Cyhra - The Vertigo Trigger - August 2023

[DE4life]

I was seriously hyped going into Cyhra 2 (Before No Halos In Hell had a name). and I so badly wanted to tell the band how much I loved their lead single after I listened to it. Then I listened to "Out of My Life", and after the first listen, I did a serious double take. It's just "Karma" if you completely homogenized it, and I was just completely baffled. Then we had "Battle From Within", and it was alright, the lyrics and story behind it were cool and deep enough to keep me a little bit optimistic. Considering that Letters is one of my favorite albums of all time and then considering the quality of No Halos... I've never been so disappointed in a band. I know I wasn't an In Flames fan before Siren Charms or Battles, but I feel like I would've been less disappointed going into Battles than I was when I finished No Halos. I'm not hyped for Cyhra 3 anymore, I'm not an active part of the fanbase anymore, and I haven't really spoken to any of the band members since "Out of My Life" released just because I had nothing nice to say about No Halos. I think it broke me in the sense that I'll never be a big part of an active fanbase nor extremely hyped about a release ever again.

Pretty much descibes how it went on here as well to be honest. Out of My Life... OK, it's the first single, they're playing it (very) safe, not too concerned yet. Shittier version of Karma isn't what we wanted, but fine. Battles From Within... this isn't promising. Then the album itself was just so disappointing. I remember I stopped listening to it the first time around about half way through because I legitimately got bored. Rarely had that happen before, especially for an album I was so excited to hear, but it was just obvious that this was garbage and wasn't going to get any better. I think we all got off the hype train at that point. What's sad is that I can remember Euge releasing snippets of riffs and solos from the album before it was released and it all sounded awesome... but man, wtf happened? Where did all that cool stuff actually go?

 

[The Grayfox]

As far as Poisonblack go, I really like Escapexstacy. Lust Stained Despair is solid too. Glow of the Flames has been a favourite for a long time (although it was only some time after I first heard it that I actually realised what the lyrics were about ). With Her I die is another one I used to play a lot. Very nice guitar melodies. Poisonblack had a lot of melody going on amongst all the gothic dressing, which is probably what drew me to them initially.

I was/am a massive Sentenced fan, so I was ok with Ville taking over vocal duties on Lust Stained Despair. I really like that album. Escapexstacy is filled with a lot of innuendo that still gets a chuckle out of me, even though that's obviously not the point. By the time Poisonblack called it quits they had morphed into something else entirely. Their later stuff isn't nearly as good in my opinion, but oh well.

 

[DE4life]

I was/am a massive Sentenced fan, so I was ok with Ville taking over vocal duties on Lust Stained Despair. I really like that album. Escapexstacy is filled with a lot of innuendo that still gets a chuckle out of me, even though that's obviously not the point. By the time Poisonblack called it quits they had morphed into something else entirely. Their later stuff isn't nearly as good in my opinion, but oh well.

I actually don't think I listened to anything past 'A Dead Heavy Day' - I didn't like that album much and never really followed them after that.

 

[Xpyro125]

I remember listening to the full album back on my old college campus, waiting for my next class just trying to convince myself that it was good and that it's just hit me eventually. It never did. I gave the full album another listen, and it didn't hit me there either. When one of your metal album's best songs is pretty much your take on a P!nk song (No disrespect, fucking love her), you're doing something wrong.

At least they're not even giving us too many cool snippets or anything- Or at least I don't think they are. I dunno. I don't care to check anymore, all I feel is resentment and disappointment.

 

[Xpyro125]

I was/am a massive Sentenced fan, so I was ok with Ville taking over vocal duties on Lust Stained Despair. I really like that album. Escapexstacy is filled with a lot of innuendo that still gets a chuckle out of me, even though that's obviously not the point. By the time Poisonblack called it quits they had morphed into something else entirely. Their later stuff isn't nearly as good in my opinion, but oh well.

I've heard a ton of good things about Sentenced and tried listening to a couple songs of theirs to get into them after seeing a comment on the "Heart Like a Grave" video. Got any recommendations for someone jumping into their music?

 

[DE4life]

I remember listening to the full album back on my old college campus, waiting for my next class just trying to convince myself that it was good and that it's just hit me eventually. It never did. I gave the full album another listen, and it didn't hit me there either. When one of your metal album's best songs is pretty much your take on a P!nk song (No disrespect, fucking love her), you're doing something wrong.

At least they're not even giving us too many cool snippets or anything- Or at least I don't think they are. I dunno. I don't care to check anymore, all I feel is resentment and disappointment.

I haven't heard or seen much about the third album, but I'm not actively going out and looking for it either. I also tried to listen to NHIH a few times since it was released and every time it's just like... nope, still shit. I kind of appreciated Lost in Time a little bit more after repeated listens. Bye Bye Forever has a fucking stupid title and lyrics in general, but musically it's actually got a lot of potential. Acoustic section is really nice. Dreams Gone Wrong & Man of Eternal Rain are the best songs on the album, actually not bad at all. Kings Tonight, I Had Your Back and Blood Brothers is where the album just nosedives into total bullshit territory though. Three utterly pointless pieces of music. Title track is boring as fuck too. If I was rating songs nowadays it'd be something like

Out of My Life 4/10
No Halos in Hell 3/10
Battle From Within 5/10
I Am The One 6/10
Bye Bye Forever 7/10
Dreams Gone Wrong 8/10
Lost in Time 7/10
Kings Tonight 2/10
I Had Your Back 2/10
Blood Brothers 3/10
Hit Me 6/10
Man of Eternal Rain 8/10
Kings and Queens 3/10
Lies 5/10

So a handful of somewhat decent songs surrounded by some absolute shit.

 

[The Grayfox]

I've heard a ton of good things about Sentenced and tried listening to a couple songs of theirs to get into them after seeing a comment on the "Heart Like a Grave" video. Got any recommendations for someone jumping into their music?

Sentenced was a pretty unique band. Not super technical but they had this energy and feel that I really love. Their early stuff is pretty badly produced death metal and then when they released 'Down', it shifted to something else. I think 'gothic metal' is unfair, but that's usually what they get thrown into. There's a lot of melancholy in their music, sure, but it isn't like you're listening to Theatre of Tragedy or anything.

If production and mixing isn't an issue for you, 'Down', 'Frozen' and 'Crimson' are where I would start. If you prefer a little bit better production, their last two records, 'The Cold White Light' and 'The Funeral Album' are also good. I'm a production snob, self admittedly, and I can look past it when it comes to Sentenced. There's something magical there for me.

 

[Xpyro125]

If I was rating songs nowadays it'd be something like

Out of My Life 4/10
No Halos in Hell 3/10
Battle From Within 5/10
I Am The One 6/10
Bye Bye Forever 7/10
Dreams Gone Wrong 8/10
Lost in Time 7/10
Kings Tonight 2/10
I Had Your Back 2/10
Blood Brothers 3/10
Hit Me 6/10
Man of Eternal Rain 8/10
Kings and Queens 3/10
Lies 5/10

So a handful of somewhat decent songs surrounded by some absolute shit.

Fuck. Alright, time to go subject myself to a legal form of torture.

Sentenced was a pretty unique band. Not super technical but they had this energy and feel that I really love. Their early stuff is pretty badly produced death metal and then when they released 'Down', it shifted to something else. I think 'gothic metal' is unfair, but that's usually what they get thrown into. There's a lot of melancholy in their music, sure, but it isn't like you're listening to Theatre of Tragedy or anything.

If production and mixing isn't an issue for you, 'Down', 'Frozen' and 'Crimson' are where I would start. If you prefer a little bit better production, their last two records, 'The Cold White Light' and 'The Funeral Album' are also good. I'm a production snob, self admittedly, and I can look past it when it comes to Sentenced. There's something magical there for me.

I listened to "Down" already, and I liked it well enough. I feel like I kinda of get what's so special about them, I kinda feel it, but I want to fully feel it, you know? I like their melodies, but I don't love them just yet. I really want to find the song that just makes everything for me.

 

[DE4life]

Fuck. Alright, time to go subject myself to a legal form of torture.

I genuinely think Dreams Gone Wrong and Man of Eternal Rain are LtM quality. I don't think they're worse than the likes of Dead To Me or Muted Life, for example. So for me the ability is still there, it just came through very rarely on NHIH. There was also no show stealer like Closure, which legit gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it.

 

[The Grayfox]

I listened to "Down" already, and I liked it well enough. I feel like I kinda of get what's so special about them, I kinda feel it, but I want to fully feel it, you know? I like their melodies, but I don't love them just yet. I really want to find the song that just makes everything for me.

Its been many years, but I'm trying to remember the songs that really made me fall in love with that band.

I know The Rain Comes Falling down is one. Fragile is another one.

End of the Road literally made a grown man cry when I first listened to it. But that was because I knew it was the closing song on their last record ever. Still, the last few minutes of that song are very, very good.

 

[galvanized]

Jake on some goth metal track... not really my kind of thing but still more interesting than anything off NHIH.

The vocals sound weak somehow. Maybe a little low in the mix?

 

[DE4life]

The vocals sound weak somehow. Maybe a little low in the mix?

Yeah I had that same feeling actually, like the vocals were too low in the mix. I thought it might be my speakers as nobody was mentioning it in the comments.

 

[Xpyro125]

Out of My Life- 4/10
No Halos In Hell- 3/10
Battle From Within- 5/10
I Am the One- 7/10, I can't help but like the energy
Bye Bye Forever- 8/10
Dreams Gone Wrong- 2/10, no idea why people love this one so much nor why it was a single
Lost in Time- 4/10
Kings Tonight- 6/10, actually kinda better than I remember it being
I Had Your Back- 3/10 simply because of the solo
Blood Brothers- 5/10, definitely better than I remember it being because of the solos
Hit Me- 7/10
Man of Eternal Rain- 7/10
Kings and Queens- 2/10
Lies- 9.5/10
Lost in Time (Full Band)- 4.5/10
Dreams Gone Wrong (Acoustic)- 7/10, really wish this was some sort of instrumental interlude or something because it would've been a 9 or 10 then
Kings Tonight (Acoustic)- 4/10, giving this the acoustic misses the point of the song, and the instrumentals aren't even that good
I Am the One (Acoustic)- 6/10, the instrumentals are better than the one above, but it still loses the energy that made the song thrive

I really wish that Letters had all the acoustic versions because these just don't fit the songs they picked whatsoever. Obviously, I skipped around a little, but... You can't blame me for not listening to the full thing, right?

 

[Xpyro125]

I genuinely think Dreams Gone Wrong and Man of Eternal Rain are LtM quality. I don't think they're worse than the likes of Dead To Me or Muted Life, for example. So for me the ability is still there, it just came through very rarely on NHIH. There was also no show stealer like Closure, which legit gave me goosebumps the first time I heard it.

Man, "Closure" always gives me goosebumps.

Yeah I had that same feeling actually, like the vocals were too low in the mix. I thought it might be my speakers as nobody was mentioning it in the comments.

Admittedly, I was in a call while listening to that, but it was the guitars that I couldn't hear whatsoever, save for the solo. The entire song seems like it suffers from an abhorrent mixing job.

 

[galvanized]

Yeah I had that same feeling actually, like the vocals were too low in the mix. I thought it might be my speakers as nobody was mentioning it in the comments.

Yeah I had that same feeling actually, like the vocals were too low in the mix. I thought it might be my speakers as nobody was mentioning it in the comments.

yeah, I played in on the best speakers I have access to and the whole thing is flat. I don’t follow that band but for a guest duet I was expecting something stronger vocally.

 

[galvanized]

Obviously, I skipped around a little, but... You can't blame me for not listening to the full thing, right?

For No Halos in Hell you gotta listen to every song all the way through. Otherwise you miss the full “blue balls” effect. Most every song starts strong for 15 seconds to get you excited, then turns into a total disappointment.

Man of Eternal Rain is good. Dreams Gone Wrong too, short and sweet. The rest are just frustrating.

 

[Xpyro125]

For No Halos in Hell you gotta listen to every song all the way through. Otherwise you miss the full “blue balls” effect. Most every song starts strong for 15 seconds to get you excited, then turns into a total disappointment.

Please no, never again. I don't want to be a Scar Symmetry fan.

 

[The Grayfox]

Is Scar Symmetry even still a band? The last I remember, they had to get two vocalists to replace Christian. I'm assuming that didn't go well for them.

 

[Xpyro125]

Is Scar Symmetry even still a band? The last I remember, they had to get two vocalists to replace Christian. I'm assuming that didn't go well for them.

I have no idea. All I know is that I tried to listen to Holographic Universe, and it was basically torture.

 

[DE4life]

Scar Symmetry, that takes me back. I remember seeing them and Bloodstock... 07? Anyway 'Mind Machine' fucking blew me away. Still love that song today. In general though I don't find them that interesting. There are a few songs from them I really like (Oscillation Point is another) but it's tough for me to get through an entire SS album without starting to get bored.

They haven't released an album since 2014. Seemingly announced a new album in 2018 'The Singularity (Phase II − Xenotaph' - but four years later nothing to be seen. Setlist.fm has them down as having performed at the Metal Capital festival in Finland on June 17th and they are apparently here in the UK performing on July 1, so I guess they are still around.