The city of Gothenburg, Sweden is a literal breeding ground for melodic death metal. So much so that some people even give that scene its own branch of melo-death, but when something becomes so abundant you’re bound to come across plenty of bands with loads of talent and many with lack thereof. Despite, though, have shown that they can make the better quality death metal of all the bands to come out of their city, and “Synergi” is a perfect showcase of that. Busting in with 13 tracks in total, this record features brand spanking new material that fans of the band will hear and approve by listening to the music for mere moments, but seven of those tracks are all old tracks. Five of them from Despite’s previous EP, “Epic”, and their last two stand alone singles, “Chaos Trigger” and “Praedonum”. Albeit, I still love all of those tracks as much as I did when I first heard them it is a tad of a let down when I went in there expecting all new sh*t, but in the end that is honestly the only negative thing I have to say about “Synergi”. Apart from that, the whole of the album is monumentally entertaining without question. You’d think getting six guys into one room trying to create even one song made with three guitars, vocals, bass, and drums would be f*cking chaos, yet Despite make it work to absolute best possible result. “Synergi” sees Despite take new routes that they clearly have the aptitude to do it fantastically well, the sound to push their skills to the limit, and the sheer power that is still a big slap to the face no matter how you look at it. These gentlemen have shown before that they’re more than worthy enough to be listened to and that even though they may be surrounded by bands that are trying to follow in the foot steps of their literal neighbors who’ve achieved fame and success in the metal world, Despite is one of those few gems amongst the rest that show they’ve got the talent, the sound, and the capability to stun us all. And “Synergi” proves that there is only up for this band, and it’s easy to see why.
“Synergi” releases on July 22nd! You can pre-order the album via iTunes here.
