Onward to Olympas – This World Is Not My Home
Onward to Olympas are from North Carolina and play a style best described as a combination of melodic death metal, hardcore, and pop-punk/emo. Beats me how these genres ever got put together in the first place, but there are a virtual legions of groups now championing their amalgamation.
My personal feelings about this particular kind of mash up have never been very positive. That may be because as a touring underground musician, I’ve had to sit through the sets of countless 16 year-old bands attempting the very formula Onward to Olympas use but without any instrument mastery or songwriting refinement. My reviewing of this album is in fact the first time I’ve paid attention to a band with all these elements that has a true professional presentation, and I can honestly say that my horizons have been widened.
This World Is Not My Home conveys a sense that the band actually understands all the genres they are drawing from, and if asked to, could write an entire song in any one of them. There are probably more really bad ways you could combine a groove, a blast beat, a breakdown, and an emo chorus than good ways, and OTO have clearly studied all the subtle transitions that make it work. This is quintessential to their success and adds much to the sincerity of their delivery.
In addition, the sound production on This World Is Not My Home is simply crushing. Without big guitars and clear drums heavier elements are never convincing, but much attention seems to have been put here on ensuring a wall of sound that even in the softer parts is quite surrounding.
Wow, I did not expect to be praising this album so highly. Goes to show that having an open mind can sometimes lead to cool new discoveries. My only point of contention: if the band wants to keep the “death metal” tag in their description, they should step up the blast beats. The writing chops they showcase on this release ensure that they are capable of this and more.
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14 Comments
June 15th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Oh, how I love this band and album. Always meant to tell you this was a great review, Eric!
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big steve replied:
April 6th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Hey jen, do you know who the girl singing at the end of "this world is not my home" is? She has a beautiful voice.
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Jen replied:
April 6th, 2011 at 10:17 pm
Hey Steve,
Yep, sure do. Her name is Taisha Bethea of the band Carson:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Carson/111081348912311
And I agree. Her voice is fantastic!
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big steve replied:
April 11th, 2011 at 1:06 am
Jen and whomever else is reading this, what do you guys think the lyrics at the end mean? or personally mean to you?
Say what you will but I'll still be standing
Safe and secure undeservingly pure you found me
Ignored your call I lost it all your grace abounding
Giver of life guide me home (guide me home)
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big steve replied:
April 11th, 2011 at 1:07 am
actually i think it's your grace abounty**
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
April 11th, 2011 at 1:37 am
Man good question Big Steve!
This could mean so many things so I will give you one of the perspectives I had on the end of the song. To me it sounds like there was someone out there just waiting for that one person; just waiting to be found, discovered, and uncovered. The one in waiting has been so pure and untouched because he/she was waiting for that right person to come along. And no matter what the person on the opposite end of the spectrum had to do to get to this point of meeting the person in waiting, it doesn't matter. Because even though that person might not deserve the person in waiting, based upon his/her actions it just doesn't matter. The person in waiting has finally awoken and found his/her other half and their love will guide them home. "Home" could be considered that state of happines the person in waiting will be in because they are finally complete and alive due to this new feeling of love. It's kinda like a rebirth. And it allows the other person to repent for their actions by giving the person in waiting such solace as this meeting is almost a clensing of sorts…..whew there is my 2cents on the song..
Sorry for saying "person in waiting" like a trillion times! lol
[Reply to this comment]
big steve replied:
April 12th, 2011 at 1:29 am
Dude that is an awesome interpretation! I get the first two parts but what about the "Ignored your call i lost it all your grace abounty"?
Sorry for all the questions i just listen to this song sooo much and the ending is so beautiful.
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
April 12th, 2011 at 1:58 am
The last part can tie into the biblical meaning of the song, but I can kinda of relate it to my explanation above. I guess the person in waiting doesn't need to rely on his/her lord or spiritual guide anymore because he/she has now been saved by their new love found in flesh form. The person in waiting has remained pure for his/her higher power until true love was found. Whew this is a deep song and it takes alot out of me to even think about this lol
Big Steve you are the man! haha
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big steve replied:
April 12th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
No you are the man!!!! lol Ill be on these boards more often I fell in love with this site when I found out about it, so organized and nice people reviewing!
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
April 13th, 2011 at 12:23 am
I know what you mean Big Steve! I would google CD's from some of the lesser known bands that I listen to and this site kept popping up. I think it was early 2010 when I discovered this site and never really commented until about a month ago. I don't know what took me so long because everyone has been really nice, especially the reviewers! I LOVE the feedback the reviews get, whether it be good or bad. You can really tell that the reviewers are good people because of how they respond to the negative feedback. They are always very level-headed and actually helped me become the same way when discussing music. Sometimes I do get way over-heated during music discussions, but this site is teaching me to really open up to other people and their musical tastes. And Lee (not Leetran..no offence bud! lol) doesn't know this, but he is my musical twin!
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
April 13th, 2011 at 12:24 am
Plus the community here is great! Especially you Big Steve! Haha
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big steve replied:
April 14th, 2011 at 12:57 am
Thanks brother!
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Nicholas Misiak replied:
April 14th, 2011 at 2:14 am
Anytime buddy!
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April 7th, 2011 at 1:57 am
I love this CD and I think I'm starting to love the newer album even more. The cleans can stick in your head for weeks while the growls give the listener that much needed burst of confidence when dealing with lifes many unfortunate events. Good impactful stuff!
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