SYN:DROM "Iconoclasm"

 Death metal, done in a very powerful way made in Sweden. Far away is the sound of the Sunlight Studios and what you get is a very modern production, with influences from both Hour Of Penance, Nile and the dutch superband I Chaos. I thought about the vocalist´s voice and it is very similar to the growler in I Chaos, though this dude uses more highs. He also reminds me of the guys in Nile. The sound on this one is very "pompous and majestic", very similar to the aformentioned acts. Syn:drom´s last album was also good, but it didn´t get me goin´ like this one. You have high class solos, great riffs and interesting drumwork. There have been so many high class death metal albums released lately with bands like Centurian, Suffocation, Incantation, Nominon and Dehumanized to name a few, which makes it hard to give a fair grading. But anyway, If I should grade this upon my listening experience I would rate it pretty high, because you get top quality musicians, good songwriting and  a very professional feeling overall. I guess some people will complain about the clean production, yes it´s not that dirty. So maybe it could be a minor problem if you´re picky and want it to sound like early stuff by Dismember or Morbid Angel. But since there are many bands playing that kind of death metal already I don´t really care if the production is glossy as long as it isn´t totally flat and the bassdrums sound like a plastic disaster. If the music is well performed and the vocalist is a beast I will not complain. Since the music is very listenable and the growler is top notch my complaints are minor. If they pull these songs off live(why wouldn´t they?), I bet there will be some great moshing in the pit.

8/10