SINERGY — Suicide By My Side (review)

SINERGY — Suicide By My Side album cover

Album · 2002 · Power Metal

3/5 · 2023-10-23
lukretion

Sinergy’s third full-length album, Suicide by My Side, is one of those records that it will take you exactly 15 seconds to know whether you like or not. That’s because what you hear in the first 15 seconds of its opening track “I Spit on Your Grave” gives you a very precise idea of what the remaining 38 minutes of the album have to offer: a relentless sonic assault that blends the melodic exuberance of NWOBHM twin-guitar approach with the uncompromising aggression of 1980s thrash, sprinkling touches of neoclassical metal guitar wizardy along the way. Another way to describe the Finnish band’s approach is a growl-less, more polished version of Children of Bodom that takes more time to explore the 1980s roots of their sound than Alexi Laiho’s band ever did.

It may be somewhat mischievous to describe Sinergy’s music by referencing well-known bands and well-consolidated genres from the past, but on the other hand the description seems to capture well the spirit which seems to have fuelled the band’s short-lived musical career. I will not go as far as calling Sinergy a CoB side-project despite the presence of Roope Latvala and Alexi Laiho in both bands’ line-ups, but it seems clear to me that Sinergy and this album should be taken as a “lets-have-some-fun” affair aimed at making no-frills, no-nonsense, straight-in-your-face heavy metal music, without much concern for “breaking new ground” or “experimenting with new sounds”. The fact the rest of the line-up was comprised of other prominent members of the Finnish musical scene at the time (Tonmi Lillman from To/Die/For on drums; Marco Hietala on bass) reinforces the impression of a gathering of likeminded artists who simply wanted to let out some steam by playing uncompromising, wild heavy metal.

Of the five musicians involved, only singer Kimberly Goss had a relatively inconspicuous curriculum at the time, which effectively made Sinergy her main band. This observation suggests another interpretation for Sinergy’s musical proposal, as a vehicle for Kimberly’s creativity. This alternative version is also plausible, both because of her role as main songwriter in a number of songs included on this album, and because Kimberly’s voice is probably the aspect of Suicide by My Side that stands out the most, next to the amazing twin guitarwork by Latvala and Laiho. Departing from the typical approach of other female lead singers in metal bands at the time, Kimberly unleashes a monstrous performance, packed with tons of distortion and grit, and almost terrifying in terms of sheer power and aggression. There’s little doubt in my mind that, despite the cult status that many of her bandmates had or will acquire, she is the true star of the show here and the ultimate reason Sinergy is a name that has left a mark in the annals, unlike other bands that have attempted a similar musical path.

Suicide by My Side offers a fun, energetic 38-minute listening experience, but it ultimately dies by its own hand as the same qualities that make it stand out are also those that eventually hold it back. First, Kimberly’s vocals. All the ripping and roaring can definitely be too much after a while and, a few songs into the album, one does feel the need of a change in delivery. You’d think the balladish number “Written in Stone” may give you just that, but not really, as Kimberly pretty much keeps ripping and roaring there as elsewhere on the record, just at a slower tempo. It is not just Kimberly’s approach that feels slightly unidimensional. More generally, it’s hard to shake off the feeling that this album would benefit from a few more changes in pace, mood and delivery. Out of the 10 songs here, 7 are pretty much cut out of the same cloth: fast-and-furious, high-octane 1980s heavy metal. Nothing wrong with that, but it gets boring after a while, especially considering the slightly derivative nature of the material. “Written in Stone” slows things down a bit as mentioned earlier, but without really providing any noticeable change in style, while “Remembrance” is a short instrumental outro that feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the record. It is only “Shadow Island” that feels truly different from the rest of the material. This song unfurls through different sections, multiple tempo changes, and a whirlwind of moods that it’s rare to find elsewhere on the record. It also stands out for the use of multiple vocal styles: Kimberly’s cleans, Alexi’s black/death growls and a clean, semi-operatic choir sung by Kimberly and Marco Hietala. This song is far more interesting than any of the other tracks on the album and it shows glimpses of the greatness this band could have achieved if they had perhaps taken the whole Sinergy project more seriously and more ambitiously.

Despite its limitations, Suicide by My Hand is a fun record to spin every once in a while. It has passion and energy like you won’t find in many other records. It has plenty of excellent, at times even godly, guitar work. And it is a powerful reminder that female vocals in metal do not have a place only in traditional beauty-and-the-beast bands. As long as you don’t expect too much from it, it’s hard to see how you won’t have a good time with this record.