We Rule the Night

I'm being terribly unjust reviewing this album. Sonic Syndicate started off as a fine melodic death metal band; Eden Fire was a very impressive and solid release from the Swedish youngsters, a modern example of the Gothenburg sound. Only Inhuman and Love and Other Disasters were less outstanding, but still passable. We Rule the Night really doesn't qualify as MDM and is a huge departure from their previous sound, with considerably more clean vocals, less heavy/furious songs, and super melodic guitars and keyboards. In short, the band sold out. However, this album is enjoyable/memorable in its own awful way as well as hilarious, so here goes.

The secret to enjoying We Rule the Night is to go into it with no expectations. Don't expect the next Eden Fire. Don't expect a Sonic Syndicate album. Don't even expect a metal album. If anything, expect a pop album with some occasional heavy guitars. Gone are the furious, churning melodeath riffs and prominent death screams of their older work. Clean vocals dominate most of the album, with harsh vocals mixed somewhere between just behind them ("Plans are for People", "Burn This City") to barely audible ("Mile Apart", "Black and Blue") and usually echo the clean vocals or are unintelligible. Similarly the heavy guitars are usually mixed pretty far down. What is left is effectively alternative metal with a heavy dose of programmed drum beats and synth melodies.

"Beauty and the Freak" pretty well sets up expectations for the album, starting with an electronic beat mixed far above the guitars. The harsh vocals are quiet and pretty much just repeat the clean vocals. But hey, it's catchy! "Revolution, Baby" is largely in the same vein. "Turn It Up" goes even farther and is effectively dance music with some heavy guitar and screams. The honest-to-goodness ballad "My Own Life" entirely drops both these elements and wholeheartedly embraces radio-friendly, album-oriented rock. It's hard to believe it's by the same group that just five years ago brought such intense, brutal melodic death metal as Misanthropic Coil to the table.

There are a few nods to their old style, though. "Burn This City" has some screams and heavy guitars in the verse, though the chorus is right back to their poppy clean vocal fare. The album closing title track has some of the best (i.e. loudest) guitar mixing in the album and is genuinely decent. "Break of Day" is the only song I would classify as truly being MDM, and only barely; the chorus is still all clean vocals, but the harsh elements are actually mixed at a good level.

Overall, this album has been a guilty pleasure of mine and a humorous interlude from real music. I really hope Sonic Syndicate comes to their senses for their next album, though, maybe applying some of this synth action to their old Eden Fire-era fury.