Friday, March 29, 2013

Review: Mutiny Within - Synchronicity



Band: Mutiny Within
Album: Synchronicity
Year: 2013
Country: USA
Genre: Melodic Death Metal

While I personally enjoyed Mutiny Within’s self titled first album apparently they didn’t sell very well and broke up. Now a few years later they reformed for a second go around with Synchronicity. The band is still playing its semi-technical/progressive melodic death metal and if you enjoyed their first release then you are going to be very pleased here.

The vocals Chris Clancy put out on Synchronicity are just as powerful as they were on the S/T. The guy has just got a great singing voice very akin to what you might normally hear in a power metal band. Yet at the same time he also has a decent growl as well. The growling ranges from high pitched to a more common “normal” type of growl. Clancy’s singing though is really where he shines.

If you are familiar with the band’s last album then you won’t be surprised that this one is chock full of melodic riffing. The majority of the riffs are uplifting and while any normal person would think they were really quite heavy those who are accustomed to listening to metal would probably say it’s a little weak. And they wouldn’t be wrong, though I highly doubt being heavy or aggressive is anywhere in the band’s mission statement.  Still there are moments in Machine and the bridge of In My Veins where the band noticeably cranks things up.

I really enjoy the drumming of Bill Fore as its more technical and energetic than that of many drummers in the genre they play in. Yet the drumming isnt overly technical and doesn’t become pretentious wankery. And Fore seems to know very well when its appropriate to go full blast and when to slow down.  Now apparently Andrew Jacobs played bass on this album but I didn’t hear it at all. Chock it up to the usual mixing of the bass out of the music and not enough breathing room between the guitars and bass to make it audible.

When it comes down to it Synchronicity is very much the predecessor to Mutiny Within and it wouldn’t be wrong to say this is like the second part of that album. Here we have heaps of melody, a great vocalist, riffs, and superb drumming.  And for me it’s Embers, In My Veins, and Falls to Pieces that really blew me away though there isn’t a filler track on the album.

Score: 9/10
Standout Tracks: Embers, In My Veins, Falls to Pieces

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