#IndependentUnsigned

Angry Metal Guy<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sonus-mortis-synapse-the-hivemind-review/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sonus Mortis – Synapse the Hivemind Review</a>By GrymmEver since I was awoken by the editorial staff here <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1232580/Knock_on_the_Coffin_Lid/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">rap-tap-tapping on my coffin lid</a> earlier this year, I’ve been 3 for 3 in terms of albums by one-person bands. Completing the hat trick this time around is Sonus Mortis, a prolific death/doom act navigated by one Kevin Byrne, who was originally the bassist for Irish upstarts Valediction before splitting off on his own. His eighth album in 12 years,<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sonus-mortis-synapse-the-hivemind-review/#fn-214290-1" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1</a> Synapse the Hivemind sees Byrne tackling personal privacy in a world that’s continuously being overrun by A.I. and the all-seeing eye of the camera. But what interested me was that, despite the output, I’d never heard of Sonus Mortis before, or his claims that Byrne’s band is a mix of death/doom with symphonic black metal elements. So what does that even sound like, both on a musical and conceptual level?Melodeath. It sounds like melodeath. Mind you, that’s not a bad thing at all, especially considering that it sounds a great deal like Andy Gillion-era Mors Principium Est in many ways, right down to the incredible guitar and keyboard leads that Byrne lays down throughout the album. His screams also recall Matt Moss of the dormant-but-much-missed Slugdge, hissing about drones (“Eyes in the Sky”) and the modern working wage (the title track) with venomous intent. Byrne’s got the musical chops to carry his vision to fruition, raging against literal machines and reigniting the passion to win one’s humanity back against technological oligarchies and the need for systemic control.I just wish the same could be said for the songwriting. One of the complaints I have against modern melodeath rests in the fact that if you’ve heard one song on an average melodeath album, you’ve pretty much heard the whole damn thing. Sadly, it applies here, as Synapse suffers from the songs almost using identical tempos, motifs, and patterns from each other. Listening to the whole album in one sitting just feels like a well-practiced and impressively-performed blur of leads and atmosphere, making it hard to differentiate from one song to the next without making a lasting impact. Due to this familiarity and extreme deja vu, 50% of the album’s problems exist here.The other 50% rests in Byrne’s singing voice, which can best be described as an acquired taste. His screams and growls are on-point, and get the blood pumping just right. His cleans, however, do not fit the music at all, either trying for James Hetfield-esque melodrama, complete with Hetfield’s “YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAH!!!” inflections that pull me out of the game entirely (opener “Biomechanical Horrors”), or aiming to dethrone Mikael Stanne’s haunting croons but whiffing it (the title track and “The Perfect Host”)<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/sonus-mortis-synapse-the-hivemind-review/#fn-214290-2" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2</a> they act as a stark reminder that if you can’t perform a certain way, you can always seek help from the outside. There’s no shame in doing so.One final bit of advice, and I experienced this personally all-too-recently: the grind mindset. I respect the hustle, I really do. Eight albums in twelve years sounds impressive (and it is), but the factory-like churning of albums causes a negative impact on your art. Slow it down a bit, take time away from what you’re working on (if you can manage), and let your piece breathe a bit. Assess what can be added. What can be taken away? What can be improved upon? Because all these things will benefit not only your music, but you personally. Because while Synapse the Hivemind has some cool ideas and amazing musicianship trapped behind okayish songwriting, I know Byrne and Sonus Mortis are capable of much, much more. Rating: 2.5/5.0 DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 192 kbps mp3 Label: Unsigned/Independent Websites: <a href="https://sonusmortis.bandcamp.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bandcamp</a> | <a href="https://www.facebook.com/sonusmortisband" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a> Releases Worldwide: March 27th, 2025<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2-5/" target="_blank">#25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2025/" target="_blank">#2025</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/independent-unsigned/" target="_blank">#IndependentUnsigned</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/irish-metal/" target="_blank">#IrishMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/mar25/" target="_blank">#Mar25</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/melodic-death-metal/" target="_blank">#MelodicDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/mors-principium-est/" target="_blank">#MorsPrincipiumEst</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/slugdge/" target="_blank">#Slugdge</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/sonus-mortis/" target="_blank">#SonusMortis</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/synapse-the-hivemind/" target="_blank">#SynapseTheHivemind</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/valediction/" target="_blank">#Valediction</a>

Angry Metal Guy<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/eigenstate-zero-the-malthusian-review/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eigenstate Zero – The Malthusian Review</a>By MaddogAfter a six-month hiatus from writing (and most everything else), I couldn’t resist reviewing an artist with eigen- in their name. My excitement for linear algebra drew me to Eigenstate Zero’s third record, despite my inkling that “eigenstate zero” was a nonsense phrase.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/eigenstate-zero-the-malthusian-review/#fn-197905-1" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">1</a> Unsurprisingly, Eigenstate Zero is a solo prog project, and The Malthusian offers 78 indulgent minutes of off-kilter death metal from Sweden’s Christian Ludvigsson. The album is full of surface-level variety, mixing riffy goodness with keyboard melodies and copious genre experimentation. And yet, its strengths and weaknesses are exactly what you’d expect, for a 78-minute prog-death album with a sci-fi name.The Malthusian combines hit-or-miss death metal with hit-or-miss prog tropes. The death metal foundation of Eigenstate Zero’s sound is executed with mixed success. Even The Malthusian’s shorter straightforward tracks sometimes misfire with by-the-books riffs that lack the genre’s power (“Serfs & Zealots,” “Reset”). Conversely, The Malthusian slays when it remains laser-focused on engaging its listeners. The title track’s hefty riffs could hold their own against death metal’s best, while its creative rhythms and keys lean deftly into Eigenstate Zero’s prog sensibilities. Meanwhile, groovy bass lines (“Telomeres”) and thoughtfully ballistic drums (“Mindcrime”) make the rhythm section a highlight throughout. Despite those successes, The Malthusian struggles with prog idioms. Digressions like the waltz of “Spiritdebris,” the theatrical clean vocals of “Thingfish Diaries,” and the gratuitous wind sections of “Holomind” feel like weirdness for weirdness’ sake. Echoing Serdce’s craziness without Serdce’s writing prowess, The Malthusian’s proggy bits often lose my interest.The Malthusian’s frequent lack of cohesion makes it a jumbled listen. The album’s ambition is admirable, but it tends to long jump between disparate styles without the requisite effort to glue them together. The Malthusian’s proggy shenanigans often feel jammed between unrelated neighbors, like the cabaret melodies and keyboard detours of “Black Pages.” At their worst, these aren’t just isolated missteps; rather, tracks like “Orch Or” fall flat by cobbling together jigsaw pieces from different puzzles for their entire runtime. Still, The Malthusian’s choice cuts demonstrate songwriting excellence. Album highlight “Mindcrime” channels Alustrium with caveman riffs, proggy rhythms, an acoustic break, and soaring solos, blended together perfectly and tied up with a thoughtful bow. I wish the rest of the record had followed suit.Now for the elephant in the room: The Malthusian is elephantine. Even the better songs could use a trim, like the fluid but beefy ten-minute title track. The back half of the record is particularly bloated, housing all but one of the album’s chunkiest pieces. As a result, The Malthusian is a tiresome listen, extending for nearly eighty minutes with only enough compelling material for half of that. Adding to the excess, the album’s crushed production makes it difficult to identify interesting melodies above the din. Exhausted by both sonic clutter and a glut of content, I struggle to distinguish or recall much of The Malthusian. Indeed, it took me multiple spins to realize that the promo materials included an extra copy of “Telomeres” in place of “Reset.” Some more restraint would go a long way for Eigenstate Zero.While The Malthusian doesn’t have any single fatal flaw, its missteps hold it back. The album’s riffs and melodies suffer from inconsistency, especially when they veer into prog exhibitionism. On a macroscopic level, the lack of restraint in The Malthusian’s composition and production hampers the final product. The record’s apexes display a talent for melody and composition that’ll keep me hopeful for Eigenstate Zero’s next release. But despite its ambition, The Malthusian hasn’t left much impression on me. In the linear transformation of my ears, Eigenstate Zero’s newest release has eigenvalue zero.<a href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/eigenstate-zero-the-malthusian-review/#fn-197905-2" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">2</a> Rating: 2.0/5.0 DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3 Label: Self-Released Websites: <a href="https://eigenstatezero.bandcamp.com/music" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">eigenstatezero.bandcamp.com</a> Releases Worldwide: May 17th, 2024<a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/20/" target="_blank">#20</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/2024/" target="_blank">#2024</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/alustrium/" target="_blank">#Alustrium</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/death-metal/" target="_blank">#DeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/eigenstate-zero/" target="_blank">#EigenstateZero</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/independent/" target="_blank">#Independent</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/independent-release/" target="_blank">#IndependentRelease</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/independent-unsigned/" target="_blank">#IndependentUnsigned</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/may24/" target="_blank">#May24</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progressive-death/" target="_blank">#ProgressiveDeath</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progressive-death-metal/" target="_blank">#ProgressiveDeathMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/progressive-metal/" target="_blank">#ProgressiveMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/review/" target="_blank">#Review</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/reviews/" target="_blank">#Reviews</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/serdce/" target="_blank">#Serdce</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/swedish-metal/" target="_blank">#SwedishMetal</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://www.angrymetalguy.com/tag/the-malthusian/" target="_blank">#TheMalthusian</a>

Recent searches

Search options

Administered by:

Server stats:

#IndependentUnsigned