Born Of Osiris

Tomorrow We Die ∆live

Written by: BL on 06/10/2013 22:57:53

Fans of technical/progressive deathcore outfit Born Of Osiris may have been quite concerned about the direction of the band after the tumultuous departure of former lead guitarist Jason Richardson, who had a huge part in making their previous album "The Discovery" as successful and well received as it had been in the band's respective circle. Nonetheless Born Of Osiris have not opted to recruit a replacement, and so remaining guitarist Lee McKinney steps up to take the sole responsibility in the guitar writing for "Tomorrow We Die ∆live", Born Of Osiris' third full length.

The aptly named "M∆chine" is a familiar homecoming to the apocalyptic nature of the Born Of Osiris sound honed on "The Discovery" - a dark string ensemble introduction opens to thundering rhythm guitars with waltzy sounding keyboards, and the signature harmonised sweeping lead guitars all bring about an impending sense of doom. "Divergency" meanwhile is a far heavier offering though it's rather predictable with surprisingly many simplistic chugged riffs. Despite this, the mood and the keyboard melodies keeps it all from descending too much into a lacklustre affair, the latter element as strong as ever. Whilst "Mindful" and "Exhil∆r∆te" are instrumentally routine on the other hand, they do see vocalist Ronnie Canizaro experiment with some gruff sounding clean vocals for short moments, and this breaks the monotony that his usual harsh scream brings.

"∆bsolution" is the most creative song thus far and gives blood a chance to flow in the veins. There's crisp energetic riffing, some thoroughly enjoyable weaved lead guitars, excellent keyboards, and an expansive, memorable and undeniably catchy ending. "The Origin" showcases similar masterful melodic passages, but sadly between them you have to endure through a cacophany of notably mediocre chugging sections which seem to be an increasing bane. "∆eon III" and "Illusionist" similarly surround the best parts with the uninspired. The dense, djenty weight from the glossy production is simply not enough to justify just how one dimensional the rhythm guitars have become here in Jason's absence. "Im∆gin∆ry Condition" and "Source Field" are thankfully more varied, unsurprisingly thanks to more focus on strong usage of melody and urgency of the delivery over pure dissonance. The closer, "Venge∆nce" is probably as good as you could expect given that the rest of the album has been much less than spectacular. A ridiculously catchy sweeping soloing guitar is given center stage attention throughout a hugely desolate and dense sonic backdrop and serves as a wonderfully addictive central hook. It's just a shame more of the album didn't lend itself this way.

All in all, "Tomorrow We Die ∆live" is perhaps too much of a regression from "The Discovery" which had set expectations a little too high. The downsizing in the Born Of Osiris instrumental and creative department has evidently weakened the band's ability to move fowards and upwards with their brand of deathcore and now we are wading dangerously towards generic territory in some areas. Nevertheless, there are still a few real standout picks on the album which demonstrate that Born Of Osiris still know how to bring the big guns when it matters, just not as consistently as one could have hoped.

7

Download: ∆bsolution, Im∆gin∆ry Condition, Venge∆nce
For the fans of: Periphery, Volumes, After The Burial, Unearth
Listen:Facebook

Release date 20.08.2013
Sumerian Records

Related Items | How we score?
Comments
comments powered by Disqus

Legal

© Copyright MMXXIV Rockfreaks.net.