The Synaesthetic

THE SYNAESTHETIC - LOCOMOTIVE

Locomotive is the brand-new, five-song EP from London five-piece band The Synaesthetic. For a city of 500,000 people, London seems to be lacking in stoner, doom, and heavy rock bands (especially compared to Windsor, which is half the size), and while The Synaesthetic only show trace elements of the former, they can definitely fly the heavy rock flag with pride.

Locomotive opens with Ladies and Gentlemen, a track with heavy bluesy riffs, and a wailing chorus, their singer complaining how it’s “All at my expense”. A very solid opener, and the leading candidate as the “radio single” of the five tracks.

The second song is Third Degree, and it opens on a slower, softer note with swirling guitars, before getting heavier in the chorus. There seems to be somewhat of a progressive element in this song. Something about it vaguely reminds me of Tool, which isn’t a bad thing, although I haven’t listened to Tool in years.

Third track Wrecking Ball sounds like a ballad from the first few notes, and continues along those lines for 3 minutes, before the screaming vocals and loud drumming arrive in the last minute of the song. I’ve never been a big fan of ballads, and this one doesn’t do much to change my opinion.

The Wild is the fourth track, and it opens with a bluesy doom-metal style riff that has me nodding my head in time to the music. Things slow down about two and a half minutes in, but the time changes certainly fit the mood of the song. In my opinion, this is the hidden gem of the EP. Some of my favourite riffs from Locomotive are found in this song.

The final track is Mirror, which opens slowly, bringing Tool, or even Dream Theater to mind. This one seems to be another ballad, albeit one that’s heavier than Wrecking Ball. Personally, I don’t see the need for two ballads on a five-song EP, but The Synaesthetic isn’t a band playing full-out speed metal, so the two slower songs don’t seem to be out of place.

This is the second EP they’ve released, and The Synaesthetic appears to have found their niche. Mixing progressive elements with melodic heavy rock, Locomotive should appeal to fans of prog and metal alike. - Greg Harris - THTGIR

"Okay. After us, the band was the amazing "The Synaesthetic". Y'all need to find them on myspace. I am sooo not kidding , it was like seeing the start of the whole Seattle scene. If there are any industry types out there, these boys are the real deal. I got shivers, I swear to god. And this was before I got the beer bath. Seriously, this is a band that I am proud to have seen start up. How good were they live????? I don't know if a recording would do them justice." - Teresa from City Lights Bookshop
- Teresa

"Lastly the band "The Synaesthetic". The moment the "Blessed Undead" saw this band a few years back, they knew they had to put them on the soundtrack to this film and I totally agree. The music fit very well with the film. The eerie, melodic tunes enhanced the viewer's experience. It was great in the movie and a nice live set afterwards." - Review from London Indie for the Blessed Undeads movie "Present a Present". - London Indie

"THE SYNAESTHETIC: When The Synaesthetic took the stage, the message was clear: we're heavier than you. In terms of pure volume and sonic loudness, they blew The Mercy Now away. I wouldn't call them stoner rock, and they definitely weren't doom. Finding bands to compare The Synaesthetic to is somewhat difficult, so let's just call them heavy rock with some progressive leanings. Kinda like Tool or Faith No More, but they don't really sound like either band. These guys were a buncha babyfaces, but they displayed a level of cohesion and musical maturity beyond their years in putting in a solid performance."
- too high to get it right