Honestly, in recent years one can't help but ask — what is this strange trend of playing melodic metal with absolutely clean guitar tones while inserting elements of melodic death and/or melodic black in the form of growl/scream vocal pairings and specific keyboard parts that aren't exactly brimming with originality? So, what do we have here? As I mentioned, pristinely clean guitar and bass parts, that very vocal pairing delivered by a single vocalist, upbeat, energetic, and in many ways cheerful music. The emphasis is on melody that's rather easily achieved, with virtually no dissonance — the music is pleasant to the ear. Keyboard passages carry more weight than guitar solos. So what can be said about SYCRONOMICA to somehow set them apart? Their second album "Gate" is quite reminiscent of their colleagues ILLNATH, just as both bands are directly indebted to the 1999-era DIMMU BORGIR album, when keyboards openly took the lead in symphonic black metal for the first time. SYCRONOMICA are characterized by slightly dark and eerie yet still beautiful song introductions, fairly straightforward composition structures, and a remarkably inexpressive and uninteresting vocal performance — a sad fact that cannot go unmentioned. The voice utterly lacks fury, expressiveness, and drive; there's nothing interesting timbrally either, giving the impression that the vocalist is sitting in an armchair, sipping coffee, and casually delivering an instructive tale. It's entirely possible this was the intended effect. But in that case, I repeat, a more interesting timbre was needed.
After listening to the album, the impression is ambivalent. The songs are melodic, very easy to absorb, riffs repeat throughout songs in enormous quantities, and yet despite all this, the compositions are absolutely unmemorable. Why this effect occurs is hard to say. However, one must admit that among the whole array of similar releases, this one is clearly not up to par.
From a lyrical standpoint, there's nothing expressive here either. The disc belongs to the vast number of symphonic black and power metal works executed in a rather primitive fantasy vein, distinguishable only by who must prevail in the final battle: the dark lord or the prince on the dragon.
The disc may, however, quite appeal to fans of this direction, especially those who enjoy calm and rich sonics. Lovers of extreme expression, blastbeats, and demonic gut-wrenching vocals will find nothing to listen to here.