Sonic Syndicate // Rebellion EP
Rating: 1.0/5.0 – This is everything that is wrong with modern metal
Label: Nuclear Blast (EU | US)
Websites: sonicsyndicate.com | myspace.com/sonicsyndicate
Release Date: Nov. 6th, 2009
Sonic Syndicate are a pop rock band that somehow got signed to Nuclear Blast. Apparently they’re from Sweden, but I wonder if other metal guys from this country would actually agree to that. I think many of them would say “Well, don’t they have an English singer?” Why yes, they do! He’s new, in fact!
The rundown is simple. Sonic Syndicate is poppy metalcore. Do not let their Wikipedia page fool you. Sonic Syndicate are not melodic death metal. There is nothing remotely death metal about this EP or this band. “Burn This City,” sounds like the theme song from a bad action flick, and the new vocalist sounds like the guy from Killswitch Engage. While “Rebellion in Nightmareland” is a little bit better than the title track, it too is far too formulaic to stand. Oh, he sounds like the dude from KSE on this track, too.
In fact, the only thing that I can say good about this band is that they’re all very pretty. So pretty, in fact, that one wonders when they found time to write this music between all the primping and preening they must do every day. When the fuck did becoming a metal dude mean becoming a goddamn hair model? Other than that, this is an example of everything that is wrong with modern metal. The production is so mechanical that it is totally soulless. The keyboards are high and unnecessary, the drums are fake and lifeless. The 
vocals are standard metalcore vocals, some screaming lots of 2nd tenor whining about girls.
This whole EP clocks in at 11 minutes long. Oh, and let me tell you something. There’s a 1 second difference between the “Radio Cut” and the normal version of “Burn This City.” I’ve listened to this whole thing several times and I can’t tell the difference. So in reality, the new material on this EP clocks in at about 7 minutes. And that’s 7 minutes you’ll never get back.
