Review Summary: Born of Osiris by the numbers, packaged for those with better things to do.
The day Born of Osiris circled back to an average EP length/borderline mini-LP runtime really was a long time coming. In fact, it’s a day that’s yet to come for too many bands of their ilk, the somewhat dying breed of technical/prog/death/djent/whatever splashed metal bands. That’s not to say they never pulled off longer albums well (
The Discovery could’ve used some trimming, but was otherwise great), but this sort of music, at least when it’s not executed extremely well, is best listened to in short bursts.
The Simulation, as a result, is their most easily listened to record since they debuted on
The New Reign (also a mini-LP), though it’s come along a bit too late to ignore Born of Osiris’ stagnant musical growth.
The Simulation is Born of Osiris by the numbers. It trends far more closely to the stuff they’ve been peddling on their last two albums, especially material along the lines of what was found on
Soul Sphere. In short, that means a lot of staccato chugging rhythms and spacey electronics whirling around over the top. “Disconnectome” stands out thanks to a very traditionally tech death inspired intro and “Under The Gun” is memorable, if not that well put together, through the use of a synth hook that would fit on just about any radio pop hit. Ultimately, that’s about all the album has going for it. There’s a lot of breakdowns masquerading as verses and bridges while half-sung/half-screamed choruses are far too common, but this is the same stuff Born of Osiris has been writing for years now. If you liked Born of Osiris at all in the last four years, there’s something here for you and it’s conveniently succinct at only twenty six minutes, but there’s nothing here that will pull in fans that weren’t already seeking them out.
