Andrew Danso

It’s difficult to not think that The Few Against Many would be little else, without their symphony in backround. Often they’ll play through progressions with the odd keyboard stab thrown in for layering – or some quasi production value argument, the band would immediately bark at you. Needless, and wasteful, the used symphony isn’t an aid to their cause. However, "Sot" being incredibly dull without isn’t far from the truth.

A decent, if not worthy addition to the Scandinavian archives, dismissing "Sot" like it was Arch Enemy’s Doomsday Machine would be extremely harsh and unfair. This will be enjoyed by any Scandinavian fan, or occasional user. Its songwriting has more depth than your average cup of Sweden, and coupled with powerful punchy choruses, help add impact to what is a very normal Scandinavian effort. The symphonic addition to The Few Against Many undermines much of the latter. It adds a panel of tackiness often invoked with Children of Bodom; best described as a plethora of Botox, into a space that hardly needed filling.

Blessed with excellent musicianship, "Sot" is a record that initially feels as solid as Bloodbaths “The Fathomless Mastery”. The symphonic undercurrent left us baffled, questioning its existence over such firm foundations. Why the plastic?

Archaic-Magazine.com

Have you heard everything here already? Nearly. The underlying discrepancy with everything Tandjent have presented on “No One Will Hear Us” is that it is straight imitation. Yet it’s done in a manner that is somehow fresh. For all of the wrong reasons, Tandjent’s debut is solid, worthy enough of their hero’s recognition (if they embrace copycats) and likewise of their main influence, technically sound. Meshuggah’s “Destroy Erase Improve”, and Fredrik Thordendal’s scientific “Special Defects”, are no easy feats to emulate, let alone weave together; but somehow, they’ve done it.

Everything from the shotgun guitars that Hagstrom phrased in relation to Destroy Erase Improve, to Thordendal’s jazz-like-Allan-Holdsworth lead guitar, to Haake’s mechanical grooves have been layered anew amongst different riff progressions. You could swear their final number “The Path Of True” is “Soul Burn” when your eyes are closed, if only for a brief moment. The margins are really too close on periods of the album to applaud; but applaud you will, at the sheer technical know-how and brazenness of it all.

The same concoction thrown into different, if lesser test tubes. This embodies Tandjent’s plagiarised formula as if it were something they had been born to do. But even as you try to wave notions of theft in front of the project, their regurgitation tastes just as good, and just as technical. Perhaps the critic must learn to unlearn to fully appreciate “No One Will Hear Us”.

Tandjent’s debut is packed full of technical nous, but is artistically a moot point. At Metal Mayhem UK, we can only see a vast potential and lend a thought that they’ll find their feet, come the second release. Here’s hoping.

7/10 Metal-Mayhem.co.uk