Canadian quartet Metric patterned its latest album “Synthetica” after the band’s typical sound, while innovating a progression in its musical craft. Opener “Artificial Nocturne,” is an anticipation-building scheme that finds release in the third minute before slowing to a close, like the winding down of metal gears. The album’s 11 crackling tracks progress with superiority, shining dark and oily with haunting synths complemented by instrumentals as sharp and square as the bone structure of lead singer Emily Haines. The technical perfection is impressive and attractive, but not entirely entertaining. Softer tracks such as “Lost Kitten” and “The Void” hook listeners into the power-pop the band showed off in 2009’s “Fantasies,”, but most of the album sounds more like a synchronized motorcycle race – all clean lines and fuel-burning grind. Grade: A-
 
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