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First of all before getting into the topic of the day, I would like to commend Svengali on their excellent social media presence and marketing of their product. They have the ability to create such hype that I have never seen an underground do before and that started even before their first album came out, people were singing along with them in their first live performance (how many people can say they managed to pull that off). Now on to the Album itself Theory of Mind; being a fan I had loads of expectations especially with all the promotional material that has been floating around the past couple and I think it’s safe to say I was not disappointed. This had album has so much more power, it is so melodic, and the vocals are so captivating. I think they jumped 10 flights of stairs at once with this piece.

The album starts with ‘Lucid’, which is basically a minute long intro that gave a feeling of grandeur. I felt it was telling me “Get ready cause you’re about to get smacked in the face with something awesome”; then comes in ‘Deny’, which is heavy, gory and full of darkness. Personally the line “You’ve become what you despise,” just gave me goosebumps. And get ready for a ballad like bridge, which I guarantee, will give you chills. ‘Floodgates’ comes next where basically the band is showing off their kickass drummer. I’m pretty sure this guy has a blender for feet. Everything from fast riffs, to breakdowns that will make you bang your head regardless where you are and what you’re doing at the time. Once the fourth track started which is called ‘Blindfolds’ I immediately flashbacked to a short clip I saw online a couple of weeks ago where was the producer Hadi Sarieddine talking about this one riff that the band came up with and it was like an indication of how incredible this album was gonna be – remember what I said earlier about how good they were with promotion? That’s exactly what I meant.

 

When the chorus hit I got all these mixed feelings, I just sighed, a sigh of relief mixed with agony and despair. I know that probably doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is just melancholically beautiful, and I think it give each person a different feeling based on what they are going through at the moment. Something I noticed throughout the entire album is the use of keyboards, its spot on, making the music so much more melodic and diverse. Next track is ‘Skinless’; now this track has a pretty different intro than the rest of the tracks, how can I put this into words, a little electronic, perhaps? 15 seconds in their gory drumbeat and amazing bass lines by Ali Square. What guys? The riff in that bridge would loop in your head for hours.

I’m gonna skip a few tracks in, cause those boys left me speechless for words! Comes next ‘Inertia Part 1’, that intro and that voice! It’s so mellow and tender till they get back with their fast pace. The title though, would make me ask: Is there a part 2? The drummer compliments the guitarist pretty well –JM Elias – great job boys on the riffs, and solo of this track. I really like the clean and harsh vocals on ‘Pray for Sanity’. I like how they arrange it with the rest of the instruments and everything feels ridiculously in place. The bridge “All the voices in my head” sang by Fadi, takes you to a really restful place till it nicely ends and kicks in with short brutals from Adnan.

The album ends – sadly – with ‘Resonate’, just like how it started with a kickass intro that gave you a hint of how the album is gonna be, the outro starts pretty much heavily… too heavy for an outro. But by God, I had to repeat it a few times to find the words to describe this masterpiece. The harmony towards the end of the track is heavenly with those angelic voices and the perfect usage of keyboards.

Would I recommend the album? Definitely! Copies are available at Virgin Megastore and online at their BandCamp Official Page. I now leave you with ‘Deny’ the track that took a piece of my heart. Fear not, the whole album is on their Official YouTube Page!

Written by: Ahmed Khalil and NJ Bakr
Edited by: NJ Bakr