Review Summary: Quite an ascension alright.
It is always heartwarming to see the underdog succeed it is movies like Rocky that inspire us showing that even though we may be losers we can become champions. Just like Sylvester Stallone, Born of Osiris are nothing more than actors providing us with a false sense of satisfaction. Discovery has turned a few heads and rightfully so. The Illinois based band has stepped out of the pack in an attempt to create an identity for themselves but being an entrepreneur isn’t a virtue of its own.
Polished with all the bells and whistles, Born Of Osiris are putting on their best suits for the crowd. Beneath the catchiness and slick appeal however lie various problems holding back Discovery from realizing any sort of actual direction. Much alike their contemporaries djent stylings are welcomed as additions to the formula present throughout with a mechanical, rough edge. Sometime though the bandwagon is best left behind. It seems as if this project had ambition to combine current trends with an added attempt to timidly stray ever so slightly off the beaten path. The djent style can work; bands like Meshuggah pull it off with the utmost of poise and the secret to that dexterity lies in cooperation as well as direction on part of the band, instead Discovery gracefully falls face first. A lot of this album is really uncoordinated and frankly quite awkward.
The production on this album is very slick and polished sounding, although not as heavily produced as some similar acts such as Periphery: the million dollar makeover actually proves to really drag the album down. The djent style is founded on a clunky, overbearing metallic roughness and the production acts as a contrast to this effort. Overall the clunky chords don’t help proceed the direction of the album or produce any sort of direction if anything it just feels sloppy. The mixing of the drums also puzzles me as well on this record: as they tend to sit very low generally in the mix. Nearly every song starts off with a few taps of the drums then after that they often find themselves lost in the aisles of the veneer. Drums could work great as a compliment for the clunky atmosphere which is placed at the forefront of the production. Except in this case the percussion barley operates as a functioning unit of the band and winds up going against the push of the direction.
Disorganization is one of the biggest downfalls of Discovery. Technicality and cheap thrills are provided but at the expense for the soul of song writing. Many songs are similar to tempo, never proceeding to an end goal. The luminous synth lines blending over the soundscape could have you guess otherwise because of their consistent spacey theme. Much like a spaceship orbiting earth: the synth lines stay far above the rest of the song and never integrate into the atmosphere. Distorted vocals can on occasion but used to emphasize the incoming of the spacey sections but it isn’t genuine enough to really make you feel this is a conscious space oriented album progressing towards a goal. Instead we have layers of supposed atmosphere that due to their over blown delivery, and zany upbeatness it comes off in plain sight as just an added effect. Even within the songs themselves structure has a hard time staying cohesive. This disbursement is displayed in songs such as ‘Regenerate’ and ‘Follow The Signs’ which contain poor transitions that feel sudden and without warning. They could at least maybe pass us a bone with a cheesy ‘oh’ or bass drop to signify ‘here comes the next section’ but even that appears to be too much. The abrupt shifts between slow and fast make for a frustrating listen.
Born Of Osiris tried to take the ingredients of successful contemporaries. Utilizing a space theme cherry atop a metalcore/ djent sundae they shoot to create a fun, immersive album. The intention is clear, but the concentration however is atrocious.
