Review by JD on September 26, 2010.

Every once in awhile a band comes out and for the life of me, confuses me like nobody ever has before. Montreal’s Syk0De is so out there, so eclectic, so completely screwy, that it is almost unlistenable in places and yet commands the listener to try and actually figure them all out as well.

To explain what the band sounds like, took quite a long while for me to piece together. To make it as lest confusing as possible, I start by saying they sound like Meshuggah sounding rhythms, but almost Rush underlying texture...then add in some Death Metal vocals, bizarre shredding guitar, strange topics that tops off a sense of an aberrant nature... you kind of get the picture of this French Canadian unit.

Musically Syk0De is frenzied yet still somehow captures the listener in ways that I still cannot comprehend. Each of the four songs on the EP shows a band truly bent on making music that cannot be mistaken for anyone else but them. That is their strong point, and their biggest liability at the same time. Confusion is not a selling point, even in the always evolution of the metal scene.

I love a band that expands the normal, and pulls it off but when it effects the music in a negative sort of way, it is not cool. Syk0De plays well, but the band is just very confusing trying to be so original and ends up becoming quite uncomposed in the end. The band has a bounty of ability to play some amazing and extreme sorts of music but they just need to be a wee bit less confusing. Originality is cool... but this is even odd for metal.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship:9
Atmosphere: 5
Production: 8
Originality: 9
Overall: 5

Rating: 7.2 out of 10