SINERGY - "BEWARE THE HEAVENS" (NUCLEAR BLAST)
SINERGY - "BEWARE THE HEAVENS" (NUCLEAR BLAST)
Kimberly Goss - she once of Dimmu Borgir - is the focal point in Sinergy, a band that further features Alexi "Children of Bodom" Laiho, Jesper "In Flames" Stromblad, Sharlee "Mercyful Fate" D'Angelo and Ronny Milianowicz. After having read a raving review, I decided to go ahead and do a blind purchase.
The Sinergy ingredients make for a potentially very interesting album. In Flames and Children of Bodom, bands from which two of the main songwriters come, are not exactly crap bands. Far from it, in fact. Musically, therefore, Sinergy inevitably has quite a few musical ingredients from those bands. Kimberly's vocals make the band completely different, though - a lot more accessible and a lot more melodic. Some may say, actually, 'corny'. Some of the songs (like the start of the title track) sound like they're straight off a Heart album. And "Razor Blade Salvation", written by Goss, is rather too sugar-coated for my taste. Songs like that will cause metalheads not to give the album even a complete first listen.
Musically, Sinergy has impressive possibilities. Both guitarists have earned their mark (in fact, "Pulsation" stands at a par with a song like Jason Becker's "Air", though more compact). Kimberly's got a good voice, too. But "Beware the Heavens" is primarily a really pleasant album. If it's not a pleasant album you're looking for, you ought perhaps to steer clear of it.
RK
Written July 1999