Syndia only released this one album, and for the well informed collector out there, this is a must-have item for the collection.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Syndia
ALBUM: Syndia
LABEL: Polskie Nagrania
SERIAL: SX 2961 (LP)
YEAR: 1991
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Poland
LINEUP: Zbigniew Kondratowicz – vocals * Maciej Gladysz – guitars * Piotr Chancewicz – guitars * Piotr Pruski – keyboards * Piotr Urbanek – bass * Krzysztof Patocki – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Kazdy Kiedys Robi Blad * 02 Plaza Snow * 03 Opuszczony * 04 Marriott * 05 Nie Jestes Wielkim Panem * 06 Cenniejsze Plotno Od Ram * 07 Dynamit I Diament * 08 Spotkajmy Sie W Pol Drogi
RATING: 100/100
Background
Well I don’t know about you guys, but I know as much about Poland as I do about Alpha Centauri (the star.. not the band.. lol). But if you all thought the Polish men over there sat around some dim and dungy bar in Warsaw singing Workers Union songs, then think again.
Because along come a band like Syndia, that completely blows that theory out of the water. This is some of the finest melodic rock to have ever passed through these ears, and though these boys sing in their native tongue, the music is pristine, to the point of superlatives being pointless.
Musically, these guys take attributes from other European bands such as Italy’s Elektradrive and the razor-sharp precision of Germany’s Craaft and Frontline. The guitar and keyboard interplay is exceptional, some of the guitar melodies take a leaf out of the book written by Robby Boebel.
The Songs
The band introduce themselves with the fantastic opener ‘Kazdy Kiedys Robi Blad’, the patient build-up and swirling keyboards reminscent of the work Joe Zujokowski (another Polish coincidence?) did with pomp masters Prophet comes to mind. We get 6 minutes of wondrous music that mixes the melody of the hard rock genre, along with the intensity evident in the power and prog metal genres.
Second track in and we get the incredible ‘Plaza Snow’, and though the song title sounds dodgy, the music is off the scale. Deeply melodic, with layers of keyboards underwriting the incisive guitar work of Gladysz and Chancewicz. Listen to this one under a set of headphones.
The band scale back slightly on ‘Opuszczony’, which takes on the same mood as Gamma‘s legendary ‘Voyager’ (from ‘Gamma 2’), an awesome comparison to make admittedly. ‘Marriot’, starts off slow and melancholy, then the after-burners kick in after a minute or so, then we are right-back into it. This one reminds me of Elektradrive, a very European sound if I may so.
‘Nie Jestes Wielkim Panem’ is the band’s obligatory odd-moment, the song meandering along in ballad mode mostly, however they follow this up with the stunning ‘Cenniejsze Plotno Od Ram’, which comes complete with some incredible keyboard work, the orchestral stabs and slamming parps all sound as if they are lifted from Craaft‘s brilliant ‘Second Honeymoon’ album. The guitar solos send this track out into the stratosphere. Wow.
‘Dynamit I Diament’ has a very 80’s feel to it, the build-up and crescendo is reminiscent of bands such as 220 Volt and Dalton in their late 80’s prime.
Listen to the bombastic keyboards on the closer ‘Spotkajmy Sie W Pol Drogi’.. this will have you reaching for your invisible air-keyboard stack in true Gregg Giuffria approved fashion. This is how quality melodic hard rock should sound. In fact, perhaps this is how Giuffria themselves should’ve sounded? And it took a Polish band to show them.
In Summary
Syndia only released this one album, and for the well informed collector out there, this is a must-have item for the collection. Apparently the album is easy to pick up in Poland, so if you know anyone who lives there, bribe them to go out and buy as many copies as they can, and hock them off on Ebay for a price.
If there are some of you hoping that there are other Polish wonders out there in the same vein as Syndia, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that there are.
I have been reliably informed that local bands such as Lessdress, Skawalker, Grzegorz Skawinski, Emigranci, the brilliant Fatum, and Zanderhaus fly the red and white flag admirably.
Less Dress have released two albums previously. So, after listening to Syndia, I hope to become more accustomed to all things Polish. Impressive stuff. Go out and track this down, NOW.
Syndia on Video
Click to go to YTM album page.
