(NCS writer Andy Synn pauses after the 30th installment of THE SYNN REPORT to take a look back at the first two years of the series.)
Ok, so we’ve now had 30 ‘official’ entries in The Synn Report. I hope that a good number of you have discovered new bands and gone out and shown your support for them, buying music, merch, gig tickets, etc.
I thought, since the year (and the world!!!) is coming to an end, it might be a good time to provide a quick one-stop summation of all the previous entries, for those of you who maybe missed a couple, or for new devotees of the site who have yet to encounter the earlier editions and the bands contained therein.
Did you know that the genesis for The Synn Report was not entirely down to me? There’s a post that I consider ‘The Synn Report: Year Zero” which was written by Islander himself, in response to my recommendation of a particular band. That post is included here, as I think it’s an important foundation stone in the genesis of The Synn Report, and because I think the band in question are utterly phenomenal.
So there we go, after the jump there’s a tiny entry on each band from each edition of The Synn Report, with a short genre description and a re-iteration of the “Recommended for fans of:” section. Which ones did you miss? Which ones should you give another shot to? Click each one to be linked to the appropriate article, where you’ll find the full write-ups and sample songs from each release!
THE SYNN REPORT: YEAR ZERO – MARTRIDEN
Genre: Progressive black metal
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Enslaved, Opeth
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 1: ASTARTE
Genre: Blackened death metal
Recommended for fans of: Behemoth, God Dethroned, Rotting Christ
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 2: THE GREAT DECEIVER
Genre: Dark post-hardcore
Recommended for fans of: Vision Of Disorder, The Haunted, Cult Of Luna
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 3: EXTOL
Genre: Preogressive death metal
Recommended for fans of: Obscura, Cynic, Decrepit Birth
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 4: TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED
Genre: Death metal
Recommended for fans of: Misery Index, Job For A Cowboy, Decapitated
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 5: ISKALD
Genre: Black metal
Recommended for fans of: Old Man’s Child, Immortal, Dissection
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 6: HACRIDE
Genre: Proggy post-metal
Recommended for fans of: Gojira, The Ocean, Mastodon
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 7: MYRKSKOG
Genre: Industrial death metal
Recommended for fans of: Morbid Angel, Zyklon, Hate Eternal
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 8: THE MONOLITH DEATHCULT
Genre: Avant-garde symphonic death metal
Recommended for fans of: Septic Flesh, Belphegor, Nile
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 9: OCEANS OF SADNESS
Genre: Proggy melodic metal
Recommended for fans of: Sentenced, Edge of Sanity, Omnium Gatherum
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 10: BECOMING THE ARCHETYPE
Genre: Progressive death metal-core
Recommended for fans of: Extol, Edge Of Sanity, Borknagar
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 11: THE AXIS OF PERDITION
Genre: Industrial black metal
Recommended for fans of: Anaal Nathrakh, Blut Aus Nord, Aborym
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 12: THE WARRIORS
Genre: Hardcore
Recommended for fans of: Earth Crisis, Walls Of Jericho, Sick Of It All
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 13: ELITE
Genre: Black metal
Recommended for fans of: Immortal, Enslaved, Vreid
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 14: INSISION
Genre: Brutal death metal
Recommended for fans of: Decapitated, Morbid Angel, Cryptopsy
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 15: LUDICRA
Genre: Progressive black metal
Recommended for fans of: Enslaved, Agalloch, Mastodon
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 16: COMMUNIC
Genre: Prog-metal
Recommended for fans of: Nevermore, Believer, Mercenary
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 17: LIGHT THIS CITY
Genre: Melodic death metal
Recommended for fans of: Darkest Hour, The Black Dahlia Murder, Nightrage
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 18: EMETH
Genre: Brutal death metal
Recommended for fans of: Aborted, Blood Red Throne, Decapitated
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 19: WAR OF AGES
Genre: Metalcore
Recommended for fans of: Unearth, Nightrage, Protest The Hero
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 20: AVERSE SEFIRA
Genre: Technical black metal
Recommended for fans of: Belphegor, Secrets Of The Moon, 1349
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 21: BENEA REACH
Genre: Aggressive post-metal
Recommended for fans of: Meshuggah, Extol, Isis
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 22: VESANIA
Genre: Symphonic blackened death metal
Recommended for fans of: Emperor, Zyklon, Behemoth
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 23: V. A. S. T.
Genre: Progressive, industrial world-music rock/metal
Recommended for fans of: Nine Inch Nails, Solstafir, Anathema
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 24: DEVIAN
Genre: Blackened death-thrash
Recommended for fans of: Witchery, Belphegor, Hypocrisy
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 25: THUS DEFILED
Genre: Occult, hrashy black metal
Recommended for fans of: Dissection, Immortal, Absu
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 26: CROCELL
Genre: Death metal
Recommended for fans of: Amon Amarth, God Dethroned, Bloodbath
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 27: NAHEMAH
Genre: Prog metal
Recommended for fans of: The Ocean, Swallow The Sun, Borknagar
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 28: ANATA
Genre: Technical death metal
Recommended for fans of: Gorod, Nile, Necrophagist
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 29: AGRYPNIE
Genre: Aggressive post-black metal
Recommended for fans of: Agalloch, Dark Tranquillity, Enslaved
THE SYNN REPORT, PART 30: ANTESTOR
Genre: Melancholic/Melodic black metal
Recommended for fans of: Cormorant, (early) Dimmu Borgir, Edge of Sanity
Andy, thanks for all the great suggestions you’ve provided through this series!
As someone who’s still new to NCS, this is amazing! Thank you.
I sure have my work cut out for me though… A lot of these bands sound very appealing, based on the comparisons to other bands. The only one that I’m familiar with is Antestor, thanks to the last Synn report (And it was a solid recommendation).
Well, prepare to kiss goodbye to a healthy bank balance…
Still, hopefully you’ll find lots to enjoy!
Spread the word
Well, you’re 2/2 so far… Just checked out Martriden (how could I pass up a comparison to two of my all-time favorite bands!). I think I’m in love…
Did you know that they’re in the final stages of a new record? FB post from Nov. 11: “Not sure of the exact timeline yet, we’re pretty much done tracking and recording just have to wait for mixing and mastering.”
That’s excellent news indeed.
I did indeed. I keep a very close eye on those Martriden boys. A very close eye…
In Ludicra news, just this past week, the band started posting their back catalog up for pay-as-you-want downloads on Bandcamp:
http://ludicraofficial.bandcamp.com/
The downloads have all kinds of extras, including the CD booklets, promo materials, T-shirt designs !?), and even videos. This is good news for those of us who were starting to contemplate doing horrible things to get hold of “Hollow Psalms.”
Horrible, horrible things.
I can’t remember where I got my copy from. I do have it in physical form though. Just not sure of its origins at this moment in time.
I want a tshirt.
Andy..as someone whose tastes dont always intersect with yours…youve done a great job writing far more articles than I ever could 😉
Why thank you. The respect of my enemies is a valued thing.
Thank you for the writing on some great bands that definitely deserve more attention. A majority I’ve heard of in some form or listen to, but it’s always great to hear other thoughts about their music. Great associations when it comes to similar artists as well, pretty spot on every time. Stay metal Andy!
Aw… if you’ve heard of the majority of these then I’m going to have to step my game up!
(Disclaimer: The Synn Report isn’t necessarily about “obscure” bands, just bands I think deserve more attention. So it’s basically just an elaborate excuse for me to write about my biased opinions)