The Pitch: Plenty heavy, djenty progressive death metal EP from Oni via Metal Blade Records and Blacklight Media. FFO: Textures, The Human Abstract, Unprocessed
What I Like: Don't let the opening track fool you. While "Alone" largely goes for a clean, Tesseract-y approach, Alone also gets pretty damn heavy. For instance "Rift" has some aggressively mathy riffs that would be right at home on a Sikth record and "Dead Inside" and "Breathe Again" kick off with scathing harsh vocals to offset the equally catchy choruses. These elements are scattered throughout the EP and manage to find a perfect balance with the more traditional prog songwriting. As a result, the entire duration of these 25 minutes ends up being highly dynamic and engaging. I was consistently finding new instrumentation and performances to be impressed with, and the great ebb and flow of light and heavy made the latter parts kick even harder. "Faceless Portrait" even has some Gojira vibes going on.
Critiques: I wouldn't have led with "Alone." It has its own merits and catchy qualities, but I also think it's the weakest song here.
The Verdict: Alone is a top quality EP that's really only just shy of what passes as a full length these days. Given the quality and diversity of music Oni is putting out here, there's no reason to treat it as a lesser release.
Flight's Fav's: Dead Inside, Breathe Again
- Review by FlightOfIcarus
SUBSCRIBE to our Trench Talk Podcast on iTunes, Castbox, YouTube, and BitChute. You can also like and follow us on the social media of your choice with Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and support us on Patreon.
