MP3DB.pro - [Syndika:Zero] - The Example (2008)

Aggressive but intricate, like the crack-addicted baby of
Terrorfakt and Haujobb.When California residents think of
Sacramento crime, they probably think of the political
shenanigans and influence-peddling endemic to the state capital.
Sacramento's own [Syndika:Zero] is interested in crime, but the
project's debut album is unrelentingly gritty, a streetwise and
street-level view awash in violence and aggression. Things start
off innocently enough with instrumental track "Enter.Syndika,"
with its moody strings and samples from The Usual Suspects, but
"Deceit" immediately ramps things up, the melancholic orchestral
touches not so much fading away as blown apart by an onslaught of
clean but bass-heavy kicks. Instrumentally, much of
[Syndika:Zero]'s work is rather like a West Coast version of
Terrorfakt, with club-oriented power noise that's just dirty
enough to keep diehard fans happy but not so distorted that it
scares more casual listeners off the dance floor. A more
intricate approach to rhythm programming that favors cold and
mechanical clicks, ratchets, and whirrs in and amongst the
thumping bass and clashing snare has also garnered comparisons to
Haujobb, and the cold echoes and whispers on "Femme Fatale" and
the chopped up minimalism of "Anatomy of a Sociopath" seem
particularly inspired by Daniel Myer's work. What really sets
apart [Syndika:Zero] is the project's approach to violence.
Haujobb's aesthetic is cold and unfeeling, while Terrorfakt's
sample-heavy compositions are over the top in a distinctly New
York City way, like a thug imitating De Niro's famous mirror
scene in Taxi Driver. While The Example makes good use of samples
from The Usual Suspects and Training Day to highlight its
portrayals of street crime, the real impact comes from band
founder L1f3g1v3r's vocal style, which is raw and brutal without
relying much on studio effects. Owing less to the vocoders and
reverb effects of classic EBM than the throat-scraping screams of
hardcore punk, L1f3g1v3r's bellowing doesn't leave much room for
escape. "12 Gauge Incision" in particular gets right up in your
face, and as L1f3g1v3r screams "This is the sound of the
revolution / It sounds like a 12-gauge," it's about as close as a
dance song can get to actually feeling like a shotgun blast. For
better or worse, [Syndika:Zero] doesn't manage to sustain that
same level of impact throughout the album, but even less
memorable tracks like the sample-driven "PSA" keep things
interesting with hard but funky electro rhythms. Solid throughout
and shockingly brutal in places, The Example is a promising debut
sure to win over plenty of fans in the power noise and
electro/industrial scenes.