This 4 piece from Melbourne have somewhat misleadingly distinguished themselves by becoming Randy Blythe of Lamb of God’s favourite band, and in my opinion they stand head and shoulders above most if not all the other local bands lumped into the prog/metal category (I have to confess I don’t have a fantastic grip on the labels and sublabels!). They have toured Australia supporting Lamb of God, Stonesour and Slipknot and the US on a wild tour supporting Stonesour and Dirty Little Rabbits – bits of which are chronicled in their recently released and very funny DVD ‘through a lens is all we are’ – which might well be subtitled ‘National Lampoon’s musical vacation’.
After a year or so of semi-downtime, they are now launching themselves back into touring and preparing for a new album, which judging by the new material in recent live shows should be sensational. They have one offering released so far – 2006’s Given to Destroyers – an album that should be played right through and which gives and grows with each listen, to the point where I spent a good few days almost addicted. It is still, months after buying it, on the listening pile of CDs and not yet relegated to the ‘tired of it now’ back of the cupboard.
Sydonia deliver an enormous sound and a confident and charismatic stage presence. Having seen footage of their US shows and seen them at the Acer Arena, they are one band I really feel come into their own on a full stage with big big speakers and a big big crowd. You could throw the whole box and dice at this band production wise – lights, sets, explosions, mini stonehenges the works – and they’d soak it up and rise to the occasion. They have talent and material to burn but at the moment are a like restless caged animals – sleek, taut, toned and ready to pounce the moment the door is opened. I’ve also seen them a few times at the Annandale and each time have been blown away by just how great they are up close, their rapport with their fans is relaxed and they pull off a blistering set with ease and obvious enjoyment time after time.
The band has an interesting yin and yang thing happening musically and visually. An extremely masculine (and I don’t mean testosterone fuelled bogan) presence in the rhythm section of Sean Bailey – a tight, fast, hard hitting powerhouse of a drummer – and Adam Murray whose deep dirty bass lines and growling vocals drive the music’s dark undercurrent. In contrast, singer/guitarist Dana Roskvist has a slinky, androgynous sexiness and beautiful upper vocal range while Sam Haycroft’s slightness & sunny personality belie his formidable and often lacerating guitar playing. There’s metal aplenty for the headbangers but it comes laced with a shamelessly emotional lyrical and musical outpouring. The resulting musical onslaught can at times be almost too intense to bear, especially at close quarters.
By rights, Sydonia should be massive.. and I’m not the only one to wonder why this hasn’t happened yet when other competent bands with far less originality and breadth seem to be forging ahead. They certainly produce radio-friendly material amongst the darker more challenging songs, ‘No Woman’s Land’ and ‘Sorry’ being two examples. Perhaps its partly because they are so difficult to categorise in these days when it seems every band has to fall under a heading or be claimed by a ‘subculture’. Listing bands that they ‘sound like’ is simply pointless & confusing .. they’re a bit too metal for the emos, a bit too emo for the metalheads, a bit too funny for the goths (they do a great line in silly merchandise – witness the ‘I fucked the chick from Sydonia T-Shirt’ and even sillier email messages and blogs) and way too scary and dark for the metros – although they appear to have loyal followers from all these groups (well maybe not the metros).
What they actually sound like is Sydonia, and they sound like the future of Australian music to me.
www.myspace.com/sydonia www.sydonia.com.au
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