Sondado – “Illusions” and “Together Alone”
Sondado are a visionary 3 piece band from Hungary mixing electronica and guitars to create futuristic soundscapes. The band is made up of Tamas 1 (composer, keys, producer), Tamas 2 (guitar) Gerald 1 (lyrics, producer). At the beginning of October they released their brand new concept album “Disloyal Servants”. The album narrates a “future economy and politics totally governed by only a few enterprises. To boost their productivity, research and development strive to fine-tune androids. This economic supremacy, puts citizens aside making them less important. Human emotions are restrained to accept the system as-is. The only recognized religion (TheOne) is built upon master/slavery principals. Priests are no longer humans, repeating the same mantras, in a society without questions, discussions and debates.”
Are you looking for another album to sing along too? Well you might as well keep looking because you aren’t even close. Always defying pop culture with challenging albums, Sondado takes another leap forward in its quest for whatever it is that they have been searching for all of this time.
Let’s face it, Sondado is not your normal band, so why should they release a normal record? This album takes all their previous endeavors and turns up the artistic dial by many notches. The take industrial and alternative electronic elements and blend it with a progressive rock attitude.
The resulting sound is colossal, magnificent, terrifyingly dark and chillingly beautiful at the same time. To try and pick it all apart would be an overwhelming task. The more the listener experiences “Disloyal Servants”, the more one thing becomes evidently clear.
This is music of the future. If any of this band’s previous releases sat near the top of your playlists, now they reign unchallenged. I could tell you that the musicianship is exceptional, or that the lyrics are masterful, or that the vocals and narratives are excellent…but Sondado have moved far past the point where any of the technical details are an issue. All that’s left to rate is their art.
Sondado has set new standards in engineering, arranging, songwriting, and producing music. This album sounds like something you’d hear 100 years from now while your shuttle is taking off into space. “Disloyal Servants” transcends any expectations about these guys; it is a very ambitious release, and every promise is maintained.
Darkwave, rock and rap mix and mingle, with drum n’ bass and a psychedelic rave sound. But whatever the overall sound might appear like to you, it’s still gut-wrenching and heartfelt. The sheer range of effect, sonic virtuosity, and philosophical weight, Sondado have come to define on this album, launches the listener into an otherworldly experience.
From when the opening “Intro (Manipulator part1)” kicks off the album with it sprawling pianos and synths, the isolation, alienation, and frustration of a world deprived of meaningful human gradations takes hold of you, and never lets go. The album flows seamlessly from song to song, idea to idea, emotion to emotion.
It is unified and coherent, expansive and internal, and totally striking in epic alternative tracks like “Illusions”, “Together Alone”, “Blind Pilot”, and “Disloyal Servants”. If your penchant is for intense rap songs with explosive backdrops, then “Mission Suburb” and “Desert Colony Remake”, will quench your thirst. But there is so much more here. Like the cinematic-styled, “New Horizons” or “On The High Ground”.
With this album Sondado have shown a blend of psychological insight, musical sophistication, and jaw-dropping foresight. It’s an immersive experience that encapsulates our future predicament, and it is equal parts catchy and jarring, hypnotic and disturbing.
