By: Matt Haynes
(Image: © Unknown. Please email for credit of removal )
If I said to you ‘a whole lot of purple’, what would come to mind…
Barney the Dinosaur in a purple mankini swimming in a pool of Vimto?
The whole of Smurf Village holding their breath in a bizarre breath-holding contest?
Violet Beauregarde turning into a blueberry whilst rolling on a forever running treadmill?
If you answered yes to any of the above…we love you, but please go see someone because that shouldn’t be what comes to mind. What ideally should have come to mind are Nottingham’s answer to Stoner Rock Syncolima, and their latest musical offering Move Mountains. Honestly, the colour purple should just endorse the trio based on the number of times you’ll see the colour crop up in photos, live shows and promos…
Syncolima have made a name for themselves in the Stoner Rock genre, combining the initial sound with elements of grunge and melodic fuzzy goodness to bring you some ballsy riffs. ‘Move Mountains’ is no exception to this. The album helps to portray a band that are not only comfortable in their current sound but are constantly seeking evolution and new energy in their abilities.
Opening with an extremely tasty bass riff before galloping along with the accompanying guitar and drums, the band draw you in with an infectious energy from start to finish. Giving off vibes of ‘if Black Sabbath and Alice in Chains formed a supergroup’, the members (vocalist/guitarist Josh, bassist Chris and drummer Harry) show true mastery of their instruments over the 8-track delight. There is no bad track contained within ‘Move Mountains’, and everything offers a little something for everyone.
My favourite track would have to be ‘Black Dog and the Bleak Sky’. Firstly because of that incredibly beautiful, grungy bass intro but also because of the overall vibes. It has that initial Stoner Rock vibe, but there’s a bit of prog rock and grunge mixed in as well. There were times it felt like I was listening to a Tool song, but then there were times it felt I was listening to old school Alice In Chains.
As before, Syncolima are a band that are constantly evolving but are having an immense level of fun doing so along the way. They are tighter with every release, heavier with each song and embracing their purple wardrobe with each day.
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