ALBUM REVIEW: Synergy Restored – 96 Bitter Beings
There are few bands and artists that can be as safely identified on first listen as Deron Miller. The former CKY frontman’s genre-melding mastery has been unmistakable in everything he’s played a part in, including his death metal band WORLD UNDER BLOOD and melodeath band FOREIGN OBJECTS. But it’s his blend of alternative metal, post-grunge, hard rock and stoner rock that has undeniably thrust him onto the world stage and he returns once more with 96 BITTER BEINGS to show us all how it’s supposed to be done.
Synergy Restored is the second album for the quartet and picks up where 2018’s Camp Pain left us. Any preconceived notions of what you’ll hear when you press play are swiftly confirmed through Vaudeville’s Revenge, which combines big catchy vocals with technical proficiency and meaty riffs aplenty. There’s a slight twist given in an intro that leans into old-timey character befitting of the song title and gives a nice touch of texture to proceedings. This is an avenue further explored on 90 Car Pile Up which starts as a soundscape of some horrific high-speed car crash before diving into the riffs and fare you expect of 96 BITTER BEINGS.
But it’s the back half of the record where Synergy Restored really comes into its own. While the first half is good – and it really is – it feels very weighty and almost sluggish by comparison. A big reason for this is that all three of the album’s four-plus minute tracks come in the first half, including each of the opening pair of songs. But from Bedtime Story through to the end of the album, every track is delivered in a neat little package. It’s a small difference going from Wish Me Dead‘s 4:42 down to the 3:22 of Bloodrock Mania for example, but the flow and movement of that second half is perfect. Combine the relative brevity with the earworm choruses of Adios Amigo and Taken By Surprise and you’ve got yourself a stack of proper songs that fans can really latch onto.
Sure, there’s a high degree of familiarity to Synergy Restored, but not in a way that feels detrimental. The key to Miller‘s success to date lies in how he has managed to mesh together different genres to carve out a niche for his bands and output – it’s what landed him support slots with the likes of METALLICA and GUNS N’ ROSES so why stop now? Instead, it’s delivered with a renewed vigour that keeps it feeling fresh and as inventive as the first time we heard those fuzzy licks and hooks.
On Synergy Restored, 96 BITTER BEINGS stake their claim once more as masters of hard rock and handily show how it can be merged and melded with disparate and surprising bedfellows. Miller‘s gritty and unmistakable presence is on top form, and complemented like he is by the rest of the band here, this goes down as a highlight from one of our generation’s most influential and under-appreciated rock stars.
Rating: 8/10
Synergy Restored is out now via Nuclear Blast Records.
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