[ I ] AWAKENING The cold beam of a neon lamp. An empty bottle. The ashes of the past are still warm, but a new pair of wings is now growing. Metamorphosis is painful, but unavoidable. Will destruction be the right choice? We're not looking for an answer, we have to act, ignoring the consequences. After all, doesn't everybody want this? [ II ] BIOGRAPHY Neon Synthesis is a band from Brescia, Italy, that plays a very personal kind of industrial metal. Our style is characterized by a hammering rhythmic section, compact and essential guitars, large use of synthesizers and a powerful and versatile voice. This project was officially born in april 2004, when we, five guys with different musical backgrounds and influences, joined forces to create something dynamic, something new. The name of the band doesn’t have a specific meaning, it only wants to suggest the idea of something cold, something synthetic, artificial. In july 2004 we recorded our first promotional cd, simply entitled "Promo 004", and the three songs contained in this work obtained enthusiastical reviews from several Italian and European webzines. Since the release of the promo we have been playing live to promote our music, experiencing a great feedback from the audience. The year 2005 has been very satisfying for us: a Depeche Mode song (Everythind Counts) covered by ourselves has been selected to appear on the first Italian tribute cd to the English band. Moreover an intense web-promotion allowed many people to know us, and the Neon Synthesis style is now spreading, especially abroad. The end of summer 2005 also marked the end of an era, because our drummer Rens aka Vyrarld chose to left the band. We had to quit the live activity, but that allowed us to concentrate on the recordings of more tracks. On april 27, 2006 we released a self-produced album entitled Our Empty Rooms, which contains 10 songs. Since then we began to play live concerts again, in Italy and abroad (starting with a release party in Castricum, Holland). Our Empty Rooms includes the re-recordings of our first three promo tracks and seven brand new songs. It mixes industrial metal with synthpop, darkwave with ebm beats and atmospheric keyboards. LINE-UP Fede (Federico Bertoloni) - synthesizer Mike (Michele Bertoloni) – guitar Johnny Thyper (Jonathan Brunati) - vocals Alison (Alessio Soriano) – bass [ III ] MANIFESTO We are the synthesis of different trends... various musical styles interlaced within a common concept. We shout violence and weakness, joy and anguish. We're an expression of youthful tension, sons of the twentieth century split, born from the sun but corrupted by the moon. A living oxymoron. Gold and dust beyond space and time, we're eternal and so mortal. Cold lights and dancefloor hits, final fantasy VII and absinthe. The stars are watching us... ...the eclipse is near. REVIEW (INDUSTRIALIZEDMETAL.TK) Despite the fact that Neon Synthesis only exists for two years and they only released a three song promo before this debut album, people all over the world were already begging for this CD after the promise of this new release with a clean sound. And, after about ten months beeing busy recording all the stuff, they have finally released ‘Our Empty Rooms’ upon mankind. This album brings us seven new tracks and three re-recorded tracks, ready to be discovered by the synthetic civilisation. The basic lines are still the same. Neon Synthesis manages to build more than decent indus metal songs on a spine made of EBM with a catchy appearance. The diverse vocals of Johnny Thyper (dark, deep clean vocals mixed with raw screams and soft whisperings) and the different influences of each bandmember give each song an own identity. The album starts with more metal based songs. ‘Future plague’ and ‘The Last Dream’, perfectly mastered to let them sound as one, are atmospheric and have a certain amount of catchyness as well. Specially the chorus of ‘The Last Dream’ (“My soul, is empty now. What I was, is far away.”) gets stuck in your head. The strong and powerful riffs at the end of this song are worth mentioning as well. ‘Solitude and Fear’ is the first re-recorded track, originally to be found on the Promo004 release. The fact that this album is better produced was definitely a blessing for this song and turned it from a raw, dark demo song into an atmospheric, kind of gothic metal song with a dreamable sound and a catchy chorus. Be able to fly away when you listen to this song. ‘Awakening’ is a song with a more modern, danceable sound. People who used to love ‘The Prophet’ on the Promo004 are definitely happy with this song. But, other people must be as well. More than decently build, this song is a good result of mixing electro/EBM with dark rock. The many things they tell with the lyrics, the less although the more things they say with the music riffs in the next song. ‘Stolen by the Wind’ is perfect for relaxing, no complexities in the music, and the beauty of the vocals come forward perfectly. But, when you take a closer listen you’ll hear the little details that give words to the music itself. And in my opinion, best lyrics of the album! ‘Rays of Mind’ and ‘The Prophet’ are two re-recorded tracks again, with a few changes. The song haven’t lost any quality or catchyness fortunately, and they even improved some little samplings here and there (which are even clearer hearable thanks to the clean sound). ‘Eden’ turns out to be my favourite track of the record, and people who are familiar with it already know why. Powerful, atmospheric sampling with dark keys and guitars mixed with the whispers and the deep ‘normal’ vocals wrapped within a catchy package. Danceable but brutal. Atmospheric but catchy. This song has it all. ‘Astral Coil’ brings you back to songs like ‘Rays of Mind’ and ‘Solitude and Fear’, with a little touch of synth pop. Same concept, though different. I even think that people who like Moonspell will be very positively surprised with these songs too. The album ends with the title song, which happens to be an outro, but luckly I have pushed the repeat all button already a few times so the silence after the outro does not kill anything. This band has definitely as much talent as the bigger bands in it’s genre (Ensoph, Deathstars, Samael, ...) and manages to give birth to an own identity already. I am 200% sure that this band, if they have the right management and stuff, will make it in the future. And not to forget that they confirmed their good live reputation more than once, even abroad. This album was worth the wait definitely, and this album gets even better and better the more you’re listening to it! Vote: 98 / 100