Soul Drift

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Although you shouldn’t judge a CD by its cover, I simply couldn’t help it with Scar Obscura by Northern Irish metal band, Sinocence. I was very intrigued by the wonderful artwork & couldn’t wait to see if the music was as good. Luckily I wasn’t disappointed! I’m not quite sure how to explain this album’s sound, but I’ve seen them described as “vicious, hook-laden, melodic metal” & I would have to completely agree with that. There are a few acoustic moments on the album but most of it is just straight-forward metal. I was drawn in immediately by the intro of opener ‘Perfect Denial’ & crossed my fingers that it would not be ruined by awful vocals/growls (that a lot of metal bands seem to rely on these days). Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised! The vocalist, Moro, can definitely sing & it fits very well with the music.

The whole album is strong/powerful throughout & seems to fly by once I start listening to it. I think it was brave of them to experiment with some female vocals on a couple of tracks. I’m not against female vocals (of course!), I just think it was an interesting choice for a metal band, especially considering the chosen vocalist is from a ‘noir folk’ band called The Winding Stair. Again, I mean no disrespect to the vocalist and think her sound really compliments the two tracks (‘Art of Separation’ & ‘Terminus’).

My absolute favourite track would have to be the opener ‘Perfect Denial’ (it’s a great start to the album & I’m in love with the guitar throughout the track). I also really rate ‘God Complex’.

From what I have read about the band (only discovering them a few weeks ago), they seem to have really worked hard to make a name for themselves & this amazing record will help. They have already toured with heavyweights such as Machine Head, Lacuna Coil, In Flames, Therapy?, WASP & Bullet for My Valentine. I can see great things happening for this band & I hope they will get the recognition they deserve. The album is released on June 15 & it’s available for pre-order from Rising Records & major online shops. It’s a must-have for any fan of heavy music/metal!

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