OneMetal.com music REVIEW:
Born Of Osiris – The Discovery

Some musicians and labels have accepted the changing face of the music industry: at some point their albums will almost definitely find a way on the Internet without their permission. But not many have audaciously been involved in leaking albums in order to gain publicity — at least not openly. In a crude and haphazard PR stunt, the Sumerian label and members of Born of Osiris apparently released a few edited tracks from the new album The Discovery, and then lashed out at any “pirates”, wishing they would choke on a cannonball and condemning the “cowards” to death by drowning.

It was in fact a joke — funny, eh? — designed to make it harder for people to spread unreleased tracks, by inserting fart noises and Charlie Sheen quotes throughout the tracks that were released. This must be the modern day equivalent of putting a loud beeping tone in the middle of the track, or even a robot voice telling you that you are listening to a promo CD. Although releasing fake copies of material is often done in all sorts of media formats to stifle sharing communites, there are few companies that would so quickly admit to doing so over a bout of arguing on Facebook.

Anyway, The Discovery is the Chicago based sextet’s third album on Sumerian. You could view this release as one of the current flagship albums for the label, if it hadn’t been slightly overshadowed by the recent emphasis on Periphery in the UK. But the band don’t really tread the same area as the former, and push the label in a different direction within a similar deathcore sound to Circle of Contempt and I The Breather.

The band are relatively popular with young guitar geeks. As Periphery leader Misha Mansoor has recently said: “I’d say that 95% of people who turn up to our shows are bedroom musicians or gear nerds like me [...] Other bands get groupies; we get guys who want to know what string gauges I use or what programmes I record with.” Born of Osiris’ fanbase probably also fits this bill. Multiple threads on extended-range guitar forums have appeared discussing the bands transition from 6 to 7-strings (G# tuning according to the studio) as well as countless cover versions of old and new tracks appearing on Youtube.

Not only should this band be compared to others within the framework of current tech-metal, but also of peers in a similar group. In this respect, the youthful breakdowns of deathcore are mixed with a high degree of craftsmanship for their age, and compared to their previous releases a dose of maturity. Tracks such as ‘Follow The Signs’ and ‘Recreate’ ooze confidence, with the latter exhibiting an otherworldly and unique solo from guitarist Lee McKinney. There are obvious similarities to All Shall Perish due to fellow 7-stringer Jason Richardson’s involvement with both bands. If you take a listen to Awaken The Dreamers you will hear much of the same tight and aggressive polyrhythmic textures played during his time with them.

On other tracks that involve synths and keyboards such as ‘Two Worlds Of Design’, it can sound too, well, simple, and not developed enough. I am not expecting any virtuoso DragonForce playing, but sometimes these overdubs are just distracting. On the whole keys player Joe Buras weaves these parts together much more fluidly compared to previous releases.

Some listeners may think that the length of The Discovery will encourage others to finally get a good earful of exactly what the band is about and musically where they are today. In a sense the 52 minutes of material does give them enough time to include sections of abstract dance samples and to also pace the album properly, but by ‘Automatic Motion’ it just feels that you are listening to similar song structures — even ‘XIV’ is an interlude containing a reworked solo from a prior track. It is this occasional and deliberate repetition that brings this album slightly down.

Born Of Osiris’ MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/bornofosiris
Sumerian Records’ Website: http://www.sumerianrecords.com

Bottom Line

Born Of Osiris' third album The Discovery is a landmark in confidence and maturity for the band, yet too much repetition is its downfall.