Sintage – Paralyzing Chains (2023)

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SINTAGE is a Heavy Metal band founded 2019 at a GBH gig in Leipzig, Germany. And Heavy Metal here means classic, good old school metal with melody and a vintage sound akin 1980. The guys in SINTAGE are young, skilled musicians, and while they weren’t born yet when this type of music was at its prime, on their debut album “Paralyzing Chains” the quartet has captured the magic of that era to perfection.

Swarming in full on NWOBHM mode is the opening track ‘Midnight Evil’, a Tygers Of Pan Tang feel track plenty of dueling guitars, gallops, head twisting solos and power vocals – there are so many influences you could pick out in the bass tones and beyond. This sound very much follows into the chant led ‘Spirit of the Underground’ which also explores the European metal side a little more.
Think a mix of Tokyo Blade, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Riot, Maiden, a dash of early Metallica, etc.

It’s really hard not to quote bands while reviewing a group inspired on the 1980s Heavy Metal. Of course, that is due to the immense tonloads of great bands that came before. It’s almost impossible to a band not to be related to any of them. As a matter of fact, “Paralyzing Chains” is full of them which, to some extent, makes it more interesting.
From where I’m standing, this 1980’s Heavy Metal approach will never worn out. And I don’t say that because I grew up listening to it. The guitar riffing from “Spirit of the Underground” delivers a frantic desire of headbanging all the way as if the world is going to an end – well, as a matter of fact it is. This kind of energy is the thing that makes this Metal unique and beloved.

Energy is everything Sintage are all about. The way the guitar solo bursts into the songs is another thing that pleases me so much. By the way, the guitar solo bursts into “Venom” reminds me of another pinnacle band of the 1980’s the mighty and unsung Tokyo Blade. Coming to think of it, there is a lot of the band here in the album.

Sintage have kept their reptilian aesthetic from debut EP ‘The Sign’ from 2021, which is so good that we added it here too. With ”Paralyzing Chains” giving off more of an 80’s vibe, the lyrical contact on ‘Venom’ is not only incredibly catchy but ties well with both releases.
This is moves into the hard-hitting pure hard rock ‘Wild Dogs’ which really show off Randy’s vocal range and if you listen carefully it feels like there is a nod to early Metallica too with some similar sounding parts, let’s just say if you’re a fan of Kill ‘Em All then it’s a real easter egg moment.

A cool classic metal spoken word part weaves throughout ‘Escape the Scythe’ which add another dynamic that the band fully run with, this is far from metal by numbers as my foot has stopped tapping throughout and the more, I listen to this album, the more this track becomes the one I come back to time and time again.

With no signs of slowing down the album hurtles into ‘Blazing Desaster’ is easily the most solo heavy of the entire album, the band then switch direction into almost glam metal hard rock territory with ‘Rocking Hard’, where I can hear similarities with American cult band Riot.
This is accompanied by final offering ‘Flames of Sin’ which does contain some similar traits of the previous track but also blends the sound of most of the album so there is a redeeming quality.

SINTAGE has a special sound. They are absolutely early Eighties, also in style, but have ‘that’ thing tha make some bands work. “Paralyzing Chains” is a pretty killer debut, heavy, melodic, energetic. And check their debut EP too, with terrific songs like ‘Nightcrime’.
Classic Metal will never die, or at least not so easy with lads like SINTAGE. We look forward to what the band do next after this.
Highly Recommended

Tracklist:
01. Midnight Evil (4:46)
02. Spirit of the Underground (3:32)
03. Venom (3:52)
04. Wild Dogs (4:04)
05. Escape the Scythe (4:55)
06. Blazing Desaster (3:49)
07. Rockin' Hard (4:43)
08. Flames of Sin (4:21)

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