Born Of Osiris – The Discovery
Tuesday, August 30th, 2011
Genre: Technical, Hardcore, Progressive, Melodic Death Metal
Label: Sumerian Records
Ah ha! Now here’s a band that doesn’t seem to polarize people nearly as much as my last two review subjects. In fact, I can’t seem to throw a stone without hitting someone who is completely indifferent about Born Of Osiris. That actually bugs me. Born Of Osiris tends to get lumped in with either the shitty end of metalcore or the even shittier end of deathcore. But honestly, I don’t think that you can categorize them as simply as that. Nobody ever seems to remember the progression or the clear as day hardcore influences. Ugh…
Right from the start, Born Of Osiris brings their A-Game with The Discovery. A more than hearty, “FOLLOW THE SIGNS!!!” greets you at second number one followed by a torrent of intricate keys, chords and ka-drums that coalesce into the best opening to an album that I’ve heard all year. And in case you’re new to the Born Of Osiris game: Good lord, there’s a lot going on in these songs! If the tracks within The Discovery were a posh socialite shindig, the hall would be packed to the rafters with beautiful people, hobnobbing about cutting edge technology while beating the shit out of each other… to the music of Born Of Osiris! They’re complex, intelligent, pretty as shit to the ears and tend to swing fists violently!
Something I’ll point out that makes the most impact here: the keys. Theres a lot of the little synthesized effects that sound like they could of been ripped out of Metroid or some other piece of 8-bit awesome! The keys put subtle accents on the melodies and mix well with the vocals (especially the backing cleans) and they appear in every track, yet they never over stay their welcome. That last one is most impressive since most bands that use synths either over use them or make them the focal point, which is incredibly annoying.
And now, the negs. The vocals are on par with everything you’ve heard from The New Reign and A Higher Place, which is why once again I’m forced to bitch about the whining shout that backs up the more hardcore growl. Seriously, ditch that concept! The main vocals are strong enough to not need secondary ‘core shouting. Next, I wish that there were more clean vocals. They really work well in the background, but I feel like having them higher in the mix or having them appear more often would really help break up some of the vocal monotony… which is complaint number three. In every song, the main vocalist doesn’t change it up at all. I don’t know if he can’t or doesn’t want to, but I’m telling you that if he changed his pitch (lower in most points, to a growl, would be best) I’d be happier.
Overall: The Discovery is aptly titled since this is the album I would suggest to people that haven’t listened to them before. It’s a feels like a natural progression for Born Of Osiris since I thought that A Higher Place was the best thing these guys had put out up until then too! Highly recommended.
9/10
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