This “Suffocation + Symphony X” Collaboration is Not as Bizarre as it May Seem

This headline on Blabbermouth touting Suffocation and Symphony X members teaming up for a new project — with the highly original name Them — certainly piqued my interest: that certainly isn’t a combo you’d expect to see, is it? Two very different bands, but both of whom I enjoy.

Turns out the headline is a bit misleading. The Suffocation “member” is Kevin Talley, whose been in the band for the past two years but has made a living as a metal drumming mercenary, lending his skills to Dying Fetus, Misery Index, Battlecross, Six Feet Under and Chimaira. Talley is insanely talented, but it’s not like he writes the riffs for Suffo. And the Symphony X member in question is bassist Mike LePond, which… I mean, c’mon, bassists.

That said, both new song “Blood from Blood” and previously released “Forever Burns” are pretty fucking sweet. They’re more Symphony X than they are Suffocation, so if you’re expecting brutal beatdowns you best go elsewhere. But they’re more dynamic and fluid than I was expecting, and definitely not just Symphony Y or whatever. Both tracks come from the three-track EP Fear Them (available on tour and at Bandcamp), with a full-length album being crowdfunded now. Listen below.

Guitarists Markus Ulrich (Lanfear), Markus Johansson (Sylencer), keyboardist Richie Seibel (Lanfear) and vocalist Troy Norr “KK Fossor” (Coldsteel) round out the lineup.