Metalbox Recordings
Irish metallers Sinocence release a special edition of Scar Obscura on November 1st to coincide with their upcoming UK tour. Knowing that they’ve supported the likes of Machine Head, In Flames and Lacuna Coil and that this re-release is a self-financed act following a break from Rising Records, Sinocence are clearly doing something right. Having never heard of them I strip away the discs special features and look at the ten original tracks that were so highly revered.
The promise that ‘Scar Obscura is a must have for anybody with even a passing interest in heavy music’ seems an ambiguous selling point, but listening to the album it makes perfect sense. Opener ‘Perfect Denial’ is catchy, melodic and pleasant…until Moro’s ‘soaring, emotional’ lyrics kick in. Unfortunately his voice proved a persistent annoyance to me and affected my ability to listen to the rest of the album without wanting to rant about emo vocalists (whiners). I can appreciate that this style was not consistent; faster paced songs like ‘Metalbox’ or ‘Rule As One’ encouraged a more Rob Flynn-esque vocal input from the singer, granting me some welcome relief and an opportunity to listen to the music.
Scar Obscura is the vocally led meeting point between Metallica and Bullet for My Valentine; old school heavy metal thrash meets modern melodic/emo (whiney) metal. This seems to be the reason for its mass appeal and who am I to argue with that, I’m just far too familiar with the different elements that influence and make this album. No memorable riffs. Nothing to sink your teeth into. Metal for the masses.
Published on uberrock.co.uk
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