Regular readers of this site might remember that I’ve encountered Sonic Syndicate a couple of times at German festivals and that I wasn’t impressed. I had serious doubts if the Swedes would last long, simply because I thought that the clone factor was too high.

They were clones. And to some extent they still are obvious products of In Flames plus the metal core movement.

But with this new release, Sonic Syndicate prove that they are also something else: they are talented song writers who can churn out catchy tunes as if they’d never been doing anything else. The first video track off the album, Jack of Diamonds, is a fantastic tune, a true earworm and one that's bound to go on any rock station. And the track is an indicator for the rest of the album in terms of quality.

Their music is so blatantly pop, but the band shows its range by throwing in hard-hitting tracks like opener Encaged and Power Shift that both show us the aggressive side of the Syndicate.

For fans of Soilwork, Raunchy and In Flames. Catchy stuff – good tunes – go buy.