SOLE SYNDICATE – Into the Flames
Release Date: 17th June 2022
Label: Scarlet Records
Bandcamp
Genre: Heavy Metal, Hard Rock, Melodic Metal.
FFO: Black Sabbath, Dio, Europe, Alter Bridge.
Review By: Anthony Petitt
Following 2020’s Last Days of Eden, Into the Flames is the third record for Swedish band SOLE SYNDICATE. The band draws on many different genres for this album, including Power Metal, Djent, and Symphonic Metal. These can all be found on the first song Forsaken, with its catchy vocals, chugging guitars, and melodic piano arrangements. It’s an interesting mix, and it works well to provide the listener with something fresh and unpredictable. The band blends the sounds of retro and modern Hard Rock on Count to Zero. Ghost would be proud!
Brave Enough sounds accessible and hooky enough to appear on rock radio without feeling like it is pandering to a mainstream audience. It would make for a solid single. Next on Into the Flames is the atmospheric ballad Shadow of My Love. Some may find it cheesy, but I can admire the emotion that was obviously poured into its creation, and some of the vocal melodies are catchy as all hell. The heavy verses and poppy choruses on Miss Behave clash a bit, but the breakdown section has a gnarly riff and drum groove that help elevate the song. Dust of Angels is emotional and heavy, though once again the faux-uplifting chorus lets it down a bit and feels out of place. If not for that, the song would be a highlight of the record. Do You Believe has a Soundgarden vibe in spots, and succeeds much better at incorporating pop elements like “Na Na”s and “Woah”s into a metal song. In the Absence of Light is this record’s Kashmir, a true epic (and with a similar ascending guitar pattern). Freak Like Me and Back Against the Wall continue this string of great songs.
Last is the title track, Into the Flames, featuring melancholy guitars with a phaser effect and a strong chorus. It’s a good end to this album, which may be of interest to those who dig classic 80’s metal or modern Hard Rock. 
(3.5 / 5)
