It’s criminal that we had to wait four years for a follow-up to Fluxus. But the fact that in current times, when a band releases a new full length, it feels magical. And that it’s Synsnake is excellent. Nodes is their second full length and continues the band’s metalcore, electronicore, and “k-popcore” sound.
If you’re coming to Synsnake without any reference, it may sound a little bit like hardcore numetal. And as you become more familiar with the style, you can hear the individual electronic, hardcore, metal, and pop elements all entwined. It’s great that the entire band from Fluxus is back for Nodes because it sounds like they have just continued on.
If there’s one difference between Nodes and Fluxus, Nodes has a different polish to it. Both Sungmin Cho and Serah Oh sound clearer, and there’s an improved distinction between their vocal styles. I think Serah’s vocals have a lot of filters applied which is a plus and minus. I kind of want to hear plain vocals because she’s got a great voice that fits as Sungmin’s counterpoint.
And you can’t discount Randy Kim, Hyunjae Choi, and EERO. Their ability to continuously push the melody over the metalcore top layer is impressive. Also, even with 12 songs, there isn’t much repetition across tracks. There is a little bit of bleed because songs have similar high energy, but songs like “Vanilla Sky,” “Black Flag,” and “Hyper Real” showcase different ideas within Synsnake’s style.
There’s a timelessness to Synsnake. They play an older genre, but they’re able to keep things fresh and fun. Nodes is an album that you put on repeat for a month, move onto something else, and then rediscover it after half a year, and it sounds new again. It might have taken four years to get a new album, but this is a welcome return to a band that doesn’t disappoint.
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Written by Chris P for Korean Indie.