PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
SixStringNoise, from Greece, has independently released Snake Side Brotherhood, a ten song album. This offering, the band’s third, shows a natural progression in musicianship, songwriting, and technical mastery. As a duo, Markos and Alex have come up with a cohesive batch of songs which run a gamut from grunge or alternative metal, to hard-hitting heavy metal.
As with the band’s previous release, Likewise, Snake Side Brotherhood draws ready comparisons to American grunge (Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots) and alternative metal (Alter Bridge, Creed). This disc hits harder and is more tenacious, though, and has none of the production flaws which plagued the digital version of Likewise. Snake Side Brotherhood‘s overall mix is crisp, clear, and loud. Instruments are very well balanced and there’s no sense of an instrument becoming lost in the mix. Production features fairly typical layering, and includes some very nice ideas. As with previous releases, the musicianship is solid, the performance being across-the-board quite enjoyable. The music is globally nicely accessible, with very sparse, if any, quirkiness.
First and foremost, this is a contemporary alternative metal disc with leanings to other genres. Snake Side Brotherhood is heavy; there’s no doubt about that. Grunge influence is most noticeable, at least vocally, on “Wreck Me”. As with many of the other tunes, “Wreck Me” features a very heavy, “post black album” era Metallica type guitar riff and some nice, snarly distortion. SixStringNoise does veer into other territories, from desert rock in “Fight Back”, to a poppy, ballady tune evocative of arena rock’s glory days in “Drown In Me”. An interesting unifying theme and texture throughout the disc is a rapid, fluttery, electronic “glitchy” noise, most prominent in “Until The Day I Die”, “Bridges Burned Down”, and “Every Thorn”. Markos is not shy in using a vocoder or “distant” effect on his voice, which is most apparent in “Bridges Burned Down” and “Around My Head”. The expanded use of effects, the willingness to explore, the broader reach through multiple genres, and the expanded layering are fantastic to hear, representing leaps and bounds of improvement over the previous record. The album is like springtime: it “comes in like a lion, and leaves like a lamb”. The disc’s closing tune, “Bloom”, is a highly melodic, very emotional ballad without percussion. That’s a soft, unusual way to close out a hard-edged record, for sure.
Unfortunately, Snake Side Brotherhood remains a SixStringNoise studio project. This skilled duo have progressed to the point where the band would be an absolute joy to witness in a concert setting. Without a backing band, that just won’t happen. As with atmospheric folk/black metal legend Falkenbach, this does not diminish the enjoyability of the disc at all. The album is good, no matter if it offers a promise of “checking the band out live” or not. Besides SixStringNoise’s existing fanbase, fans of current alt metal, grunge, and modern hard rock will probably enjoy this. Easily accessible, the album is available to stream on Spotify, and is available for purchase through Amazon and iTunes. So check it out.
Track listing:
Until The Day I Die
Wreck Me
Hiatus
Fight Back
Drown In Me
Bridges Burned Down
Around My Head
Didn’t See That Comin’
Every Thorn
Bloom
Band Lineup:
Markos 6SN – Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar, Keyboard
Alex M – Drums
Links:
Official Band Website
Official Band Facebook Page
Official Band Twitter
