Ov

Orthrelm | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 14, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ipecac Recordings
• ASIN: B0009J2RUI
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #129,901 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a postmodern metal achievement, January 29, 2006

By 

J. Shank (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ov (Audio CD)

Someone had to eventually do it: take the basic format of minimalist composition and completely recontextualize it in an alien environment: loud rock music. On this album, former Crom Tech avant-thrashers Orthrelm do the impossible. They make an album that manages to be completely abstract and minimalist in composition (absolutely no memorable melody here folks, only repetition and angular guitar shredding), yet they accomplish this perverse form of minimalism within the pre-existing template of a hardcore/metal band.

Its seemingly contradictory, playing minimalism in a style that is known for melody and/or emotional intensity, but OV pulls it off which is why this is so remarkable. The album avoids being painfully academic like a lot of avant-garde music, yet at the same time it is completely orignial and innovative. One should note that this album is purely conceptual, its not one that you're going to listen to all the time and it will hardly reward the listener emotionaly. It is however something truly innovative and amazing. It is exhaustingly postmodern, playing avant music in a familar style. This will probably be the first and only example populist minimalism, and for that it should be praised.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insane brilliance., June 24, 2005

By 

Aaron Wells (Eugene, OR, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ov (Audio CD)

When I first listened to this album, I was expecting to be bored in a few minutes. Instead, I listened to the entire thing straight through - it's that compelling.

Orthrelm take all the sound and fury of metal and couple it to a highly repetitive, minimalist aesthetic somewhat reminiscent of Philip Glass or Steve Reich's classical music. This is a fairly unique concept - I, for one, have never heard anything much like this album. It's wildly different from slow-building, strung-out 'stoner rock' like Earth or Sunn O))), as it moves suddenly between series of repeated, intense figures (call them riffs, I guess) that are played at blinding speed. Though a single riff can repeat for a while - up to six or seven minutes - it hardly ever gets old: each is complex enough to withstand that sort of repetition. Of course, there is slight variation in the way each riff is played, as well.

The guitar and drumming is insane - its speed and precision over such an extended period is unbelievable.

This album is certainly not for everyone. However, I wouldn't say you have to be a metal fan to appreciate it (my own knowledge of metal is quite limited). It's good to have some background in experimental or minimalist music, though - a tolerance for dissonance and a willingness to listen closely.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars OV-erkill, June 2, 2010

By 

Orphan of Sickness (253) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ov (Audio CD)

For approximately 46 minutes, the duo of guitarist Mick Barr and drummer Josh Blair manage to approach minimalism with OV by only these two instruments. The result sounds cool... for about a minute.

I won't lie, I checked this out because I'm a sucker for noodly stuff like Behold... The Arctopus and PsyOpus, but OV pushes it too far. The guitars repeat themselves for minutes throughout, using that guitar tone throughout. There are rarely any changes to rhythm or pitch, and it's easy to just fast forward through it for another chord that lasts for 5 minutes. There is no doubt that the members of Orthrelm are excellent musicians that can play fast, but that's it.

Maybe I'm missing something, but this is an album with an interesting concept that fails to completely satisfy. The minimalist concept is what kills it; there is nothing wrong with being minimalist if you can pull it off superbly, but with barely any alterations in the rhythm, it's just pointless.

If you are new to the likes of Mick Barr's guitar work, I would start off with any of the Krallice albums instead. If you want this style of music minus the minimalism, I'd check out Behold... the Arctopus' works instead. However, if you feel like you're up for a musical challenge, here you go.