Review by Richard Henry for MPM
These guys have been about a long time, since 2000, a load of Demos EPs and two full lengths to their name so far, so let’s get stuck into this newly released EP and see what the guys are up to!
Track 1 – The Fire Rises – Straight into a heavy thrash vibe, nice riff and some slidy octaves, nice strong vocal, it reminds me of Iced Earth in a way, nice drumming in there, little double bass ruffs in the main verse, also spot the bass playing some nice little runs, it’s definitely a statement of intent having this as your opener, nice solo comes up there, into the chorus section again and then we get another solo before the tempo ramps up again into the thrash beat, some nice harmonies in the vocals just before solo number three, I like half time section after that and the guitar catching the vocal melody as well!
Track 2 – Incarcerated – Okay something different, amore groove metal sort of Pantera riff to kick this one off, the vocal though takes it into a different place, I mean if that riff doesn’t have heads nodding in the pit, then I don’t know what will, I love the melody though especially when you hit into the chorus and it adds texture to the track. On the flip side the aggressive vocals before the second chorus lifts it to a different place as well, then into the solo, melodic which really suits the track and shows a great sense of songwriting not to just be flashy on a song like this, I will say not sure what that little heavy section before the last chorus really brought to the song, if it had been a different part and not leading into the chorus it maybe would have made more sense?
Track 3 – Within Sorrow – Now that’s dirty bass tone at the start of this playing lines in between the main riff, this is more a straight headbanger of a track, just driving along at a medium pace, before it ramps up a bit, not sure about the breaks between the thrash riff, it sort of takes away a bit from it, really strong chorus though with the guitar melody following it, really catchy and reminds me of a band called Whatever that Andy Sneap produced right at the start, I really like that slower riff in the middle, it’s a great balance between heavy and the melodic vocals, nice solo, great phrasing and some nice legato lines thrown in there!
Track 4 – Societies Sins – Clean intro to this one, then that guitar figure follows on as the heavier guitars kick in, that’s a nice climbing riff in the chorus, I thought Xentrix when I heard it, this is almost of groove metal verse and then a power metal chorus, the production is clean and clear as well with everything popping through in the mix, good gang style chorus, love that descending riff that plays under the solo, that’s a Metallica solo there, the ending however, didn’t make sense it just stops with a growl, not sure on that part!
Track 5 – Every Page has a Bullet – Now that’s a destroyer of pits riff there, driving and aggressive and then that next riff with the floor tom grooves is killer, then it sort of breaks down into a more straight-ahead riff with a nice soaring vocal over the top of it, changes again into a more aggressive part and the vocals do the same, adding a bit more grit and texture to the part.
That an interesting and cool vocal melody to that chorus, well put together, nice solo comes in before the tempos shift again with a marching snare part before a heavier double bass and guitar part comes in with some good backing vocals, I love the chorus part as the song ends, again great use of the harmony vocals!
8 out of 10
Pick up the brand new Sinocence 5 track CD now from the links below. The release has been added to our Bigcartel store for those that don’t have PayPal. This one is chock full for signature Sins riffs so get yours now!
Bandcamp: https://tinyurl.com/Sinocencethefirerisesbandcamp
Bigcartel: https://tinyurl.com/Sinocencethefirerisesbigcartel
