After 2022’s debut Maleficium and last year’s team-up with Disembodied Tyrant, Minneapolis-based Synestia, still unsigned and proudly independent, decided to turn the page and reshuffle the deck. Multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Sam Melchior parted ways with the previous vocalist, recruited a drummer and a bassist who at one point shared time in Crown Magnetar, and brought in Larcɇnia Roɇ’s Ryan Vail on vocals.
No PhD in obviousness required to guess that this line-up hits harder than a semi-truck to the ribcage.
And that’s exactly what’s happening on Premonitions. These guys are just a few horsemen and a functioning Mayan calendar short of triggering the apocalypse. Melody and mayhem crash together over ever-shifting rhythm patterns and strategically placed orchestral arrangements. World-ending breakdowns randomly detonate everywhere. Monstrous blast beats and chugs rain down like meteor showers. Sharp solos slice through the mix like a scythe through flesh. While vocals range from possessed-by-demon to gargling-broken-glass. It’s dark, it’s filthy, and it’s absolutely glorious.
Now, I’ll admit I’m not too huge on Larcɇnia Roɇ, but Ryan Vail’s performance here really brings it home. The man’s got pipes that could easily win him a medal at the Crocodile Vocal Olympics (calm down, Will Ramos, that’s not actually a real thing), before headbutting one of the judges on his way out too.
Synestia have reinvented themselves line-up wise, and while their new form doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, they sure strapped spikes to it, doused it in kerosene, and launched it flaming down the hill straight into town. Mandatory listen for fans of the genre.
