SYNCATTO

I have an attraction to instrumental music, which is rather technical and gives pride of place to the guitar. It turns out that this musical niche is particularly active. Today we are interested in the artist Syncatto (behind whom hides the guitarist Charlie Robbins, member of the group Artificial Language ). This one is part of the talented technical guitarists having adopted a contemporary sound and rhythmic elements in the lineage of Plini , Polyphia , Intervals , etc... But what I found particularly interesting on this album, besides the quality of the compositions and the virtuosity of the performer, is the electric guitar/classical guitar mixture which occurs several times, starting with the first title "Fiction". "Nightfall" offers us a dizzying episode in palm-muting at 100 miles per hour which recalls Nuno Bettencourt and follows with a flamenco-acoustic atmosphere which refers to "Playing God" by Polyphia . Note, several "featuring" on the disc, including the group Arch Echo ("Prestige") which shares the same musical family as Syncatto , an unexpected violin solo by Coen Strouken on a genre of Tango called "Black Velvet", while the inevitable Jordan Rudess comes to add a few keyboard notes on "Midnight Mass". Short titles, quality compositions, virtuosity you name it, it would be a shame to deprive yourself...

Review originally posted on www.progcritique.com.

This sort of sound is the kind of thing that I wish more prog metal instrumentalists would strive towards creating. While Syncatto borrows a lot from other modern prog metal acts from today, focusing on very technical guitar work with some djent style and a generally extremely clean sound, what makes this album so interesting to me is in the ways it strongly distinguishes itself. Rather than focusing on crafting a cold, futuristic aesthetic reminiscent of artists such as Animals As Leaders, Syncatto instead realises the potential in taking extreme technicality to create something very uniquely playful. Melody always feels like it's kept in mind as the single most significant factor in each track, with everything else serving the purpose of elevating this approach. This ends up being a bit of a double edged sword however, as while this sometimes results in some incredible, refreshing tracks, it doesn't always fully pan out. On the positive side of things, I absolutely love Let Us Dance, all the guitar work that could often be considered pointless, indulgent noodling ends up contributing to a sense of spontaneity, as if Syncatto just went "I wonder how much I can do without totally derailing this" and just went nuts, bringing forth an upbeat, jazzy flair and an extended solo that works every step of the way. Unfortunately, not every track can be quite as good as Let Us Dance, and this careful approach to always having everything contributing to this singular element can make certain tracks sound fairly average. There are points on this where it all feels overly calculated, as if a formula was used to attempt to extract the most possible fun from this style of music, consequently losing that human element of playfulness that defines A Place To Breathe's best moments. Despite this complaint, I still feel like this album is a much needed breath that rises above conventions in all the right ways to end up being very worth a listen, and I just hope that the more playful moments present here end up being further expanded upon in whatever Syncatto releases next.