Syryn "Beyond the Depths" <REVIEW>
“… has some great moments throughout that emphasize the themes of the album and lure you in like the traits of their namesake…”
So what do you think that ship’s chances are of surviving their journey in that picture? I think they can make it. Syryn is a 5-piece power/thrash metal band from Calgary, Alberta. They’ve gotten quite a bit of buzz across Western Canada since their inception back in 2017, appearing on multiple line-ups with multiple festivals, all of which was leading up to their debut full length album “Beyond the Depths”, which was released January 3rd, 2020. When talking about the album, lead vocalist Sloan Voxx adds: “‘Beyond The Depths’ is a conceptual album that takes you on a journey through the eyes of a Siren. Her menacing instincts enticing her to lure sailors/pirates, torture them and kill them. This Siren, however, starts to develop humanity, which causes an internal struggle for her. The storyline allows you to be with her through this battle, its tribulations and emotions. To imagine what one would feel when faced with these situations and what decisions they might make. Will she succumb to her natural impulses, or will she fight with benevolence to be what she is to believe she is not?”.
So, with that in mind, does this album do that? Was I taken by the Siren’s call with this album, or have I developed immunity? Let’s not waste too much time, and let’s get straight into it.
Well I can say this much at least, the music that Syryn created here is a lot of fun. Starting with the opener “Neverending Nightmare”, we get a feeling what we’re in for with this album’s themes and their sonic capabilities. The riffs crafted by Paulo Rage and Byron Gorieu are melodic and catchy, yet they don’t fear getting a bit chunky every once in a while. Thankfully when they do they’re backed up by Lyxx Rose’s bass lines which add an extra low sludgy thick sound to the chords. The drums by Bryan Campbell, to be honest, aren’t doing anything new or exciting, but they get the job done nicely. And of course Sloan Voxx’s… well… VOX (I swear I’m funny) is chilling and powerful. Much like a Siren’s call, her voice lures you in with her melodies and holds you tight.
The drunken stomp of “Three Sheets to the Wind” takes us through the life of a pirate and makes you wanna find your ‘fucking rum’. The groove of “Unbreakable” and “Paradise for Demise” shock you into a sense of instability and fear while running across the pit like a mad man with scurvy. “Dead Men Tell No Tales” holds you hostage and lures you into it’s grip with it’s riffs and melodies and never lets go, especially when that final track comes around, you’re already in the mouth of the Siren. I wouldn’t say they’re the best power/thrash band there is, but they do a great job and give me a lot to take away from the album. Though I have to admit, that kind of feeling I was able to achieve… by cheating a bit.
While the line up of songs would for sure do that to me, it’s because after a couple listens, I got fed up with the interludes and decided to just listen to the songs proper. Yeah, the interludes, while on their own aren’t horrible, nearly ruined the experience for me. Not because there are interludes, but because out of 12 tracks, 6 of them are interludes. Seriously! Look at the picture below, it’s every song below one minute. Every other track is used for a portion of the “concept” and it doesn’t work. And I, for the life of me, can’t figure out why there were so many of them on my first couple listens. Was it to pad out the run length? No. Because even with all the interludes, the album only clocks in at just under 33 minutes. Take them out, and the album clocks in at 29 minutes. That means the album uses up 12% of the run length for weird audio bits that don’t mix together for a whole concept. Was it to add to the concept? Probably, but there’s so many of them, and their so intermittent that it hurts the concept more than supports it. I’m not saying the interludes are useless, it’s just I feel like there’s too many of them, and they appear too many times. I feel like Syryn could’ve either used that run length for a full song, or removed a few of them entirely.
I’m not trying to be too hard on this album, after all it is their debut full length. What I’m saying is that they could’ve maybe fleshed out the concept a bit more with more music, or fewer interludes that don’t do anything but take up time. However, after figuring out that I should be listening to the songs instead of the interludes, I had a much better time with a well rounded EP. So Overall, the album has some great moments throughout that emphasize the themes of the album and lure you in like the traits of their namesake. The interludes could be done without, but the overall concept is really good. I’d say keep your ear to the ground with these guys, and see what they come up with later on. But please, tone it down with the interludes. Maybe 3 or 4 would’ve done fine mixed in with more music, but 6… yeebus, that was a bit much.
11/15
…. because 11 more minutes of music would’ve added more to the concept than the 4 minutes of “WHERE’S ME RUM!?”
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