Bavarians Sycronomica aren't easily described, but that does not mean they are totally original. Because they aren't. They have mixed many styles in their music, true, but it alone does not make anyone unique.

After generic gothic horror part, 'Erased by Light' turns into a death metal song for a while, and then it's time for Dimmu Borgir style stuff and towards the end there's a more proggy part. 'Creations of Mine' reminds me of many German pagan/folk metal bands, e.g. Menhir, and is my favourite song with it's fitting synth-work (flutes etc.). There's the things what Sycronomica are about, with addition of Cradle Of Filth and Borknagar into the soup. One big problem is "I've heard this somewhere before" feeling throughout the album. Riffs, dramatic synthesizers and boring gurgling growl vocals are nothing new. Another problem is caused by some mammoth songs, which feel like their duration was just doubled by repeat, and as the album is over an hour long, it simply isn't able to keep me sitting and listening to it all the way through. This is mostly about forgettable melodies and compositions, I'm afraid. Lyrics seem to deal with personal (hateful and melancholic) thoughts, vampires and war.

The production is partly heavy, but still somehow powerless, maybe because it feels a tad empty. It's badly balanced and does not sound big enough for this kind of music. Sometimes it's more spacey, as it should, but sometimes it gets too "full" losing all feel of epicness. Bass drums are in the front of the mix while snare is somewhere in the back.

With 'Paths', even though being their debut album, Sycronomica have nothing new to offer. I simply can't get any real feelings from this. 'Paths' is just another one for the grey area in black/goth metal territory. And that area is packed! But hey, if you're looking for another melodic black metal platter with a lot of gothic tendencies as well as some folky stuff, then you can do much, much worse.

Rating: 4½ (out of 10) ratings explained

Reviewed by Lane
01/10/2005 12:21