Review: Syncatto – A Place to Breathe

Style: Neo-Classical Prog Metal (intstumental)
Review by: Nick
Country: California, United States
Release date: 24 June, 2021

So, looks like I’m doing two landmark reviews in TPS’s history in a row. The first was an indie folk album last week and the second is this week’s album, which is by far the most popular album we’ve reviewed. See, we recently upped the limit of monthly listeners for bands we review from 10k to 15k. When I initially picked this album up for review Syncatto was pretty snuggly at 15k listeners, but at the time of publishing the review it is nearly over 22k. This bump of listeners absolutely does not surprise me because this album is something truly special.

Being possibly the first band I caught right at their start, I grew a pretty strong attachment to Charlie Robbin’s other group, Artificial Language, since shortly before their first album dropped. Their heavy use of a classical style was both familiar yet completely foreign. I fell in love instantly and grew a strong attachment to them thinking I was finding these great musicians right at the start of their career. Little did I know, Robbins had already established himself in the scene with his solo project under the name Syncatto.

The sound among his two full lengths released prior to Artificial Language‘s debut is pretty along the lines of Plini and David Maxim Micic. Just large guitar and keys playing over a much more standard progressive metal soundscape with occasional dips into more atmospheric sections that one would find in post metal. Although the production may have been relatively muddy in these first two releases and the songwriting less unique than his future releases, there’s an undeniable charm to these first two albums. His sense of melody and composition makes for music that’s just a blast to listen to.

A Place to Dream came out in 2016 which makes A Place to Breathe is the first full-length solo album in 5 years. Although he has put out two EPs that help bridge the gap between the older sound and the newer sound that’s far more akin to his work in Artificial Language, this is the first release in a second to feel really coherent rather than a collection of tracks. It’s a pretty worthy display of the progress he’s made as a songwriter. He presses on even further with the Latin inspired elements you can find in the last EP as well as the beautiful classical style he’s built into a signature sound.

All this is to say that fans of Artificial Language as well as his previous couple solo EPs will feel right at home. Heavily produced noodley riffs and crazy time signatures abound, fusions of classical, Latin, djent, and traditional prog metal, everything that’s become his staple on his releases. There’s the same heavily produced hectic neoclassical metal, just this time without vocals. Luckily Robbin manages to avoid the all-too-common pitfall of instrumental prog which would be songs sounding samey or generic. From the very first track (“Let Us Dance”) on, each song takes various dips and dives that keeps it from being boring. Peppered in guest spots also help keep the album engaging, but the main star is easily Robbin’s songwriting.

One of my favorite tracks is probably “Red Velvet” which opens with a beautiful violin piece done by Coen Strouken (who does most of, if not all of, the strings on the album). The base of the track however is a cool blend of tango and djent-infused prog metal. While combinations of various Latin/classical styles with prog metal are common throughout the album as I established before, I think this track is the best execution and shows what Robbin can accomplish at his peak.

Overall, it’s an extremely solid release. If you like the idea of neo-classical/Latin infused prog, you’ll absolutely love this release. If you like complicated riffs that hop time signatures, you’ll love this as well. Same if you love the idea of solo after solo after solo. After listening to most of the big instrumental prog releases of the year so far, this easily stands above the rest as the best. It’s a perfect soundtrack to kick off the second half of 2021 and beyond.

Recommended tracks: Red Velvet
Recommended for fans of: Polyphia, Plini, David Maxim Micic, Artificial Language (obviously)
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | Facebook

Label: Independent

Syncatto is:
– Charlie Robbins (everything but guest spots)
etc.