Become Death

Whenever a substantial movement within metal picks up steam, it's not unheard of for bands that have little in common with the core tenants of said movement to either latch onto it in order to make a name for themselves, or otherwise be lumped into it by the masses despite the protests of the outlier itself. The association of German dark progressive/groove metal trustees Symphorce with the second wave of power metal in Europe is perhaps one of the most curious examples of this phenomenon, as it seemed to be mostly born out of an accident of timing, associations with other mainstays of the sub-genre within their membership, and the band's very name. To be fair, their earliest studio entries via Noise Records were at least nominally in line with the trappings of heavier outfits in Europe during the late 90s, specifically outfits like Angel Dust and Brainstorm, the latter of which also featured this band's front man and founder Andy Franck. But by the time 2002 rolled in and a lucrative deal with Metal Blade Records came calling, whatever nominal stylistic connection Symphorce had with the millennial power metal scene in Europe vanished almost without a trace.

Nevertheless, even after the band had openly distanced themselves from their formerly adopted style, much of the metal masses of the day still seemed hellbent on continually associating this quintet with the likes of Gamma Ray and Blind Guardian. It didn't really help matters that guitarist Cedric Dupont was also prominently featured with Freedom Call during this period (which culminated in said band's worst album of all time in 2005) and that Brainstorm was another prominent fixture of Metal Blade's roster, but it wasn't as though Franck and company were really loudly protesting the association as it was repeatedly made in interviews and reviews of their mid-2000s repertoire. If nothing else, this enduring misnomer was given further validation as the 2000s wore on with bands such as Steel Attack, Bloodbound, Nocturnal Rites and Manticora all appropriating a colder and more modernized sound concurrent to Nevermore's signature approach of the day, thus paralleling Symphorce's signature sound to varying extents. At first glance, even the most critical of thinkers would be wont to agree with the conventional wisdom of the day that power metal was simply progressing and maturing, but by the end of the decade, was revealed to be a scene devolving into a mishmash of self-parody and commercial pandering.

While Symphorce was not alone in putting out one of the biggest turkeys in the history of power metal in 2007, their sixth album Become Death exemplifies just about every negative aspect of the then atrophying European scene. Following the schizophrenic 2005 opus that arguably cemented them as a popular fixture in metal circles (i.e. Godspeed), this album essentially doubles down on all of the worst groove and nu-metal aspects of that mixed bag, simultaneously jettisoning every saving grace that put that album ahead of the meandering malaise that was their first two outings with Metal Blade. This was naturally accompanied by a barrage of hype by the band, claiming it as their heaviest offering ever, resulting in a cascade of corresponding media buzz that had the likes of Blabbermouth and AllMusic passing it off as a bold new approach that would redefine the power metal sub-genre. Suffice it to say, the inflated expectations were unworthy of the fifth rate homage to Nevermore and Slipknot that ended up blaring out of countless speakers, and a corresponding backlash ensued among some of the smaller online media outlets.

At it's heart, Become Death is an ugly listen, and not in a way that could be passed off as good or even mildly entertaining. The image of a dried out skeleton being buried under a mountain of rubble that graces its cover is actually the perfect representation of the barebones jumble of hackneyed riffs and stagnant gestures from the rhythm section that is encased within what is best described as a really poor attempt at emulating Andy Sneap's production job on Nevermore's Enemies Of Reality. At times it gets difficult to really justify calling this a metal album when considering just how muffled and dead the whole arrangement sounds, barring the exception of Andy Franck's vocals, which are generally on point, but wind up sounding like an aboveground wailer at a funeral with 6 feet of dirt between him and the rest of the band. Both Dupont and Pohl turn in lackluster performances, though much of this can be chalked up to bad songwriting and questionable inspiration, namely the dumbed down nu-metal stylings that are intermingled with the slightly more active groove trappings. Case and point, the joke of a guitar solo featured on the stale mid-paced flop "Towards The Light", which is so comically meandering and drenched in effects that it sounds like it was lifted from a pile of reject takes from Dimebag's Damageplan recording sessions.

Within what is basically a consistent succession of bad and worse, the few bright spots that emerge tend to be isolated remnants from the obligatory power metal moments of Godspeed. When not overtly trying to ape the thrashing moments of This Godless Endeavor, the opening number "Darkness Fills The Sky" has a few fleeting melodic hooks that are decent, albeit surrounded by a haze of blurry, down-tuned mess from the guitars and some repulsive growls out of Franck. Despite being a highly competent singer, Andy's rendition of a death growl is extremely clumsy and grating, and more groove/thrashing offerings such as "Death Has Come" and "Lost But Found" often find themselves cut off at the knee by these overdone dramatic vocal devices despite being musically competent, if horribly derivative and unmemorable. But when he does keep his voice work on point, the music surrounding him on grungy clunkers like "No Final Words To Say" and the repulsive Linkin Park stylings of "In The Hopes Of A Dream" serves as an insurmountable distraction. Basically the only song on here that is consistently listenable is the mid-paced melodic anthem "Inside The Cast", which is a slightly more Gothic take on the same mix of melodic power metal and AOR elements that made "Nowhere" a breakout hit for them a couple years prior.

To this day, Symphorce has continued to enjoy a small yet dedicated audience that will defend their wildly incongruous discography to the death, but with the passage of 10 years since the project's demise, they've largely been relegated to an embarrassing footnote in European power metal's otherwise accomplished history. With Andy Franck continuing to crank out one winner after the next with Brainstorm in the years since, and Marcus Pohl riding high alongside the rest of Mystic Prophecy, it can be plainly observed that this confused outfit was never really lacking in the talent department, although the wretched metalcore drudgery that Cedric Dupont has been putting out with Silent Circus of late definitely point to a fold that was not evenly yoked. But either way, this band was never a serious player in its day, and all of the attempts by both Metal Blade and later AFM Records to market them as an alternative to the power metal mainline stand as one of the most bizarre occurrences in metal's 50 years plus history. Become Death is a textbook exercise in directionless, unproductive effort, and hopefully it will stand as an example to warn against similar mistakes happening in the future.

There are some things in this world that you just can't do. George Lucas can't seem to stop revisiting his past glory. Timo Tolkki can't stop fucking up. I can't stop myself from reviewing this album. Symphorce...well, they just can't stop making terrible music. There is really nothing wrong with this style of boring, plodding, groovy nonsense aside from the obvious answer of "it just sounds bad," as is evidenced by the hundreds of weirdos who worship Nevermore, but somehow it just never sounds any good. There aren't always any deeper reasons for disliking music.

In fact, maybe I'm being too harsh on this. Maybe I'm too caught up in my silly bias against this Nevermore style of music, and I'll stand at the gates of Heaven only to find myself denied for the fact that I didn't give this band enough of a chance. Maybe Iced Earth will be there too, pointing at me with stubby fingers and laughing. Maybe I'll be reborn in another life, and maybe there I'll have more tolerance and open-mindedness and appreciation for the beauty in music like...

Okay, fuck it, this is absolutely horrible, the lowest common denominator of total suckage. Symphorce are probably one of the worst bands in the metal scene right now. They used to be a C grade Power Metal band with galloping rhythms and Gamma Ray/Iron Maiden ripoff chorus lines, but now they're a soggy, washed up Nevermore clone. This is the kind of disgusting, puerile shash that metal fans shouldn't ever have to put up with, but do anyway for some reason. There aren't many riffs here, and even then, they're all rehashed modern groove bullshit that doesn't sound good at all. There are some fluffy keys and bouncy electronic synths here, and they don't work well with the greasy guitar tone, mostly just popping up at inappropriate times (the opening to "Ancient Prophecies"...what the fuck was that?) and producing queasiness. The songs are short, unambitious and full of the trendy, modern, pseudo-intellectual/angry/morose posturing that makes metal such a laughingstock in the mainstream. Only "Inside the Cast" offers any relief, being a more upbeat tune with some nice melodies and a singable chorus, but even that isn't too great, just passable. Become Death is just a really dismally unpleasant album, and it actually makes me feel kind of dirty even listening to it. This is an album so bad that it is not even worth illegally downloading. If you have a chance to avoid this one, then by all means, steer clear of this filth and never look back.

Originally written for http://www.metalcrypt.com

I've been hearing a lot of talk about how Symphorce's "Become Death" is the new highest standard of power metal and why it's going to redefine the genre. I've been typically pounced on by fantastic reviews of "Become Death" whenever I cruise the web, open a metal magazine, or have a simple conversation with a fellow metalhead. With this much hype, an album must be what everyone says it is, so I did what anyone would do: I added it to my collection, but that was a mistake. You see, Symphorce is still stuck in the same gear and haven't progressed as a band; this trend unfortunately continues in "Become Death" as Symphorce continues on their ongoing streak of generic power metal with little thrill or satisfaction.

Some scornful points of this record emerge from the poor musical performance and its many flaws. Almost all of the riffs here lack any technical or speedy elements and sound way too boring to be considered exciting by any means. A cloud of boredom hovers over Markus Pohl and Cedric Dupond as they repeat a predictable haze of lame riffs that stay the same until the next track worms its way through. The lack of solos is also a painful kick in the nuts (symbolically speaking) to "Become Death" as only a slither of the songs have leads. The band's attempt at using keyboards adds another nail in the coffin because of the nu-metal similarities (check the Linkin Park mimicry on "Condemned") along with forgettable samples and poor usage. Andy Franck's voice is definitely the best and most uplifting part of this album. Anyone familiar with Franck's voice knows he sings his guts out with stupendous high notes and vocal tones; "Become Death" is no exception of his phenomenal voice.

Symphorce's playing ability is rather dull already, but the band has some chameleon-like tendencies with other groups that beats the enjoyment out of this album. Echoes of Dream Theater obsession stalk many songs on this CD because of the comparable piano parts and the backing vocals that sound exactly like James Labrie. There is also an unnecessary amount of riffs that reek of Nevermore and Helloween worship as well. Nothing new is being done here and it all sounds like an generic attempt at power metal. How can you enjoy an album that lacks almost all forms of originality? Simple answer: you can't.

I am highly disappointed. An album with this much hype should be a revolutionary record that defines the limits of the genre as we know it; "Become Death" unfortunately fails at this test of power and ends up being another disc in my collection that will most likely rot in my CD case for all eternity. Hold on to your money and don't buy this.

Symphorce, the brilliant vocalist Andy B. Franck’s second band beside Brainstorm. Their latest album was a real inconsistent story, had some great tracks but unfortunately some real fillers too. The same goes for this, the band’s sixth album, but this time the heights are even better than last time, but there’s more fillers instead, and weaker ones...hence why my headline is what it is of this review.

High mountains and deep valleys, yes, this is how I would sum this album in words. What Symphorce has done since last album is that they have thrown in some some variation over the songs. They have thrashy two-tact passages, crushing mid-tempo,doublebass drumming, these are things these guys always have had, but new to this album is more acoustic and ballady passages, and even some parts that sure is gothic metal (worst of all is the HIM-sounding “Inside the Cast”). While I think it’s fun to see that they are trying new ways, these new attempts doesn’t really do work well...at all, and then it’s no fun anymore. What Symphorce does best is this heavy stuff we can hear in songs like the awesome “Darkness Fills The Sky” (the verses, the verses!), “Condemned”, “Death Has Come”, “Ancient Prophecies” (which has a fucking great chorus) and “Towards the Light”. All these are splendid examples that shows that this is what Symphorce should do. But when hearing songs mostly like already mentioned “Inside the Cast”, “No Final Words To Say” and “In The Hopes Of A Dream”, then I would just want to throw the CD out of the window and yell “WHY!?”. With these songs they have really gone to the bottom of the deepest valleys. But we luckily have those great songs I mentioned firstly, and they are really great and makes this album worth.

On the better side we also have the best production of any Symphorce album. Everything sounds really heavy, and new drummer Steffen Theurer’s drumsound and drumplaying is worth mentioning, tight and nice. Dennis Wohlbold’s bass can be more heard than ever, and the guitar section does great and heavy work with the riffing and solo’s (even if there’s some keyboard solo’s to be found too). Mr. Andy B. Franck’s performance must be his best and most variated that i’ve heard him sing on any album. You hear all kind of ranges from him here, and he does all very well done, you will hear him do anything from growls to high pitched screams and he shows once again that he is a world-class singer.

And Symphorce have shown again that they can write monster riffs and great songs, but sadly yes, also these weak filler tracks that I mentioned earlier. So one can really say this is as inconsistent as “GodSpeed”, but it has the good songs are better, and they’re many, which absolutely make this album better. Symphorce still haven’t overmastered their “Phorceful Ahead”, but I absolutely think you should get this album, but beware of the filler tracks, and prepare for some serious headbanging when hearing “Darkness Fills The Sky”.


3 best songs: Darkness Fills The Sky, Ancient Prophecies, Death Has Come