When it comes to the tunes here, there a few that definitely stand out. They do not wait long to provide a strong example of the new sound as they kick off with the excellent "Selfproclaimed Messiah." Also of note are "Heartless" and "Scissorfight." All three of these songs feature a nice blend of growled and clean vocals, as well as strong riffs, melodies, and leads from Jim Kjell and Niklas Engelin. Then there is "Sonic Death Monkey". How can you go wrong with a song that has the words "death" and "monkey" in the title?
The album comes to a close with a complete departure from anything on the two albums I have heard from Gardenian. The song is called "Funeral;" it starts with a two-minute acoustic guitar intro by guest musician Lars Szoke before breaking into what amounts to a death ballad. It is slow and ballad-like in nature, but there is also a dark, dirge-like quality to it. It is a good song, just very different.
Bottom line. This is a good album, I may like it better than Soulburner, but in the end they are pretty even as the earlier album has some of the better overall songs, while Sindustries is a better album when taken as a whole. If I am going to reach for a Gardenian album to listen to, it is going to be Sindustries, but if I am going to toss a few tracks onto my iPod, I will be looking to Soulburner.
This album was recently reissued by Metal Mind Productions as part of a two disk set with Soulburner.
Recommended.
Track list:
1. Selfproclaimed Messiah
2. Doom & Gloom
3. Long Snap To Zero
4. Courageous
5. The Heartless
6. The Suffering
7. Scissorfight
8. Sonic Death Monkey
9. Sindustries
10. Funeral
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