Album Reviews : Syko Sapian – Humanity Lost EP

Syko Sapian hail from Sydney, Australia and offer a simple, yet powerful delivery of their unique thrash/melodic metal hybrid, with an infusion of elements from new wave American heavy metal and traditional heavy metal roots to boot.

This somewhat cliche blend has a quaint Australian charm to it though which truly sets it apart from many of the other bands in the scene at the moment, incorporating more melodic and vocalized harmonies throughout the EP.

Many who try to follow in the same footsteps as a ‘NWOAHM’ band usually try to hard and become somewhat of a shadow to that band; In turn making them more out to be a cookie cutout, which just sounds bland and tasteless.

However, Syko Sapian have genuinely revitalized this somewhat overdone musical output, and given it a fresh new look and sound for the metal masses in Australia…and hopefully the rest of the world.

Even with the bands somewhat low, to barely recognizable status in Australia at the moment, I was quite impressed with the bands effort of their latest EP, ‘Humanity Lost‘. Not only does the album offer great production value which could easily rival that of the most well known bands in the local scene today, but musicianship is a sure fire winner in my books. Both guitarists Lional Hobden and Kurt Konemann offer a unique blend to the album with their flavorsome ax work. The end result is kick ass riffs and nice melodic solos.

The band as a whole play at their best, and really showcase what they can achieve when decent production is in high demand. I was quite impressed with lead singer, Jonny Martinez. He offers some great variety in his delivery and mixes up the structure of the album quite well. His blend of fast brutal attacking vocals, to that of the somber dark moments on the track, ‘Asylum‘ really broaden his talents and showcases what he can do in the right frame of mind.

The majority of tracks on the EP are heavy with a nice fast steady pace. The track ‘Devil’s Eyes‘ is one of the heavier tracks on the EP with a nice melodic structure to it. Lyrically, its quite catchy and infuses some well placed low vocal harmonies which do pick up later on throughout the song, as Martinez shows off his nice solid vocals.

‘Lost Souls‘ enters with a nice well placed acoustic number, which is completely destroyed by the introduction of drums from Aaron Riedl. The drum tuning on the track however is a bit overcast as the drums seem to drown out most of the song and leave a muddy after taste. Regardless of this little flaw, I found it quite fitting and suited the song quite well, as it gave the song a bit of a garage band feel to it.

Technically speaking the album isn’t a true marvel as it is only an EP, but as stated before the production value does boost its position as a first EP for any band. With all the bands that are on Myspace these days, its become quite a chore sifting through the garbage that’s out there to find something worth while to listen too.

Syko Sapian cut through that bullshit though, and give us what we want…no questions asked!

Just a good solid heavy metal EP with a nice variety of fast heavy tracks to choose from.

Band: Syko Sapian
Album: Humanity Lost EP
Year: 2008
Genre: Melodic Thrash
Label: Unsigned
Origin: Sydney, Australia
www.myspace.com/sykosapian

Track listing:

1. My Enemy
2. Asylum
3. Devil’s Eyes <- Reviewer’s Choice
4. Lost Souls
5. Evolve