Not being familiar with any of Psycroptic's material prior to Symbols of Failure doesn't make this the easiest CD to review. I must admit right away that Psycroptic's technical death metal to a degree fail to appeal to my taste.

The music is complex and quite varied and yet it has a tendency to sound too much alike after a short period. Actually I find it kind of hard to tell any of the songs apart, none seemed particularly memorable. A thing I noticed almost right away is that there are virtually no leads at all. It's clear that the musicianship is flawless, but unfortunately the band doesn't succeed in transforming this into anything captivating. Psycroptic put a million different things in the music, but still it all end up sounding more or less the same and this is what I dislike about Symbols of Failure. It's like they favour technicality instead of catchiness and I'm afraid the result isn't very convincing.

Guitarist Joe Haley have recorded and mixed the songs and he has done a good job. The sound is somewhat dry and clear leaving lots of room for each instrument to unfold. However, Jason Peppiatt's vocals seem to be a little too much up front in the soundscape. They really take up a lot of space. It doesn't make it better that the vocals tend to become rather monotone after awhile. I find Symbols of Failure somewhat disappointing after all the great things I've heard about the band. I tried to like the music, but it just never really happened.