Sindustries

First of all I think I have to set clear that I don't hate Gothenburg melodeath, it may not be my favourite death metal style but I enjoy it anyway. Secondly I don't have any problem with the band itself, if you want to know, I listened to this album because I had a good time with many tracks of their previous work Soulburner (which is a decent Gothenburg melodeath album but nothing outstanding) and I was curious about knowing if the band had improved with their third (and fortunately last) effort.

Thus I put Sindustries on my cdplayer. It was garbage, I'm listening to it again while writing this review and I still thinking the same. Gardenian isn't melodeath anymore, this album is better described as mallcore - nu metal - alternative metal (call it as you like) with some melodeath moments and elements (the least of them). In a few tracks like "Sindustries" there are also some pretty dull industrial elements, specially electronics and the drumming style.
I'm not surprised this record was released in 2000 when the mallcore-nu metal scene was becoming huge, very popular and "trendy". I think I don't need to say much more because we all know that mallcore and anything related to it, is mostly crap. This album is not an exception.

It's easier to start talking about the good things of the album which aren't many. Some nice melodic guitar leads here and there, a few interesting solos and also a few heavy slow riffs to bang your head against with.
The bass is very audible on this recording and sounds huge and thick while performing some good lines, but this doesn't matter a lot when the overall music is dull commercial stuff.
Drumming mostly follows rather simple mid tempo patterns alternating with some faster double bass sections, all correctly executed. There is no more good things to say about this album if we consider that the production is a bit dull and makes the album losing even more strength, anyway, the best of productions couldn't have saved this disaster.

Almost all along the whole album's length, guitars play those awful modern alternative-groove-mallcore style riffs that ooze commercialism with every note. I imagine that the band thought that their new-style riffs and leads sounded modern, cool and trendy, but believe me, they don't. Bland, boring, lame and sterile is a much better description, there is no strength nor aggression to be found in those riffs. "Scissorfight" is supposed to be the most intense and powerful song of the album. Well... it is a bit faster than most of the other tracks, that's true, but that's all, a bit faster, nothing more.
Perhaps it's me but I just can't stand that modern sounding, those simplified rhythms ruining everything that is good about thrash, groove and death metal to make it radio-friendly and apt for MTV standards.

Vocals are less growled and more core-shrieked than in their previous releases. But there is more concerning the vocals; besides the harsh ones, this album is plagued with lame, emo, whiny mallcore kid clean vocals especially in the choruses. This just sucks too much. Personally I hate that combination of angry core vocals with the moaning clean ones that just remind me a mallcore boy passing near a group of chicks and saying "Hey girls look at me! I'm a real badass guy who listens to really badass music, be aware!" and then switching to his crybaby voice and adding "But also I'm a very sensitive boy, so misunderstood and in need of love and care, please hold me!". A nice vision that one, isn't it?. Well, mallcore vocals are that bad, it's not my fault.

Do you need any proof? Go ahead then and listen to this abomination if you dare. Just a spin to "Long snap to zero" and you will hear what I'm talking about, stupid mallcore riffs, and the terrible bridge and chorus where you will listen to the awful clean vocals in all their splendour. Do you want more? Try the next track "Courageous", awful moaning clean vocals again and the rest of mallcore musical rubbish. If you aren't satisfied yet, don´t press the stop button and go for the emo, silly, sensitive sounding of "Heartless" and try to get to the end of it. Those three tracks should be enough stuff for you to recognize this album as bad, really bad commercial crap.

As a whole this album is a complete failure, some nice leads, solos and riffs can't make it good nor overcome all the commercial mallcore shit in it.
As I said before, if Sindustries was the example of the music that Gardenian would have released thereafter I'm very relieved this band split up before infecting the melodeath scene with more misleading mallcore rubbish.

Unless you are a masochist or a mallcorer I can't see any reason to listen to Sindustries, take my advice and avoid it. There are many good melodeath albums out there but this is not one of them. Just check the early records of At the Gates, In Flames, Dark Tranquillity, Soilwork or Arch Enemy, just to name a few of the well known bands. If you are interested in Gardenian try their two first records and forget about this one.

Sindustries was the last album of Gardenian but also the album that marked the difference between the old Gardenian style and a new version of melodic death metal. Often has been criticized how some Melodic Death Metal bands have chosen to make their music more catchy, and this is not an exception, just as In Flames, Gardenian made their music more melodic and suitable for a less extreme audience by experimenting with some alternative sounds and plenty of catchy lyrics. As a matter of fact, In Flames and Gardenian had plenty of similitude in their careers, both bands started as a melodic version of death metal just as in the Gothenburg way, but eventually both bands became more melodic and trendy. Therefore, Sindustries is an album that won’t fit to an average death metal listener, but to the ones that often enjoy melodic metal and the “extreme melodic version” of Death Metal.

In comparison to Gardenian’s first albums, it is noticeable that Jim Kjell got to improve his voice, while he was used to the plain death metal growls of earlier albums, in Sindustries he also shows some high toned screams and clean singing as well, but unfortunately his lyrics are not always good, especially in the song “Sonic Death Monkey”. In the other hand, other songs show a depressed and more serious side of Gardenian, specifically in the songs “Heartless” and “Funeral”, which have beautiful acoustic guitar riffs and could be considered (by some) as Metal ballads.

The guitar work is quite melodic and they use plenty of alternative guitar effects, such as Wah, therefore some people don’t even recognize it as melodic death.. “Courageous” is a song that shows these alternative influences quite clearly, and it may be a good song to rock but not a common melodic death choice. Despite all that, I think that this album was the best work of the band, for showing maturity, innovation, and it was an interesting switch from their old style, as I said before, it may not be the ideal album to an average Deathmetalhead, but Melodic Death Metal listeners could love this album. “Scissorfight”, by example, is a very powerful song (perhaps the best one of the album), it starts with Jim Kjells screams of pain, followed by a low tone growled verse and the catchy chorus with clean singing. Other songs such as “Sonic Death Monkey” have powerful vocals and guitar riffs, also mixed with catchy and clean melodic singing but without losing the blast of the music. This is the last work of Gardenian, a very good band that never got the recognition they deserved.

Gardenian is a gothenburg style band that i feel is a bit underrated. It seems that very few people know who they are, and very few people care. Although they are not particularly outstanding, I feel they are pretty damn good at what they do. Even though they are gothenburg, they lack alot of the death and sometimes even the maiden elements that some of these bands have. They sound more like a traditional metal band with gothenburg vocals i suppose, its kind of hard to describe. The playing is all pretty good, and the songwriting is also really good. The lyrics really suck however, and its too bad because the vocals are all very good and fit the music perfectly.

The album opener, "selfproclaimed messiah" begins with a nice acoustic piece that explodes into some excellent melodic riffage. Once again the lyrics here are all very unoriginal and rather terrible, but its alright because the music is pretty good. "Doom and Gloom" is next, which is a pretty good song that features some decent clean choruses. "Long Snap to Zero" is next, which is one of my favorites, because its got some nice melodic riffage and good vocals. Its a pretty uplifting song, as well, but still remains pretty heavy. "Heartless" is a strange song in that it is not really a ballad, but has the feeling of one. Its got some heavy riffage but remains wonderfully emotional and beutiful. Most of the vocals are clean but a little bit of growling shows up in the middle. One of my favorites on the album. "Sonic Death Monkey", although having some bizarre lyrics, is a very good song and incredibly catchy. "scissorfight" is another good song that has some crazilly catchy riffing and some intense vocals. The title track showcases some of Gardenian's worst lyrics, "lets go crazy lets lose control" but still remains a pretty damn good song. Funeral begins with an absolutely AMAZING acoustic intro, but unfortunately is completely ruined by an absolutely terrible song. WHY???????? They should remove the song and just leave the damn acoustic part.

Overall, I would say this a pretty damn good album. There are some weak spots, but it is well worth the purchase. I wish more people could appreciate this band, but hopefully this review helps.