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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One Comment
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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