- Country: USA (California)
- Genre: Progressive Death Metal / Power Metal / Progressive Metal
- For fans of: Be’lakor, Fear Factory, Firewind, Native Construct
SINTHETIK SENTIENZ – Totalitarian
If the combination of Progressive Death Metal and Power Metal sounds a little odd to you, Sinthetik Sentienz have decided to make it a reality. The American duo from California is made up of David Diefenderfer and Andres Arevalo and on “Totalitarian” they build an entire world around artificial intelligence, technology and a society that has lost control.
We’re not just talking about an album with a few lyrics about robots and computers. The album has a whole story, with a powerful artificial intelligence that considers itself superior to humans, a global authority behind it and people trying to resist.
And all of that flows into the music.
Death Metal with a Power Metal heart
Sinthetik Sentienz describe their music as Progressive Death Metal, but the first thing that struck me is how strongly the Power Metal comes through.
“Totalitarian” opens the album with a more mechanical and heavy sound, setting the technological mood from the start. The guitars are heavy, there are djent touches and plenty of groove, but the band doesn’t take long to show its more melodic side.
On “Cyber Dominion” things become more direct. Powerful double bass, big riffs and a chorus that could comfortably be on a Firewind album. It’s one of those songs that stay with you more easily after the first listen.
“I” moves a little differently, with clean vocals and more groove-oriented guitars, while “Sentient Technology” brings out a darker and more theatrical side.
What Sinthetik Sentienz manage quite well is moving from one style to another without losing the melody entirely. The songs have hooks that help unite the different ideas.
The guitars hold the whole thing up
Diefenderfer and Arevalo have taken on guitars and vocals and do quite a good job.
You won’t hear riffs here that make you stop the music to understand how they were played. And there’s no need. The band is more interested in how the riffs work within the songs than in showing off technique.
There are fast Death Metal moments, melodic lines and heavier riffs, while toward the end of the album things become even more interesting.
“Into The Light” has plenty of melody and a more pronounced Death Metal character, while “Dreaming of Life” continues the story in a more emotional way.
Here the guitars and synths work together and create a more cinematic feel, without the Metal disappearing.
The vocals change depending on the story
Another interesting element is the different vocals.
There are low growls, cleaner voices and more aggressive moments. The thrashy vocals give the sense of rebellion, while the low growls fit more with the side of authority and artificial intelligence.
This helps the story too, because it doesn’t sound like all the songs were written the same way.
“The Plan” is perhaps the point where the band doesn’t quite succeed. There’s a more “villain character” approach to the voice that doesn’t work as well as they’d like, but the track is saved by a more aggressive passage toward the end.
The big problem is the sound
I’ll dwell a bit more here, because it’s something that’s apparent from the first listen.
The production has a rather strange sound on the guitars. It’s fuzzy, mechanical and somewhat “digital”, something that was probably done on purpose to fit the album’s theme.
The problem is that in some places the guitar sounds overly strange and loses part of its weight. And since there are other samples and sounds on the album that sound much cleaner, I’m not sure this is only an artistic choice.
It takes a few listens before you get used to this sound.
On the other hand, once you get used to it, you start to appreciate the music underneath more.
“Totalitarian” has quite a few different ideas, but it isn’t just a mess of Progressive, Death and Power Metal. Sinthetik Sentienz manage to use the more melodic moments as a bridge between the different styles.
And that makes “Cyber Dominion”, “Into The Light” and “Dreaming of Life” some of the easiest choices for returning to the album.
The interesting thing here is that the band isn’t trying to just become heavier than others. It wants to tell a story and use different sounds to convey it.
“Totalitarian” isn’t perfect. In some places the ideas could have been worked on a little more and the production takes time to get used to. But the marriage of Death Metal and Power Metal is interesting and gives Sinthetik Sentienz a space of their own.
And if nothing else, it’s nice to find an underground band that isn’t afraid to take a familiar theme, like artificial intelligence, and turn it into an entire musical world.
Tracklist
- Totalitarian – 04:08
- I – 03:11
- Cyber Dominion – 03:14
- The Plan – 04:21
- Sentient Technology – 04:32
- Into The Light – 04:27
- Dreaming Of Life – 04:07
