It used to be a lot easier to put new bands into pigeonholes. These days, the boundaries between subgenres are fluid and the result is bands like Synthetic. Equal parts face-melting melodic death metal, ingenious prog and balls-out anthemic melodicism, this international but UK-based crew seem to have stumbled on a subtly fresh new formula for making ultra-modern heavy music.
“We consider ourselves to be modern ambassadors of melodic metal,” says frontman Sterge B. “Without trying to reinvent the wheel, we find ourselves uniquely placed between various genres. We like to think beyond subgenres and category norms. When you’re free of those, it feels like you’re giving yourself permission to stretch bigger and wider. It’s liberating for us as musicians as it gives us creative freedom and it’s fascinating for our audience as they get more variation and diversity.”
A classic case of slow-burn, Synthetic’s debut album, Here Lies The Truth, has been put together with such passion and care that it sounds more like a big-budget metal record than a DIY, self-released effort. Hopefully this strong air of collective confidence will lure more people into Synthetic’s sonic world, wherein the band are eager to get their points across.
“We tend to focus more on current realities and affairs and less on fiction and fantasy in our songs,” Sterge explains. “We feel that we have an obligation to tell truthful stories about politics, society and human struggles, centred around our perception of the world we live in. We’re just trying to make sense of what the world is experiencing right now and put our interpretation out there. Here Lies The Truth is a metaphor for the dishonesty and disharmony conquering our daily interactions. It’s a kind of a word game that can be interpreted in a number of different ways.”
Initially formed as a studio project for Sterge and guitarist Simon Charkas, Synthetic have already surged past their founders’ early expectations. The response to Here Lies The Truth has been hugely positive and the band have been receiving support from all around the globe. So far, so great, then. As an added bonus, this is one band who won’t be bewildered by the complexities of the music industry.
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“We’re all highly educated, hard-working individuals with high-profile jobs,” Sterge notes. “We know what it takes to build, run and grow a brand and a business, and that’s how we treat Synthetic. As it happens, we all love to play music, so the Synthetic ‘business’ is a fun one to run!”
Business-savvy DIY metal heroes? Synthetic may well be one of a kind.
“The most important goal for us is to retain the strong relationship between the band members and to continue behaving as a family,” Sterge concludes. “Everything else will naturally fall into place. The band is like an engine that constantly needs fuel and maintenance to perform at high levels. But it is also a living organism that must organically grow to be more credible and wiser.”
Here Lies The Truth is available now via Bandcamp and iTunes.
