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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Unreal, Surreal, Genius, May 14, 2009
I am extremely excited & positively impacted after having listened to this album for the first time JUST NOW. And I don't feel that I can pen down my thoughts and articulate them precisely right now considering the fact that I will truly need to listen to this work many more times to keep uncovering layers off of it that, I'm expecting, would go on amazing me each time around. But I still HAD to write this quick review to let everyone know that PLEASE buy this album...it is yet another recording, sound engineering masterpiece which has some extremely catchy and kick-a** songs. In true OSI style it is a heady mix of controlled aggression, metal and ambiance...PERFECTED!!!
This album is very airy, spaced out yet contained and very very tight.
I love this album...the song Blood is simply mind blowing. And my favorite "We come undone" is just beautiful and dark. To create Radiologue would need a fried brain with fifteen thousand cups of coffee and too many joints. I just love the way layers of ambient sound textures seep through the "metal" so to speak. The crazy stereo panning and fractured delays with guitars and wierd sounds all melted together to form a complete picture is something beyond my comprehension as to how all that gets executed so beautifully by Mr. Moore and OSI.
Kevin Moore's singing and voice is just unreal (at least I feel so that its one of the most unique voices I've heard in a long time which is also very natural). Radiologue is a great song with a very catchy chorus.
Last but not the least you HAVE to listen to believe the craziness that is the song "False start". The way OSI has played with twisting time signatures and beat inversions using just a simple riff and stereo delay and panning and tight drumming just makes you want to drive your car at 120 miles an hour. Beautiful!!! Its incredible how toward the end of the song this very aggressive riff starts off on the guitar alternating between the channels and it all sounds very out of time, but just then the drums kick in to complete a 3/8 timing just perfectly.
ANYWAY...I started off writing this as a small review in a hurry....but ended up writing a decent amount. Point being..just go ahead and buy this album. This is gold...and just another dimension of kickass perfection reached by OSI. The guitar textures, drum tone/ playing, Kevin, the ambiance & the whole SOUND is at its height as to what an excellent mix of all of these could be like..
Don't compare this album to "FREE" because free was another masterpiece and a very complete record by itself (not to say that blood is not). I personally feel that the songs in free had a different theme and motive altogther. Can't really put my finger on what makes Free so different from Blood for me personally.
"Blood" on the other hand has a personality of its own. That is dark, a bit mellow in places, but still quite aggressive and overall enigmatic.
All in all, I thank Kevin Moore for making music...and I've waited for this album for so long...and it was every bit worth it!!!!
GREAT ALBUM!!
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Bloody great..., May 19, 2009
On the third OSI album, Blood, it is significantly easier to pinpoint what parts of each tune were penned by whom, as Jim Matheos assumes a bigger role on the album compared to their previous outing, Free. Unlike before, his riffs have been kept intact whereas Kevin Moore has applied his own songwriting vision without altering Matheos' ideas too much.
Matheos brings in plenty of catchy guitar riffs, which are merged with Kevin Moore's unique sense of atmosphere. None of the songs are heavy from start to finish, but several tunes, including the album opener "The Escape Artist," "False Start," and "Be the Hero" are marked with Matheos' distinctive riff architecture which is grooving and gripping. When combined with Moore's considerably catchier vocal parts, especially on the chorus of "False Start," the tunes feel like they would work greatly in a live setting if the duo were ever to play a show.
Kevin Moore's slow, monotonous delivery is still prevalant on all the tunes he sings, but he manages to implement more melody this time around, especially on the more Chroma Key-like pieces. His atmospherically dense tunes involve more synth work, lots of protruding noisescapes, and pulsing beats. "Terminal" is a very moody tune, comprised of myriad digital and acoustic elements; it boasts a deep, haunting atmosphere while "We Come Undone" sees the band work some of the compositional aesthetics of Free into the composition. Then there is "Radiologue," possibly their most inspired songwriting, where they blend modern and traditional songwriting elements into a cohesive whole driving the piece to a bittersweet midsection filled with wicked sonic experimentation.
New drummer Gavin Harrison proves to be a great fit, as he contributes immensely to the songs. His fills on both the rhythmically heavier cuts and the slower-paced numbers are great, best shining on the somewhat spacey "Microburst Alert," which just features voiceovers draped over curious sound effects, gruelling bass throbs (all played by Matheos), and whacky mini Moog effects alongside dazzling unison lines. Harrison's drumming neither dominates the mix nor turns into a lazy, vapid 4/4 rhythmic power. His tone, fills, and timing are simply brilliant.
Opeth leader Mikael Akerfeldt guests on "Stockholm," whose lyrics and vocal melody he co-wrote, putting in a breathtaking performance. His restrained yet highly emotive singing in a relatively electronic musical setting is someting we will probably never hear again. The tune slowly picks up momentum as Matheos begins to lay down single-note themes towards the end to push the song to its deserved apex.
The title track is arguably the best album closer they have had, retaining the controlled riff work and blending it with a ubiquitous synth melody through the course of the whole track. It is a very dynamic song with an emotional undercurrent.
The lyrical themes explored on Blood are moreso comparable to those on Free rather than their politically driven debut. However, this album is slightly darker, and Kevin Moore's lyrics seem even more enigmatic and esoteric than before. That said, the theme of death has certainly crept into most of the tunes not to mention the lyrics about school shootings that permeat the entirety of "Be the Hero."
The bonus disc of the album contains a track sung by Tim Bowness from No-Man, and I do feel it would deserve a place on the regular edition of the album.
By the way, Phil Magnotti's mix on the album is phenomenal. He deserves a medal for his work.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars for what I will think Tomorrow, May 19, 2009
I've heard this disc maybe six times now, and it has improved with every listen. At first I wasn't so sure. I mean, I liked it right off, no doubt, but man I LOVED Free and OSI both. This one doesn't have quite the progressive edge of their first, nor quite the pop hooks of their second. What it has, after six listens, is really just starting to emerge for me. So, I would give it four stars today, but I've seen this too many times to not know already: I will give it five stars tomorrow.
The most striking components for me, initially, are the pulsing, off-center arrangements of many of the tracks, suggesting a concept album built off of a palpitating heart monitor. Also notable are the thick, sexy, candy-colored textures and synths, which mesh with Matheos' guitar work remarkably--again bringing artfully to mind the texture of blood.
Moore's vocals, at first seemed slightly less perfect than on the first two albums, but the more I hear it the more I like them. On that point, Akerfeldt and Bowness are freaking amazing. Maybe this is a departure point for the group, and more guest vocals will be forthcoming.
If that is the case . . . bring back BOWNESS! OMG! If you buy this disc, get the BONUS EDITION! No Celebrations is probably the best song on either disc. Funny . . . its exclusion from the album seems really stupid, until you think about it thematically, and the whole thing suddenly extends away from you with vertigo-inducing depth that you might never have expected . . .
Yeah, I'll give it five stars tomorrow, just as soon as I catch up with it.
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