Born-Of-Osiris-Tomorrow-We-Die-Alive

[colored_box color=”grey”]Rating: 8
Label: Sumerian Records
Website: Link
Author: Aggelos “Redneck” Katsouras[/colored_box]

The band with the great name that once caused my interest returned this time with a new album that made me have some great moments of thinking and relaxation lately. It may sound a little bizarre to you if you know how the band sounds like to get in my place, but it’s albums like that making you simply enjoy them and keep on admiring the effort of some new bands trying to make the difference, in a world filled with numerous releases each month and even if this may not be the cause in the beginning, in the end only the strong and worthy survive the challenge and keep on sounding special and promising for the future to come. Such is the case with Born Of Osiris, as the albums keep increasing for them and so does quality, a win/win situation for band and fans.

In this new album, we find BFO in a state of experimental heavy progressive death metal based music as in the past, but a far cry from being called a typical deathcore band which tries to play everything fast and technical in order to improve the listener. If you think that this is a band that the material is so technical that leads to the so called ‘’masturbation metal’’ then you must have no fear, as the guys know exactly how to keep their energy in high levels, without sounding overproduced and without overexposing their undoubted skills of great and essential musicianship. What makes me a first positive impression is the duration of the tracks, with the shortest one (‘’Imaginary Condition’’) clocking at 3:12 and the longest one (‘’Machine’’, the great album opener that splits many spines) ending at 4:24, making it a rather tied album in all aspects.

Structures that vary from vast death metal riffing with blastbeats in the background, following the insane guitars, to groovy breaks that surely owe a lot to Meshuggah and their influence on all the new death metal bands. The greatest part of all is that they keep a great balance in what they offer, the vocals are harsh but there is no need for them to sound brutal as fuck, nor try some more melodic approaches, as their music wouldn’t fit that much a more mellow direction. The solos or the strange guitar fillings where the vocals and rhythm guitars take over add more to the result, not to mention the fantastic rhythm section which gives you the impression that if these guys want to play something, they’ll play making it sound so easy that you may feel you underestimated them (if you encounter them for the first time that is).

The tracks serve the fan in understanding their difficult at times music, as the rhythms are catchy enough and you can already sing them in your mind from the second time you listen to the whole album (some parts like the devastating ‘’Divergency’’ for example or the melodic part of ‘’Illusionist’’ will only take you a couple of seconds before they make you their own for good). Another very important part is that the album doesn’t seem to contain gaps in your entertainment, as it is the same good in the start, in the middle and of course in the end of it, with the duo of ‘’Source Field’’ and ‘’Vengeance’’ giving a great touch for the end and most important, a very bright future for the band in its whole. And that’s why ‘’Tomorrow We Die Alive’’ may prove to be one more wild card in the band’s machinery.

Born Of Osiris look and sound more alive than the album title betrays. It is critical that not only they don’t lose their special skill in creating interesting albums, but they also seem to have a box filled with ideas that may change in the future, but without losing their special identity as a band. It is up to the listener and how flexible ears he has to give them a chance (if it’s the first time he listens to them), but I bet it won’t take much until he discovers a great new band to keep himself busy with. Those of you who followed the band from the beginning will find nothing less than you expected here. I wish The Faceless would have released such an album some months ago, on the other hand I think it’s time for BFO to achieve some greater status, simply because they deserve it.