is this release better than the first? For me it surely is, but for some others not really. Closing this, I'd like to express my disappointment for the fact that the two music videos the band has done so far are not included in the disc; instead, we get a rather mediocre bonus track in the digipak version...