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Back at the end of 2021, one of the unrivalled albums of the year came from an rather unlikely contender in the face of the Danish alternative metal crew Siamese. Unfortnuately, for all its grandeur, dropped at the start of December Home didn't get enough plays to enter annual record charts and was taken out of focus by early 2022 premieres, but its undisputed mastery of simple structures, catchy hooks and driven riffs opened the eyes of many people to one of the most exciting modern bands in Europe. Now, deep into the scorching heat of Summer 2024 and following a long streak of uncompromisingly good singles, Siamese return once again with their latest album ELEMENTS and this time we have all the time in the world to dive into its beauty and enjoy it to the fullest.
Somehow, it is hard to think of this latest LP as their seventh official release, but Siamese really did start all the way back in 2011, and for a long time maintained a low profile, relatively unknown outside of their homeland and the area. Criminally underrated from a global perspective, it wasn't until Super Human (2019) and Home (2021) that their name started to appear more often across digital and social media, always in the most positives of lights like they absolutely deserve. Hopefully, 2024 might finally be their breakout year, with all seven promo singles from ELEMENTS so far receiving a universal standing ovation and paving the way to one of the hottest premieres of the year, and about damn time!
Siamese's Spotify profile greets us with the simple "We write songs you can sing your heart out to!" and this seemingly insignificant sentiment hides the very essence of what makes the band stand out from their peers, all thousands of them. Coming from a very pop-centric perspective, fuelled by the famous Scandinavian taste of captivating pop and electronic music, but also mixed with some strong metal and hardcore roots, Siamese make distinctive tracks that are catchy and intense, melodic and heavy, direct and accessible, all in equal measures, all at perfect balance. And they achieve all this so seamlessly and authentically that it is very hard not to get obsessed with them in a way that the whole electronicore, newcore or whatever alt-core-adjacent scenes have not displayed in years.
This comes to little surprise, considering the driving force behind Siamese remain lead guitarist Andreas Kruger and singer Mirza Radonjica, both with substantial experience across music production and management, and working in perfect unison with Christian Hjort Lauritzen, Mark Nommesen and Joakim Stilling for a decade. ELEMENTS elevates their collective expertese to new highs, more concise, driven and professional than ever. Their previous records all showed clear signs of greatness, but this LP operates on a whole other level. It is not just the dominant all-encompassing atmosphere, the subtle recurrent elements or logical song progression, it is in all those fine nuances, a meticulous attention to the tiniest of details, characteristic for the highest levels of songwriting and production.
It is in those rigorously composed songs, the smooth and slick build-up in 'Hurricane', the sexy R&B-infused delivery of 'Chemistry', the electrifying d'n'b foundation of 'Predator', and the dramatic vocal tug of war with Resolve's Anthony Diliberto in 'Through My Head'. It is also the ridiculously infectious pulsating rhythm of 'Vertigo', the oustanding EDM excellence in 'On Fire', and the ferocious cameo by ten56's Aaron Matts on 'Shape of Water'. Of course, we cannot ignore the new additions too, namely the surprising yet totally logical and fitting cover of Ariana Grande's 'God Is A Woman', the anthemic 'Utopia', and above all else the extraordinary album finale, relentless moshpit-starter and certain future festival highlight 'This Is Not A Song'. And then, just like it started, ELEMENTS is over with a blast.
ELEMENTS probably won't be metal puritans' and core elitists' favourite 2024 release, but even the pettiest critics won't be able to deny the album is outstanding in terms of songwriting and production, and is a breath of frash air in an otherwise convoluted industry. In terms of vision and execution, this album easily puts Siamese in a league with some of the most prolific bands a time with its only downside being the slightly shorter runtime. It might be early to call them the Danish answer to acts like Bring Me The Horizon, Bad Omens and such, but it is about time we all started labelling them as one of Europe's most noteworthy and inspiring bands at present.
Siamese - 'ELEMENTS'
Country: Denmark
Released: 9 August 2024
Label: Long Branch Records
Tracklisting:
1. The Shape of Water (ft. ten56)
2. Vertigo
3. Predator
4. Chemistry
5. Through My Head (ft. Resolve)
6. On Fire
7. God Is A Woman
8. Utopia
9. Hurricane
10. This Is Not A Song
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