SYRYN are a Power/Thrash Metal band out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. They are currently unsigned but I don't think that will last long. These guys and gals are a breath of fresh air and have a broad range of influences. This is a melting pot of various Metal sub-genres and this self-released first album hits it out of the park.

I want to talk about the production before anything else. I usually talk about this at the far end of my review but I wanted to start with this. They did a masterful job, it sounds like a ton of bricks. Everything is crystal clear and those interludes sound so awesome. There is a number of interludes between most songs and sometimes you have some voice work from people and my god it sounds so great. They truly took their time so every part of this album sounded great. You guys did a great job; you should really pat yourselves on the back!

I talked about the interludes well this is my only gripe about this album. There are way too many interludes or short intros between most of the songs. I know most of these songs need that short intro but they overdid it. They are really important to the song that follows it and it's a nice touch but they did not need to do it almost every time. Unfortunately it does kill a bit of the momentum of the album and I probably would have rated it higher if it wasn't the case.

They did keep a similar lyrical them throughout this debut release. They talk a lot about Pirates, Voyages, the loneliness of the sea and whatnot. They elaborate on the trials of tribulations of anyone that has been at sea for a long time and I enjoyed the consistency of the theme throughout.

My bright spots on this album are many but I wanted to talk about two particular songs: ''Never Ending Nightmare'' and ''Three Sheets to the Wind''. These songs are solid as a rock and they shine so bright even though the rest of the album is really good, well these two songs really stood out for me.

''Never Ending Nightmare'' follows the calm and soothing ''Song of the Syrynite'' and it shows to the listener out there that there are a force to be reckoned with. Sloan Voxx just shines. She shows off a unique range and her voice reminded me a lot of Francine Boucher from ECHOES OF ETERNITY mixed in with Dominique Persi from STOLEN BABIES. This song also reminded me of early EPICA, not only in vocal stylings but the overall sound of the song. This song starts the album on the right foot and everyone has their place in the sun on this one.

''Three Sheets to the Wind'' could have been a single from Pirate-based Metal bands like SWASHBUCKLE or even RUMAHOY. In all seriousness, this song reminded me of good old ALESTORM, the rhythm, the silly lyrics and the overall happiness of the tune! But that is not all! Actually this song is a real fine mix of ALESTORM and HALESTORM. I can almost hear Lizzy Hale in Sloan Voxx's voice on this one. You got the Hard Rock stylings of HALESTORM (or even a band like THE PRETTY RECKLESS) mixed in with the Pirate Metal masters, ALESTORM. This song is the best song off this first release and I could listen to it over and over again.

This band has all the tools though I would have enjoyed a longer album, this is a great first effort and the potential is limitless.