STEEL CAGE hailing from Naples, Italy were formed in 1995. In their early history, they played Death and Thrash Metal, while in more recent years, they moved towards melodic Death Metal. During their 27 years long career, they released one demo, two EPs, and now the second full-length album. "Syndrome" has a length of almost 52 minutes, and it was released via Latvian label Sliptrick Records, which has a number of Heavy and Alternative Metal as well as Hard Rock bands among their roster.

The album has a fast and dynamic start with tight guitar riffing and a crunching bass. "Red Detonin' Pyre" is not the typical melodeath classic. The vocals are a mix of cleans and growls, where the clean voice of Silvia Nardoni has the leading part throughout the track. The song has a lot of changes in rhythm and beside the fast parts, there is a lot of mid-tempo with a lot of grooves in the sound. "Welcome Obscuritas" starts with epic melodies, before it transitions into a track with constantly switching between fast and mid-tempo rhythms. While the fast parts are aggressive with the growls, the mid-tempo parts are dominated by epic melodies and the clean vocals. "In-static Mind" is again a mixture between faster and slower rhythms as well as a frequent switch from clean to growling vocals with the clean vocals dominating. The song lacks cohesion and the fast parts at the beginning do not fit well to the rest of the track. Likewise, the growling vocal parts do not really fit in, although I think that the growls of Silvia Nardoni should be utilized more often on the album as this is her strength. "In-static Mind" is the official video release, and the YouTube link is given below.

"Trusting Hysteria" is a good start. It is fast and dynamic throughout; it has the aggression and the melodies for a good melodeath song. Here, the clean vocals do not really fit into the sound, and the few added background growls do not make up for this. The mid-tempo break is the highlight of the track with the interplay of the bass and the lead guitars. Also, the drumming is very comprehensive on "Trusting Hysteria" with a few added blast-beats. In "Humanity Threshold", finally the vocal strengths of Silvia Nardoni are unleashed. It is an aggressive and fast track for most of the time, and the balance between growls and cleans is perfect. The riffing is sharp, and the melodies are cool. The lead guitar solo is very contributing and comprehensive and adds an extra layer to the track. "Humanity Threshold" is one of my album highlights.

"Saturn's Moon" starts with a huge and catchy riff, before it transitions into a part played at frantic speed. There is a clear separation between fast verse parts with pre-dominantly growling vocals and the melodic mid-tempo chorus part,s where the clean vocals dominate. If there is a characteristic in the sound of STEEL CAGE, then it is the mid-break at slow tempo, where there is typically a strong bass part accompanied by the lead guitar. The lead guitar solo here transitions into a fast finale of "Saturn's Moon". The strong guitar parts, both riffing and leads, make "Saturn's Moon" to another album highlight. "Revenge (Of Sanity)" starts ballad-esque and powerful, before it transitions into a track switching between high pace and mid-tempo. Silvia Nardoni shows her clean vocal range and versatility, although I think her growls would have been more effective for the track, especially during the faster parts.

"Final Resistance" and "Blackest Pray" follows the same textures as many songs on the album: a combination of fast and mid-tempo parts. In "Final Resistance", the highly paced parts dominate the track with cool melodies. "Blackest Pray" is a quick transitioning between melancholic mid-tempo parts and insane speed and aggression, where the mid-tempo parts are supported by the cleans, and the fast parts by the growls. The vocals in "Final Resistance" are entirely clean, where they might have better been growls. "Blackest Pray" has some good moments in the transitions and also the transitioning of the vocals sounds very good. STEEL CAGE close the album strongly with "Code 666": epic and melancholic melodies, a bass solo, an extended and comprehensive lead guitar solo, and excellent growling vocals.

STEEL CAGE release an album that show their potential as a melodic Death Metal band. "Syndrome" is a bit of a mixed bag: there are a few songs where some elements do not fit together, and there are other songs that have their moments and show what would have been possible. The vocals are dividing: the best moments on the album relate to the growls, while the clean vocals often did not fit to the sound. The songwriting needs a bit more maturity and be tailored towards the strengths of Silvia Nardoni. The album is well produced. STEEL CAGE deliver an album which is not a melodic Death Metal classic, but may be liked by a lot of fans and it remains to be seen where the journey of STEEL CAGE will go to.